I watched the nursing staff settle Edward into his wheelchair.

“They said mobility will take time. I’ve already scheduled a physiotherapist,” Mom said.

I nodded. Did I imagine the last two days? I wondered. I wondered about the last two days—the nights, the mornings, and his threat. Whenever I look at him, I see only the deep void in his eyes. I remember falling asleep outside and waking up inside, not knowing how I got there. Before that, he grabbed my neck. I could almost feel his touch, his voice, and his lips brushing against my skin.

And now, in a wheelchair, he looks pale and vulnerable, not at all how he felt a day ago. Maybe this is a medical issue. I looked at Mom; even if I told her, she wouldn’t believe me.

There is only one way to know.

I followed as my mother took over the wheelchair, clutching the little duffel bag. They handed Edward a copy to sign. He took the pen, looked at it, and rotated it a little around his fingers as if he had never seen it before.

The way he tilts his head looks a little bit weird. I shook off the strange feeling I have whenever I see him move.

He signed and returned the papers; the receptionist and the nurse nodded. The nurse started to give Mom a crash course on all the things she needs to keep in mind.

“Why don’t you take Edward outside, and I will be right back?”

“Huh…” I stretched my hand to take the handle of the wheelchair, hesitating, and he looked at me… waiting. Mom stepped away, and I took charge of the wheelchair with a small nod. After a steadying breath, I began to push.

As we reached the driveway, I adjusted the duffel bag on my shoulder. The glare of the sun was intense, forcing me to squint and look away. I felt Edward shift. I moved to the side to see what he was doing and caught my breath.

Edward was looking at the sun without blinking. The shape of his eyes looked different under the sun, sharper and more focused. His lashes created a shadow as sunlight caressed his colourless cheeks. Something flickered behind his eyes, and his lashes fluttered. The green of his eyes lightened, looking more grey. A feeling that I was witnessing something monumental dawned on me.

“What are you doing?” My hand shot up over his head to shade his eyes. “Staring at the sun like that can damage your eyes.” I didn’t want to sound concerned, but it slipped out anyway.

His eyes moved from the sun to me; he blinked like he was remembering something. I became aware of the sun’s heat on the back of my hand. His gaze seemed to brush against me. I caught my breath as he raised his hand softly sliding against it. My heart jumped to skin to skin contact and I stepped back. Before I could pull away, his grip tightened, making my breath hitch. He brushed my knuckles with his thumb. I stumbled, stepping forward. Arrested in his gaze.

“Is everything alright?”

I pulled my hand away, and he looked away with a small smirk. I looked at mom, guilt gnawed at me, and then I remembered my plan.

“Oh, shoot!”

“What is it?” Mom asked.

“I forgot my purse. I’ll be back in a sec.” My heart raced, and I avoided Edward’s eyes, though I could feel his stoic gaze fixed on me as I ran back in.

I had already informed Dr Parashar that I wanted to talk about Edward, and I quickly went to the reception. She called his cabin, but after two attempts, no one picked up. The nurse told me to wait. I bit back a curse. Come on now—I needed to talk to him. I bounced on my knees where I was standing.

After waiting a minute or two, I said, “Can you try again, please? I don’t have much—”

An earth-shattering scream split the air, chilling my blood. Every head in the hallway turned as a nurse came running. Someone caught her before she tripped.

“Dr Parashar—he is… he is…dead!” she gasped, struggling to breathe. Staff dressed in white rushed down the hallway.

I stood there, mouth agape, my knees weak, as someone bumped into me. Then I followed where everyone was headed. Several people crowded the door, and a security guard tried to control them.

Then I saw it—through the gaps between heads, straining to look. I had only seen the doctor three times. He was a middle-aged man with a soft, understanding face. But now it was pale, his throat split open, blood dripping onto the white floor.

I gasped, covering my mouth, and stumbled back—but a hand came to my waist, steadying me. I looked to the side and then down, meeting those familiar, now dark green eyes. In the hospital light, they looked eerie.

How…my heart lodged in my throat.

“Careful, little bird,” he whispered.

My lips parted, trying to say something, or I think I wanted to…but my heartbeat was too loud, drowning out any thought. I took a trembling breath, my muscles tightening as his hand clenched harder on my hip. I almost recoiled.

“This is so horrible,” my mother’s voice pulled me out of the trance.

I let out a breath, jolting out of his hold, breaking eye contact—leaving behind a faint chill. My eyes snapped to Mom, wondering if she had noticed, but she was staring wide-eyed ahead of us.

“Are you alright, dear?” Mom turned to me. “Look at you, you’re so pale.” Then her eyes, too, shifted to the gruesome scene. “Come on, this is not a place to be.” She pushed me out of the crowd and started pushing Edward.

I looked back at Edward, who was nonchalantly watching as the security guard succeeded in parting the crowd and securing the area.

“Who would do this?” my mother muttered under her breath, but her words felt distant.

Edward, in his wheelchair, was looking into the cabin, unflinchingly at the blood that had burned behind my eyelids forever.

Under the hospital lights, the lazy tilt of his head let his dark hair fall into his eyes. Beneath those shadowed strands, his eyes looked even darker. As Mom pushed him back to the exit, I fell back behind them.

There was a coldness…a sharpness and more defined angles in his face I hadn’t noticed before. The corners of his lips curved slightly as our eyes met again for a fleeting moment. The ache I felt looking at him when we stepped out into the sun before looked like a different reality. The doctor was dead, murdered. There could be thousands of explanations for this, but my eyes tracked Edward’s expression, who was now looking straight ahead.

I snapped my gaze forward, stopping myself from thinking something that should be impossible.

But still, I couldn’t stop the strange feeling twisting in my chest.​