The sound of rain mixed with sirens as they rushed Lauren to the hospital.
Blood still flowed from the deep cut on her head. Her body was cold, pale, and lifeless.
"Move, move!" the nurses shouted as the stretcher rolled through the bright hallway.
Adrian followed right behind, drenched and trembling, his eyes red and wild.
Inside the operating room, the doors slammed shut.
For what felt like hours, he stood outside, hands clenched, pacing, whispering her name again and again like a prayer that refused to end.
When the doors finally opened, the doctor stepped out, face pale under the fluorescent lights.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Yates… we tried everything. Her heart"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Adrian snapped, grabbing the front of the man's coat.
"Get back in there and save her! If she dies, I swear I'll burn this whole hospital to the ground!"
The doctor froze, his lips trembling. Nurses exchanged terrified glances. But there was nothing more they could do.
The line on the monitor inside had already gone still.
Adrian's knees gave out. The world felt silent except for the pounding of his heart.
Hours later, when the children arrived, no longer the small kids who once ran into her arms, but grown teens with eyes full of grief, they entered the room quietly.
The machines had been turned off. The room smelled of antiseptic and rain.
"Mom…" her daughter whispered, voice breaking.
Her son's hands shook as he touched her cold fingers.
Lauren could hear them. She could hear everything.
Their cries, their words, her husband's heavy breathing as he stood beside her bed.
But she couldn't move. Couldn't speak. Couldn't tell them she was there, listening, aching to hold them one last time.
Adrian leaned closer, pressing his forehead against her cold hand.
"I was too blind, Lauren. Too proud," he whispered.
"I thought we had time. I thought you'd always be there. I should have fought harder… should have protected you. If I had known what they did, what they fed you, the lies they told you, I would have torn the world apart for you."
His tears fell on her skin, warm and heavy.
"I loved you, even when you left. Every day, every night, I loved you."
He kissed her hand, voice breaking.
"If there's another life… please, come back to me. I'll find you again."
Darkness took her once more, but this time, it felt gentle, almost merciful.