She’s in a hundred snapshots in my mind—laughing until she hiccups, crying until she can’t breathe, curling into me like I’m the only safe place she knows. Every kiss. Every fight. Every whispered promise under moonlight and stars.
How the hell does that just disappear?
How do I disappear?
No. No, fuck that. I won’t let her forget me.
I can’t.
A nurse touches my arm. Gentle. Guiding. Before I know it, I’m sinking into a chair. My whole body locks up, hands gripping the armrests like I’m bracing for a crash that’s already happened.
I want to scream. Punch a wall. Tear this whole place apart until the universe remembers she’s mine and I’m hers.
But I just sit there.
Drowning.
Because the girl I love more than life—the girl who knows me, who sees me—looked right through me like I’m nothing. Like I’m a stranger.
The world blurs. Voices. Machines. Footsteps. Static. All of it fades beneath the bone-deep thud of my heart splitting open.
Then the silence shatters.
“Nooooo…!”
Her scream rips through the hallway like a blade to the chest. My body jolts before my brain can catch up.
“BRADEN!”
His name hits like a gunshot.
Hope detonates inside me—messy, desperate. If she remembers him, then maybe—maybe—she remembers me.
My feet slam the floor. Heart racing. Breath burning. As I sprint for her door. Through the small window, I see her—Mac—wild and unraveling. Her arms flail, knocking over a tray, water and flowers shattering on the floor. Her screams tear through the air like thunder.
I freeze. Every muscle screams at me to move, but I don’t. Not when she’s like this. Not if she doesn’t want me near her.
Then she screams again.
It’s all it takes.
I lunge for the handle. My hands are slick, shaking, but I yank like I can tear down the barrier between us with sheer will.
A nurse steps in my path.
“Sir, you can’t—”
“I have to see her.”
My voice is low. Firm. I don’t blink. I don’t back down.
She hesitates—a single beat.
It’s all I need.
I slip past her.
Into chaos.
