AMARIS POV
I woke on a bed that didn’t belong to me, bathed in sterile light that made my head throb. A sharp breath caught in my lungs, and the sharp tang of antiseptic confirmed what the white walls already whispered hospital.
My eyelids blinked against the brightness until shapes sharpened, until I realized I wasn’t alone.
A warm hand wrapped gently around mine, and my body flinched in reflex.
“It’s okay, Ami,” Theron’s voice murmured, low and soothing like dark velvet. My head turned toward the sound, and there he was disheveled, but there. His white shirt sleeves were rolled to his forearms, his suit jacket nowhere in sight, his tie missing, and the faint scruff along his jaw said he hadn’t left this room for hours. Maybe longer.
He reached for my hand again, this time slower. Hi
