Chapter 60

The weight in my chest was heavy, but not painful. Just… present.

Sleep was a strange fog. My skin was warm, too warm, but the cold cloth across my forehead offered some relief. Somewhere, in the distance of my haze, I heard voices.

Low. Gentle. Careful.

I didn't open my eyes right away. Maybe I couldn't. Maybe I didn't want to.

"She looks better," said a voice, soft like velvet over ice. Ana.

"She's burning less, but still too warm," Elias replied, his tone lower than usual. Protective. "She was pushing herself too hard. Has been for days."

A pause.

"She always pushes herself," Ana murmured. "Even when no one asks her to."

"Because no one ever did ask," Elias said. "She just learned to carry things on her own."

My fingers twitched beneath the blanket. I wanted to speak. To tell them I was awake. But something in their voices rooted me still.

"You're different around her," Ana said.

"And you're not?" he shot back, no venom in the words—just honesty.

Ana let out a breath. "I don't know what I am around her. Grateful. Guilty. Lost."

"She doesn't hate you," Elias said gently. "She's been worried. Even now, while she's running a fever, she asked about you before passing out."

Another pause. This one deeper.

"I watched her sleep for a few minutes," Ana admitted quietly, and something about that hit me deeper than I expected. "I've never seen anyone sleep like that… so still, like she finally gave up fighting."

"She trusts me," Elias said, almost more to himself than to Ana. "That's rare. She doesn't hand it out easily."

"Neither do I," Ana whispered.

I slowly blinked open my eyes. The light was dim, but I could see Elias seated beside me, still in the same chair, and Ana standing near the corner, arms crossed tightly over her chest. She looked… different. Like a shadow that didn't know whether to fade or stay.

"Are you two flirting or plotting my funeral?" I rasped, my voice dry and cracked.

Elias turned so fast his chair creaked. "Scarlett." Relief colored his tone. He reached for the water bottle on the nightstand and offered it to me. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a train that reversed and hit me again," I muttered, taking a sip and wincing. "How long was I out?"

"Most of the day," he said. "Your fever was bad, but it's going down now."

Ana stepped forward cautiously, her expression unreadable. "I just… wanted to check in," she said. "Didn't mean to intrude."

"You're not," I said quietly, sitting up with Elias' help. My body ached, and my skin still felt too hot. "I'm glad you came."

Something passed between us then. Not a reconciliation—no, it was too soon for that. But maybe a ceasefire. A quiet understanding between two girls who had seen too much and trusted too little.

Ana nodded once, eyes flicking between me and Elias. "I should go."

"You don't have to," I started, but she was already backing away, the wall going back up.

"Get some rest," she said instead, and then she was gone, the door clicking shut behind her.

Elias sighed and sat back down beside me. "Well. That was… progress."

I let out a tired, dry laugh. "You two looked like you were about to trauma bond over me."

"We might've," he said with a faint smirk. "But don't let it go to your head."

He handed me another cool cloth and I laid back down, the fever still buzzing faintly in my skin. But this time, I didn't feel alone.

Something had shifted in the storm. And I wasn't sure what was coming next—but I wasn't facing it on my own.