《Starlight in the Cracks》

Chapter 6

They began meeting more frequently, each encounter feeling like a test of each other’s boundaries. Alex struggled to find a balance between rationality and emotion, while Luna tried to navigate between freedom and dependence. Their relationship grew increasingly complex, yet it was filled with a certain tacit understanding.

During a late-night conversation, Alex confessed, "You know, I’ve started to doubt whether I’m really suited for you. My life is too structured, even rigid. And you... you’re like a vibrant soul."

Luna gazed at the city lights outside the window and shook her head gently. "I’m not questioning your way of life. I’m just worried I might lose myself."

"Lose yourself?" Alex repeated, frowning.

"I feel like you’ll always give me security, but I’m afraid I’ll become too dependent on you," Luna admitted. "I don’t want to lose who I am."

Alex fell silent for a moment, then said quietly, "Maybe I’m not sure if I can give you that kind of freedom. But I can try to change."

As their relationship deepened, an unexpected announcement shattered the calm—the hospital leadership decided to send Alex abroad for an important medical exchange program, lasting three months.

When Luna heard the news, her expression was complex and subtle. She knew how important this was for Alex’s career, but she couldn’t help asking, "Will you really be gone for that long?"

Alex looked at her face, his emotions in turmoil. "It’s an opportunity, but I... don’t want to miss you."

"I... I’m not sure," Luna’s voice was soft, as if afraid to wake something. "Maybe we need more time to think."

In the following days, both of them seemed to sink into an indescribable mood. Alex began to reflect on the priorities in his life, while Luna tried to balance her hopes and anxieties about the future. They both knew that their relationship might be standing at a critical turning point.

Yet, in this moment of uncertainty, they felt a sense of authenticity they had never experienced before—despite the unknown path ahead, they were willing to explore it together.

The catgut he used to suture blood vessels and the cotton strings she used to stretch her canvases shimmered with a similar silver glow under the moonlight. One mended broken lives, the other wove** dreams—who was saving whom?

Alex stood by the hospital corridor window, his phone screen displaying a message from his father: "The company’s funding chain is broken. We need you back." He closed his eyes, Luna’s words from the previous night echoing in his ears: "You clearly have a passion for medicine, so why do you keep running from your family responsibilities?"

Three days later, he pushed open the doors of the family company’s boardroom. The suited directors cast scrutinizing glances his way. "I can take over," he said firmly, "but on one condition—I want to establish a medical charity fund. That’s non-negotiable."

Sunlight streamed through the glass curtain wall of the hospital outpatient building, casting a soft glow on the corridor floor. Since returning from abroad, Alex had become increasingly busy with hospital duties.

He stood at the entrance of the operating room, staring at the crumpled piece of paper in his hand—an invitation to tonight’s date with Luna. He had folded and unfolded it countless times.

His fingers trembled slightly, the tips turning white from the pressure. Today was the day they had planned to visit an art exhibition together, but just half an hour ago, the hospital had received an emergency case—a severe car accident victim in critical condition.

"Alex, hurry! The operating room needs you!" The anesthesiologist’s voice echoed from down the hall, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He took a deep breath, his gaze falling on the nearly torn piece of paper. He knew how much Luna had been looking forward to tonight—it was time she had fought hard to carve out, as she had been busy preparing for her solo art exhibition. Alex had promised her a romantic evening at the gallery.

But now... he had no choice.

"Sorry, Luna," he whispered to his phone screen, sending a brief message: "Something urgent came up at the hospital. Tonight’s date is canceled. I’ll make it up to you another time."

Meanwhile, in a corner of the café, Luna sat in front of a TV playing an old song by a once-famous singer. The server casually remarked, "This singer was huge ten years ago, but she committed suicide over a broken heart." Luna saw Alex’s message, typed a few words, and hit "send."

Under the harsh white light of the operating room, Alex’s hemostat slipped, and blood splattered onto the shadowless lamp. The monitor blared an alarm, the nurse’s urgent voice overlapping with his father’s scolding tone in his memory: "Not decisive enough." When he tremblingly announced the time of death, the lingering warmth of the patient’s cooling skin in his palm reminded him of a failure he could never let Luna see.

Alex walked out of the operating room, his hand still holding the fading warmth of the deceased. He froze.

It was a stormy night when Luna, running a fever of 39 degrees, insisted on going to the orphanage to teach the children painting. Alex, furious, carried her home and pressed his stethoscope to her back: "Heart rate 128, temperature 38.7. You’re practically murdering my patient!" Her cheeks flushed with fever, she laughed: "Dr. Chen, your stethoscope is upside down..." Now, as he pressed against the cooling skin of the deceased, he wished he could still hear her mischievous laughter on the other end of the stethoscope.

When Alex wearily stepped out of the hospital building, it was already late at night. The spring breeze carried a chill, but he felt utterly hollow inside.

He opened his phone and saw Luna’s reply: "Okay, I understand." Just four words, calm and heartbreaking.

But Alex knew there was a deeper meaning behind this "lie"—it was the first time he had lied to Luna. As a doctor, he never broke promises at work, but in his personal life, this time, he had no choice but to evade.