Morning arrived warm, carrying in its breezes the scent of fading spring flowers and the gentle creeping heat of summer into the city. Golden sunlight filtered through the windows, bathing the rooms in its soft hue, and the chirping of birds drifted from among the slender branches.
Rina, her hair hastily tied up, stood in the middle of the living room, staring at her phone and waving her hand nervously, her voice slightly raised:
Rina (staring intently at her phone): "Eileen, hurry up! Stop eating, you'll miss the bus!"
Their mother sat calmly at the breakfast table, lightly raising her coffee cup, the aroma of coffee filling the air. She smiled indifferently, then commented, looking at her daughter from the corner of her eye:
Mother (in a soft, sarcastic voice): "That's because she spends too long in front of the mirror getting ready."
Sera: "Wake her up earlier then."
Their mother sighed slowly, placing her cup on the saucer with a faint clink: "She doesn't want to, and she's as stubborn as her father."
Eileen quickly rose from her chair, wiping her hands: "Alright, alright, one last bite… and now I'm leaving!"
Rina quickly followed her, grabbing her bag from the sofa: "Wait, let's go together!"
The mother and Sera remained alone, beginning to clear the table, the sound of dishes clinking softly.
Sera (opening a small cabinet and examining an empty can): "Mom, the cat food ran out this morning."
Their mother nodded: "I'll go buy it… and maybe explore the city a bit. Aren't you going to look for a job today?"
Sera closed the cabinet door with a slight force and said in a flexible tone: "Yes, of course, but I won't go out early."
Outside, Aiden's friend stood in front of the apartment, holding his phone, looking around anxiously and calling out a little loudly:
"Aiden! Come on, answer me!"
Their mother, putting her bag on her shoulder and looking from the apartment door towards Sera, said in a serious tone:
Mother (anxiously): "Sera, close the door well, and don't open it for anyone… except us, understood?"
Sera smiled, pointing two fingers towards her eyes then to the door, as if confirming her vigilance: "Don't worry, I'll be careful!"
She closed the door slowly, but as soon as it was shut, a strange, heavy feeling enveloped her. She placed her hand on her chest, her features changed, her pulse quickened, and she felt as if her heart wanted to leap from her ribs.
Sera (whispering to herself, with wide eyes): "Why… do I care about Aiden like this?"
Without thinking, she stepped towards her room's balcony. The air touched her face, making strands of her hair sway slightly. She looked at the opposite balcony… Aiden's balcony. It was still, motionless, silent. His absence was palpable, and unsettling. She placed a ladder between the two balconies then climbed the trembling ladder with feet that almost betrayed her, every muscle in her body taut, her left hand extended forward to balance herself. The summer air brushed her face.
She whispered to herself between ragged breaths, as if trying to silence her terror: "Sera… don't look down… don't look down…"
Every step she climbed was a blow to her heart, every exhale she made was trembling, as if she was walking on fragile air.
Finally, after an exhausting struggle, she reached the edge of Aiden's balcony. She slowly lifted her foot, gathered her courage, and lightly jumped inside, her heel hitting the floor with an eerie quietness. She slowly straightened up, then couldn't resist the urge to look down.
She gasped: "Oh my God… if I fell… I'd be a dead body now…!"
She lightly slapped her cheek, as if wanting to wake her mind from its madness, and muttered with a confused smile: "Sera, reckless… you're a crazy girl!"
She entered the living room from the balcony door, and stopped, mesmerized.
The sunlight seemed to pour honey onto the place. Before her, a charcoal-colored leather sofa, with gray and copper cushions, arranged around a low glass table with shiny black edges.
The walls were sandy beige, adorned with photographs of deserted city alleys, mounted in elegant black frames. The scene suggested solitude… elegant isolation.
To the right, a dark wooden cabinet, containing books with foreign titles, string-bound volumes, and some small bronze statues, one of which was a masked face, silently watching the place with an eerie quietness.
Sera sat on the edge of the sofa, observing everything with her wide brown eyes, gleaming with astonishment and curiosity.
She whispered, as if talking to herself: "Aiden… is not just a police officer…"
She looked towards the door, her heart quickening: "Did I do all this… and he's not even here? Did he leave?"
She nervously lowered her head to the ground, and suddenly… she saw small drops of blood dripping onto the shiny wood.
She trembled, her eyes widened, and she stepped back: "Blood?! Why… is there blood?"
Her heartbeats became drums pounding in her ears. She furrowed her brows, and slowly extended her hand towards the handle of the only closed door. "Should I… really open it?" A cautious, hesitant look, then determination swallowed her: "And why am I here in the first place?"
She turned the handle very gently, her chest rising and falling, and the door opened with a faint sound, as if groaning from captivity.
Aiden lay on the bed, his body drenched in sweat, his face frighteningly pale. The room was slightly dark, and the air was eerily still.
Sera approached with cautious steps, her knees trembling. Her voice came out broken and faint:
"Aiden… Aiden? I just… wanted to check on you… yesterday you looked like you were injured…"
He didn't move. He didn't answer.
Her breathing quickened, and her heart pounded in her chest. She slowly extended her hand, as if touching a flame, and placed it on his forehead. It was hot… hotter than normal.
She gently pulled back the cover… she gasped.
His arm was bleeding, his blood partially dried but forming a small pool beneath his body.
Sera recoiled in fear, her hand over her mouth, but she quickly composed herself. She approached him and began to shake him gently:
"Aiden! Aiden, wake up!"
He finally opened his eyes, his voice hoarse, barely audible, he muttered: "…S-… Sera…"
Sera quickly bent down, opened the wound dressing, found a bottle of antiseptic on the table, disinfected it, and re-wrapped the bandage, this time expertly.
Then she quickly looked around: "My phone… no phone! I didn't bring my phone…!"
She looked at him pleadingly: "Aiden, please… the password, give me your phone's password!"
He whispered with his dry lips: "…23…10…09"
Sera opened the phone with trembling hands, the faint screen light casting shadows on her face, which was fraught with worry and tension. The number of missed calls was increasing, each unanswered ring, each unreturned attempt, like a silent echo of something unknown threatening the calm.
She whispered to herself in a low voice: "Aiden… if you don't answer, everything might collapse."
Suddenly, his body moved slowly, heavily, trying to sit up, his eyes bearing the burden of deep fatigue and unspoken bitterness. She looked at him carefully as he spoke with difficulty: "How… how did you get in?"
Sera caught her breath, her lips trembling, her words coming out as a disturbed confession: "I jumped… across the ladder… I couldn't leave you like that… I only know you from yesterday, but… I couldn't bear the thought of you being alone."
He smiled faintly, a mix of pain and surrender, as if trying to hide his weakness behind it: "I'm… used to bearing pain alone… nothing new."
She looked at the blood-stained bandage on the table, her fingers gently touching its surface, and said in a firm voice, choked with tenderness: "This isn't endurance… this is neglect. I can't see your blood drying, and you doing nothing."
She slowly approached, her hands trembling slightly as she placed one on his trembling hand, and a look of genuine fear appeared on her face:
He closed his eyes for a moment, as if trying to resist a wave of pain or a feeling of brokenness, then whispered in a voice tinged with weakness: "You… weren't really scared?"
Her lips trembled and a simple confession appeared on her face: "I was scared… more than you can imagine… but I couldn't… I couldn't leave you."
She sighed slowly, then said with a firmness not devoid of confusion: "I'll call an ambulance now, we can't delay any longer."
He looked at her in silence for seconds, as if his mind was trying to grasp a moment of peace in the midst of the storm. Then he smiled faintly, as if drawing some strength from it, and whispered in a tired tone: "Do you know how to drive?"
Sera blinked, a moment of silence passed between them, then she laughed softly, trying to lighten the weight of the moment although worry still floated in her eyes: "Yes… don't worry. An ambulance driver will drive the car."
A shadow of a real smile seemed to appear for a moment in his eyes, then he said in a weaker tone, but full of something like pleading: "Sera… I mean… my car. Can you drive it?"
Sera swallowed, her heart fluttered for a moment, then she replied in a low voice, with some bewilderment and some determination: "I haven't driven in a long time… but… if it will save you… then let's go… before your condition worsens."
Their gazes met again, calmer, less hurried, as if the moment gave them space to breathe. And in those glances, despite the thick shadows surrounding Aiden, and despite the questions yet unasked — a faint warmth seeped in, the beginning of an invisible bond, quietly forming amidst the chaos of the heart and the storm outside.
Sera carefully took Aiden's arm, trying to support him as he staggered with heavy steps out of the elevator. His arm was unusually warm, and his fever worried her. Her eyes never left his pale features, and fear ignited within her chest every time she saw him in pain.
She quickly got into the car and sat behind the wheel. Her hand trembled as she gripped it, and her breathing quickened. Her other hand gently touched the brake, as if afraid to hurt it, and the warmth of her cheeks was like a hidden fever.
Beside her, Aiden lay almost reclined, his head swaying, his eyes slowly opening and closing. His voice came out as faint, fading breaths: "Trust… yourself."
Sera bit her lower lip, trying to hold back her tears, then muttered in a trembling voice, almost pleading: "Yes… yes, I will… just stay with me, Aiden… don't close your eyes, please."
But his eyes slowly closed, and he drifted into a silent unconsciousness.
She drove quickly, ignoring traffic lights and the panic that choked her throat. Every second that passed felt like it was gnawing at her patience.
At the hospital, time passed with deadly slowness.
Sera sat on the edge of the chair, her hands clasped in her lap. She looked at the closed door as if waiting for it to return her breath. After minutes that felt like an eternity, the nurse came out of the room, bringing a glimmer of hope.
Sera, her voice choked, her heart hanging on her answer: "Please… how is he?"
The nurse smiled gently: "Don't worry. We stitched the wound and put him on IV fluids… he'll wake up soon. He arrived just in time."
Sera gasped in relief, and her tears flowed without her realizing it. All the fear, all the tension, all the silent roads she had driven, turned into a single tear.
She sat silently beside the bed, watching the drops of saline slowly seep into Aiden's veins. Her eyes moved between the IV tube, his relaxed hand that seemed lifeless, then rose to his face, which was pale.
Strands of his hair gently fell over his forehead. She sighed deeply, stood up quietly, then leaned towards him. She hesitantly extended her hand, as if touching a dream, and gently ran her delicate fingers through his hair with tender affection, checking his temperature with her palm. She whispered in a broken voice filled with confused emotion, as her fingers touched his long eyelashes that resembled the shadows of an unfulfilled dream:
"Is what I feel… the truth, Aiden? Is my heart deceiving me, or have you become… more than just someone I met?"