Kelly
The hospital room was quiet except for the steady beeping of the monitor beside Anderson’s bed. The air smelled sterile, cold, almost suffocating.
I stood by the door, arms crossed, watching him. He looked thinner than I remembered, paler too. His once-sharp features were dulled with exhaustion, and his usually piercing blue eyes seemed… tired.
Anderson looked at me like he didn’t quite believe I was real. Like if he blinked, I would disappear.
“You came,” he rasped.
I swallowed, keeping my expression neutral. “You asked me to.”
A humorless chuckle left his lips. “Yeah,” he murmured. “I did.”
Silence stretched between us. He shifted in the bed, wincing slightly, then ran a trembling hand through his thinning hair.
“I don’t know where to start,” he admitted.
I
