Confessions of Undying Love

The hospital hallway was a battlefield of romance, a stage set for yet another of Troy's legendary love confessions. Streamers hung across the walls, balloons floated lazily by the ceiling, and an arrangement of flowers stood at the center like an altar of devotion. Nurses whispered among themselves, trying—and failing—to suppress their laughter.

And then, the main event began.

"I love you, Sister Nina!"

Troy's voice echoed through the hallway, filled with dramatic intensity. He sat in the middle of his handcrafted spectacle, his grin as wide as ever.

From the other end of the hall, Nina Hosihima walked in, sighing as if she had just arrived at the scene of a crime she had witnessed one too many times. Her shoulder-length black hair bounced slightly as she moved, and her blue eyes—bright as a summer sky— flickered between amusement and exasperation.

"This has been your seventeenth love confession this week, Troy," Nina said, crossing her arms. "And it's only Thursday."

"Love knows no barriers, Nina-sempai!" Troy declared, holding out a single red rose toward her like an actor in a romance movie.

The problem? He wasn't standing.

He never was.

As he extended the flower with both hands, his legs remained still, motionless, resting in the seat of the wheelchair he had been bound to for six years. The scars running across them—evidence of the past he never spoke of—peeked through the hem of his hospital gown.

"Love is way beyond common sense! I read that true love can do anything!" Troy continued, his brown eyes sparkling with mischief.

"For the nth time, I am your nurse." Nina's voice carried the weight of playful frustration, but there was something else behind it—something soft. "And yes, I do like you, Troy. You're a strong kid, and I hope you get better."

The way she said hope didn't go unnoticed.

Troy tilted his head. His smile never wavered, but something in his chest twisted.

"Did you guys help him do this?" Nina turned to the other nurses, who were trying to act innocent. It didn't work.

"Maybe your love will cure me, Nina," Troy said, squinting his eyes in an attempt to look like a pleading kitten.

"That won't work on me, you love demon," she shot back, her voice full of amusement. "Now, let me see your legs."

Her expression shifted as she crouched beside his wheelchair, resting a hand just above his knee. Troy felt the warmth of her fingers, but—like always—he felt nothing beneath them.

"Do they still hurt?" Nina asked. Her tone was softer now.

Troy shrugged. "Not when you're around, Nina."

"Troy. Be serious."

The teasing dropped.

She looked up at him, her usual playful demeanor gone, replaced by something heavy.

"The pain is increasing, isn't it?" she asked. "I heard you screaming in your sleep last night. The head nurse told me. Don't lie."

Troy looked at the window, avoiding her gaze.

"It was just a nightmare." He forced a grin. "A nightmare where you left me."

Nina's breath hitched for a second.

She stood up, but before she could say anything, Troy pushed his wheelchair to the window, staring out at the hospital courtyard below.

"So," he said, voice quiet, "you're really leaving, huh?"

Nina froze.

"…Who told you that?"

"The head doctor," Troy answered, rolling the wheels of his chair slightly. "So I figured I'd make one last attempt to confess my love. Maybe you'd finally realize how amazing I am and sweep me off my feet." He smirked. "Well, maybe not literally."

Nina exhaled, running a hand through her hair.

"I'm not leaving, Troy. It's just a temporary break. I'll be back."

Troy turned his head, eyes serious.

"There's no need to lie to me, Nina." His voice was softer this time. "I get it. You have your own life. You can't stay here forever."

For the first time that day, Nina didn't have a snarky reply.

Troy swallowed, inhaled deeply, then grinned again. "So at least give me a goodbye kiss before you go. A final, tearful confession of your undying love, just like in the movies."

Nina narrowed her eyes.

"You watch too much TV."

"You should spoil me a little before you go," Troy said dramatically, spinning his wheelchair in place like some kind of romantic villain.

Nina shook her head. But underneath the exasperation, there was sadness.

Because she wasn't just his nurse.

She was the one who had seen him when he was at his lowest.

When he first arrived at the hospital, he was silent, detached, cold. His eyes—once full of life—had been dull, lifeless. He had refused help, refused comfort, refused hope.

But over the past year, something changed.

He smiled more. He laughed more. He fought to live again.

And a part of her knew—deep down—that she had played a role in that.

Even if Troy's love was playful, even if it was exaggerated, even if it was just a joke—

—she knew it was real.

She had to leave.

But there was a part of her that hated that fact.

"I'll come back tomorrow," Nina finally said. "With a gift. Not a goodbye gift. A promise—saying that I'll return."

Troy nodded, his usual grin back on his face.

"I'll be waiting, Nina."

And with that, she walked away, her footsteps fading down the hallway.

But Troy stayed at the window, watching as the sky outside darkened.

Troy lay in his hospital bed, half-asleep, his body trapped in a cycle of dull throbbing and sharp jolts of pain. It had been six years since the accident that stole his legs, and though time had dulled many things, the agony remained—growing worse with each passing day. He had learned to endure it, to wear his usual smirk like a mask, but when the nights stretched long and silent, the pain was his only companion.

The clock on the wall glowed 1:00 AM. The hospital was quiet except for the distant hum of machines and the occasional muffled voices of night-shift nurses. Sleep wasn't coming easy, so his thoughts wandered to his usual distraction—Nina Hosihima.

"Maybe Nina-sempai changed her mind about rejecting me and is sneaking in for a 'forbidden romance' before she leaves," Troy mused with a tired chuckle.

But as if his thoughts had summoned her, the door creaked open. A dark silhouette slipped inside, moving with quiet urgency. His drowsy mind thought it was a dream until the dim glow of the hallway light revealed Nina.

"Nin—"

"Shhh," she hushed him, pressing a finger to her lips as she swiftly locked the door behind her.

Troy blinked away his fatigue. Something was off. Nina had never snuck into his room like this before. Her usual relaxed posture was gone—her body was tense, her breath slightly uneven. Even in the dim light, he could see the weight in her shining blue eyes.

This wasn't the same Nina.

The kind but strict voluntary nurse who scolded him for skipping therapy, who playfully rejected his love confessions, who ruffled his hair whenever he acted ridiculous—this person standing before him felt different.

There was no playful smile, no teasing remarks. Just cold seriousness.

"Troy," she said, stepping closer to his bed, her voice quieter than he had ever heard it. "Listen to me carefully."

Troy's playful smirk faded.

"I will now give you something. It will either take everything from you… or it will help you reach greater heights."

She pulled something from her coat pocket—a syringe. The liquid inside glowed faintly green, swirling unnaturally under the dim light.

His eyes flickered from the syringe to Nina's face.

"You look like you're about to inject me with alien blood, Nina," Troy said, forcing his usual grin. "If this turns me into a lizard person, I'll be very upset."

"This isn't a joke, Troy," she snapped, her tone sharper than ever.

Troy tensed.

The usually composed Nina now looked conflicted—her fingers tightened around the syringe, her breathing steady but forced. The warmth in her eyes was real, but there was something beneath it… something buried deep.

Troy had never seen this shade of Nina before.

Who was she really?

Still, Troy was Troy. He never backed down, never hesitated in the face of the unknown especially if that unknown was his love.

His smirk returned, even as his mind screamed at him to be careful.

"Even if you were to give me poison, my love, I would eagerly drink it like it was the nectar of the gods."

For the first time in his life, he saw Nina visibly cringe.

"Was it really that cringy?" Troy thought to himself.

Before he could throw out another joke, she jabbed the needle into his neck.

The moment the glowing green liquid entered his bloodstream, the world shattered.

An explosion of searing agony ripped through his body, unlike anything he had ever experienced. It was as if every nerve, every cell, every molecule inside him was being torn apart and reconstructed all at once.

Troy had endured pain for years. The accident, the surgeries, the endless physical therapy—he thought he had conquered suffering.

He was wrong.

His brain felt like it was being dissected, knowledge forcing its way inside him, his very existence unraveling.

He couldn't breathe. He couldn't scream.

His body was breaking.

Through the unbearable torment, he barely registered Nina's voice.

"Fight through it, Troy," she whispered, her voice suddenly distant. "Fight through it… and hopefully, we see each other again."

Darkness swallowed him whole.