Chapter 20
778 Words
Fractures and Fever
The café was half-empty, just the soft hum of espresso machines and murmured conversations filling the space. Rain streaked the windows like tears, and inside, Daniel sat stiffly across from Anna, his fingers wrapped tightly around the handle of his untouched coffee.
Anna could barely look at him. Her throat was dry, her fingers trembling as they gripped the edge of her seat.
“You kissed him.”
Daniel’s voice was low but sharp—like glass threatening to shatter.
Anna looked up, eyes wide. “No. He kissed me. I pushed him away. I slapped him.”
Daniel leaned forward, brows drawn together. “But did you want to push him away? Or did you only do it because you saw me standing there?”
Anna blinked, stunned. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying,” he said with a bitter laugh, “that you’ve been slipping away ever since he showed up in that hospital bed. You answer my texts like I’m a stranger. You don’t pick up when I call. You’ve been living in his house.”
“Because he’s sick!” she argued, her voice raising. “Because no one else would take care of him!”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed. “No one else, or you didn’t want anyone else to?”
Silence hung heavy between them.
Anna sighed, wiping under her eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you. You’ve been… amazing, Daniel. But the truth is, seeing Noah again... it broke something in me. It brought back all the pain, all the love, everything I thought I’d buried.”
Daniel looked at her, heart breaking as he realized the truth in her voice.
“You’re still in love with him,” he said softly.
She couldn’t answer. She didn’t have to.
He stood, his hands shaking slightly as he picked up his jacket. “Then don’t keep me here hoping. Go. Be with him. But don’t pretend you can love us both.”
As Daniel walked away, Anna sat frozen. The coffee went cold between them, and the sound of the rain outside felt like a scream she couldn’t let out.
Just as she reached for her phone, it rang.
“Anna? This is Nurse Karen. You need to come back—now. It’s Noah. He has a high fever. He’s burning up, and he keeps asking for you.”
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The rain was unrelenting by the time Anna reached Noah’s estate. She rushed to the front steps, breathless and drenched, only for the door to swing open.
Isabella stood there like a shadow. “He doesn’t need you,” she said with a cruel smirk. “He has people now. People who didn’t walk away.”
Anna didn’t even blink. She pushed past her.
“Noah’s my husband,” she snapped. “Whether you or Juliet like it or not.”
Upstairs, the room was dim, the scent of fever and medicine thick in the air. Juliet stood by the bedside, her arms crossed tightly. Noah tossed and turned, whispering Anna’s name again and again like a prayer caught in a nightmare.
When Juliet saw Anna, her lips curled into disgust.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
Anna met her glare with defiance. “I don’t care what you think. He needs me.”
“You abandoned him. You humiliated him. He was ruined after the divorce. And now that he’s weak, you come crawling back?”
Anna’s voice cracked. “You never gave us a chance. You always wanted me to fail. But I loved him—and maybe I still do. That’s why I’m here.”
Juliet looked at her coldly. “You have a boyfriend. And yet you’re still chasing your ex-husband like a lost girl.”
Anna stepped closer to the bed, brushing damp hair from Noah’s feverish forehead.
“I didn’t chase him,” she said softly. “I never stopped waiting.”
Noah stirred again, this time his lips parting with a whisper. “Anna… bookstore… ring… yes…”
Juliet paled. Isabella stood frozen behind her.
Anna knelt beside him. “You remember?”
His eyelids fluttered. “You wore red… you cried…”
Anna gripped his hand tighter, tears streaming silently down her cheeks. “Yes, Noah. That was the happiest day of my life.”
Suddenly, Juliet turned, storming out of the room. Isabella lingered just a second longer, watching the scene with eyes full of rage—and fear.
Downstairs, storm clouds gathered in more than just the sky.
And upstairs, Noah Carter’s memories began to bleed through the fog—one fevered breath at a time.
- Writer
