Bruised Truths
224 Words
CHAPTER 21: Bruised Truths
The rain came without warning.
Lena pressed her forehead against the cold glass window, watching droplets race down like they were chasing something they’d never catch. Behind her, Jay sat in a chair, shirt half-unbuttoned, dried blood still clinging to his knuckles.
She hadn’t asked where he’d gone. She was afraid of the answer.
“Was it worth it?” she asked finally.
Jay didn’t look at her. “No.”
“Then why do it?”
A pause.
“Because some debts don’t get paid in words.”
Lena turned. His eyes were dark and distant. The man who’d held her so gently on the rooftop just nights before had vanished again, replaced by someone colder—more dangerous.
She walked to him slowly, knelt in front of him. “What did they do to you, Jay?”
He looked at her then, raw and exhausted. “They took my brother. And they’re still watching.”
Her breath caught.
“You have a brother?”
“I had,” he said, voice breaking. “Until I failed him.”
He didn’t cry. Jay never cried. But his silence screamed louder than any sob.
Lena reached for his hand—the bruised one—and held it gently.
“You’re not alone anymore,” she whispered.
He didn’t pull away.
- Writer
