Night and day lost meaning inside the hospital.
The lights were always the same.
The air always smelled of antiseptic and quiet desperation.
Machines always hummed softly like they were counting down time no one could see.
Alexander had not left Arianna’s bedside in three days.
He barely remembered the last time he had eaten. Lucas had forced him to drink water once. Megan had tried to argue with him. Helena had cried quietly when she thought he wasn’t looking.
None of it mattered.
Nothing mattered except the slow rise and fall of Arianna’s chest.
Except the faint pulse beneath her fragile skin.
Except the terrifying possibility that it might stop.
He sat beside her, elbows resting on his knees, his large hands wrapped carefully around hers as if she might disappear if he loosene
