Page 33

KATERINA

The hospital room is too quiet. Too sterile. Too still. Too much like every worst-case scenario that has ever haunted me.

Aiden is lying in the hospital bed, pale against the stark white sheets, an IV hooked up to his arm, his normally sharp eyes dulled with exhaustion.

He looks small like this, vulnerable in a way I’ve never seen before. And I don’t like it. But I hate the alternative more.

Because this? This means Sophia has a chance. And now, I’m here—watching over him, waiting for him to wake up, wishing I could somehow absorb his pain, do something to make this easier.

The door opens softly, and I glance up to see Will standing

there, his face drawn with worry. “He’s still out?”

he asks quietly.

I nod, looking back at Aiden’s face. “Yeah.”

Will exhales, rubbing a hand down his face as he walks further into the room. “You know, he acts like nothing gets to him, but this? This took a lot out of him.”

I swallow the lump in my throat, my fingers curling around Aiden’s hand. “I know.”

Will watches me for a moment before sitting down across from me. “Thanks for being here.”

I glance at him, surprised. “Of course I’m here. Where else would I be?”

Will smirks slightly. “If you’d asked me a few months ago, I’d have guessed anywhere but here.”

I let out a dry laugh. “Yeah, well. A lot has changed.”

Will’s smirk fades into something softer. “Yeah. It has.”

Silence stretches between us, comfortable but heavy. Finally, Will sighs, pushing himself up. “I’m going to check on Sophia. Maria’s with her now, but she’ll want an update.”

I nod. “Tell her I’ll come by soon.”

Will hesitates for a second, then nods and slips out of the room, leaving me alone with Aiden again.

I exhale, shifting in my chair, adjusting the blanket I threw over him earlier.

His fingers twitch and my heart leaps into my throat. “Aiden?”

His eyelids flutter, his brow pinching slightly before his eyes slowly open, unfocused and hazy.

“Angel Face?”

His voice is hoarse, barely above a whisper.

I bite my lip, relief crashing over me. “Yeah. I’m here.”

Aiden blinks up at me, confusion flickering across his features as he takes in his surroundings. “Hospital?”

I nod, squeezing his hand. “You just had surgery, remember?”

His eyes close for a second before he groans, shifting slightly.

“Feels like I got hit by a truck.”

I roll my eyes, biting back a smile. “That’s because you decided to donate part of your actual body, of course you’ll feel like shit.”

He smirks weakly. “Flattering, Goldie.”

I huff, but my chest is tight, my heart still hammering in my ribs. “You scared me, you know.”

Aiden’s smirk falters. He studies me for a long moment, his expression unreadable, before his fingers squeeze mine lightly. “I’m okay.”

I shake my head, my throat burning. “I was terrified of something happening to you.”

His eyes soften. “It’s Sophia.”

I sigh, pressing my forehead against our joined hands.

“You’re impossible.”

I mutter, caressing his jaw, as I gaze at his eyes.

Aiden chuckles weakly. “And yet, you love me.”

My breath catches.

I freeze.

Aiden’s smirk is still in place, but there’s something real behind his words, something raw and unguarded. Something that terrifies me. I don’t say anything.

I can’t.

Because I don’t know what to say, but Aiden just watches me, his fingers tracing slow, lazy circles against my skin, like he’s waiting for me to catch up.

Like he already knows.

I swallow hard, glancing toward the door. “Will went to check on Sophia. I should—”

Aiden’s grip tightens. “Stay.”

I inhale sharply, looking back at him.

His gaze is steady, unwavering, even as exhaustion weighs down his features.

“Stay with me.”

My heart stumbles over itself. How can I say no?

Aiden is the worst patient. I should’ve expected it. The guy doesn’t know how to sit still for more than five minutes, and now, being forced to recover after donating his stem cells, he’s practically climbing the walls.

“Kat, I swear to God, if you try to make me drink another smoothie, I’m going to lose my mind.”

I narrow my eyes at him from across the kitchen.

“You just had surgery, Aiden. Your body needs proper nutrition.”

He groans, slumping further into the couch like a petulant child.

“I need real food.”

I cross my arms.

“You need to stop being a stubborn idiot and listen to me.”

Aiden lifts a brow, smirking. “You like bossing me around, don’t you?”

I grab a pillow from the armchair and chuck it at him.

“Shut up and drink your smoothie, Aidy.”

He catches it easily, grinning.

“You’re lucky I’m too weak to fight back.”

I roll my eyes but bite back a smile.

The truth is, I don’t mind taking care of him. If anything, it’s nice—making sure he’s resting, keeping him from overexerting himself, having an excuse to be close to him without overthinking it. It feels normal in a way I wasn’t expecting.

And it’s easier to focus on him than on the what-ifs that still linger in the back of my mind. But today, for the first time in weeks, we finally get some good

News. Sophia’s numbers are up.

Her body is responding to the transplant, and when Will calls to tell us, I watch Aiden’s entire body sag with relief.

“That’s—”

He exhales, shaking his head like he can’t believe it. “That’s good. That’s really fucking good.”

I nod, squeezing his hand. “It’s working.”

Aiden blinks rapidly, looking away like he’s trying to keep it together. “Yeah.”

I don’t say anything else. I just slide my fingers between his,

letting him hold on as tightly as he needs.

Later that night, I wake up to the sound of his voice. It takes me a second to register what’s happening. I’m half-asleep, curled up under a blanket on the couch, when I hear him in the other room. His voice is low, tight with frustration.

“No, Dad, you don’t get to pretend you care now.” I freeze.

Dad.

Aiden’s dad. The one who barely exists in his life, the one who has never been there for Sophia, the one who walked away and stayed away.

I sit up, my stomach twisting as Aiden’s voice grows sharper. “She’s not a fucking disease,”

he snaps, his voice getting louder

. “She’s your daughter, and she’s fighting for her life, and you can’t even be bothered to—”

A pause. A long one.

I hear Aiden exhale, the kind of breath that sounds like he’s trying not to break something.

“Right,”

he finally says, voice quieter now. “That’s what I thought.”

Another silence, then a harsh laugh, bitter and cold.

“Yeah, well. Don’t worry. I’ve been taking care of things

without you for a long time. We don’t need you now.”

And then— Aiden hangs up. I don’t know how long I sit there, my heart pounding, waiting for him to come back into the living room. When he finally does, his jaw is tight, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

He stops when he sees me awake, his expression flickering

with something unreadable. “You heard that?”

I nod slowly. “Yeah.”

Aiden rubs a hand over his face, letting out a rough sigh. “It’s fine.”

I raise an eyebrow. “That didn’t sound fine.”

He exhales through his nose, shaking his head. “It’s nothing I didn’t already know.”

I hesitate, watching the way his muscles are tensed, like he’s holding everything inside, refusing to let himself feel it.

So, I stand up, crossing the room before I can talk myself out of it, and wrap my arms around his waist. Aiden stiffens. For a second, he doesn’t react at all, but then his arms wrap around me, his body sinking into mine as he exhales slowly, his breath warm against my hair. We don’t speak. We don’t need to. He just holds onto me, and I let him.

And for once, Aiden Knight doesn’t have to be strong alone.