Whitney’s absence left a shadow over everything. I knew I should have been happy — there were two lives growing inside , and joy should have co naturally. But grief doesn’t ask permission, and mine had settled in like it intended to stay.
I followed the nutritionist’s plan without missing a al. The morning sickness had passed. On the outside, everything looked fine. But every ti I woke up, sothing felt hollowed out, like a piece of hadn’t made it back from the cliff that day. I’d lost interest in almost everything, and I was sleeping more than I should have been. I couldn’t na what was wrong with . I just knew sothing was.
I stopped going out. I stayed ho, kept to myself, and let the days blur together. Lewis was getting busier, but I could tell he was carving out every spare hour to be with . I didn’t want to be another thing he had to worry about, so I smiled and started conversations and tried to seem like I was holding together. He would stroke my hair and look at with so much warmth, and I could see sothing behind his eyes — concern he was choosing not to voice. He was still gentle, still loving, still present. But he never brought up Whitney. That silence sat in my chest like a stone no one else could move.
The news ca through eventually — Whitney and Vito’s work had led to the dismantling of several criminal networks, innocent people rescued, criminals convicted. Every stronghold in Snowville had been shut down. It should have ant sothing to . It didn’t. I sat with the information and felt nothing. What did any of it matter? When I had needed saving, no one had co. Whitney was gone. My family had splintered apart. This world had taken everything and kept moving.
One evening, knowing how exhausted Lewis was, I cut so fruit and carried it to his study. The door was already open. He was at his desk, phone to his ear, his voice low and strained. I thought it might be news about Whitney, so I stayed in the doorway and listened.
"Yes, her condition has worsened." A pause. "She’s sleeping too much, no interest in anything. The mory gaps are getting worse. Just tonight, she brought fruit three tis."
The plate slipped from my hands.
It shattered on the floor, fruit scattering everywhere. Lewis heard it imdiately and ca to . "Elena, are you hurt?"
"No. My hands just slipped." I looked at him, and I could feel the confusion on my own face. "Carl — am I sick?"
"You’re not—"
"I heard what you said. You said my condition is serious." I held his gaze. "What’s wrong with ?"
He was quiet for a mont, then he told plainly. "It’s depression, Elena. The hormonal changes, the pregnancy, losing Whitney, everything that’s been building — it’s affected your body and your mind both. This happens. It doesn’t an sothing is permanently broken."
I looked down at the scattered fruit. "So I really did bring you fruit three tis tonight?"
He nodded.
I had no mory of any of it.
"How long has this been going on?"
"It started after the cliff. In the beginning it wasn’t as noticeable. About half a month ago, one of the staff ntioned you were doing things that seed off — repeating questions within the sa breath, like the first ti you’d asked had already slipped away. That’s when I consulted soone." He hesitated. "You’re still pregnant, so dication isn’t straightforward, but—"
"But what?"
His voice stayed even, but I saw the effort it cost him. "In more advanced stages, there’s a risk of self-harm. Or harm to the baby."
Harm the baby.
I shook my head. "Lewis, that’s not possible. I want these babies more than anything. I would never—" I stopped myself, reaching for sothing lighter. "Carl, we find out the gender in two weeks, right?"
His expression shifted. I caught it imdiately. "Did I have an episode just now? Did I say sothing wrong?"
"Two weeks ago, we already found out." His voice was careful and soft. "Do you rember?"
I stared at him. "The baby is..."
"A boy and a girl."
Sothing in my throat closed up. I managed a small smile. "That’s wonderful. I’m sorry. I’m just tired. I didn’t an to—"
Lewis pulled into his arms and held there, one hand moving slowly over the back of my head. "Elena, it’s okay. Everyone gets sick. This isn’t the end of anything. You’re going to be fine."
"I’ll be fine," I repeated. "I know I will."
But even as I said it, the tears ca. He wiped them away without a word.
"Carl, how could I forget sothing like that? How big they are, what they are — how could that just leave ?"
"You haven’t forgotten," he said gently. "These past weeks, you’ve been drowning in grief. You built walls around yourself to keep the pain out, and those sa walls started keeping everything else out too. Your mind is trying to protect you. That’s all this is."
I felt the anxiety tighten in my chest. "I haven’t forgotten you, have I?"
He looked at steadily. "Do you want to forget ?"
"We’re bonded," I said. "Across more than one lifeti. I could never forget you. That’s not sothing that fades."
"Then what are you afraid of?"
He said it quietly, and I didn’t have an answer.
"Focus on the babies," he said. "Nothing else. As you get further along, we’ll bring in more help. And once they’re here, if you’re still feeling this way, we’ll get you proper treatnt. One thing at a ti."
"Okay."
"No pressure. Just rest."
I nodded and let him guide back to bed. "I’ll stay ho. I won’t go anywhere. I don’t want to be a burden."
"You’re not a burden." He tucked the blanket around like it was sothing that mattered to get right.
I lay against him and breathed him in — that deep, grounding scent that my instincts had always recognised before my mind caught up. It steadied sothing in that words couldn’t reach. "Carl, what about the organisation? Where does everything stand?"
"We’re tracking the Erald Dragon faction. They scattered when we moved on their stronghold, but it’s only a matter of ti."
I exhaled slowly. So many people had died because of them. "They’re still alive?"
"Yes. Over the years they used things they shouldn’t have — experintal substances, procedures done in the dark, things that changed their appearance enough to slip through. That’s how they got out when we hit them. But they won’t stay hidden."
"When did you move on them?"
"Recently. We didn’t tell you because we didn’t want you worrying. For now, just stay ho. I’m arranging for a therapist to co here in the next few days."
"I’ll do whatever they say. For the babies."
Lewis rubbed slow circles on my back. "Sleep now. Goodnight."
I drifted off faster than I expected. But just before I went under, I thought I heard a soft exhale — barely there, like sothing quietly released.
I wasn’t sure if it was him.
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