The ER smelled like antiseptic and fluorescent lights.
Regina sat in the hospital bed, pale and shaken. Julian lay on the bed beside her, arm bandaged, face bruised, but conscious. He kept insisting he was fine, but the nurse told him to stay still. He winced every time he tried to sit up.
Connor hadn't left the waiting room.
Not once.
He just sat there, dripping wet from the rain, hoodie clinging to his skin, fingers tangled in his hair. His eyes stayed locked on the door to her room, jaw clenched so tightly it looked painful.
Inside, Regina finally asked the question that had been stuck in her throat for hours:
"Connor… you're not human?"
He raised his head slowly.
His voice came out low. Hoarse. Almost… ashamed.
"I'm a werewolf." A beat.
"But I swear to you… I love you."
The words echoed in the sterile room, warm and raw against the cold tile floor.
Regina's eyes filled again, for the hundredth time tonight.
She looked away, then back at him, voice breaking:
"You disappeared." "You stopped replying. You didn't even say goodbye."
She wiped at her face with the edge of the hospital blanket.
"You shut me out, Connor. And I—I waited. Every day I waited."
Her voice cracked like glass.
"Do you know what it's like to miss someone who left you with nothing?"
Connor's expression shattered.
He took a step closer, but didn't touch her.
"I was trying to protect you," he whispered. "There are things I can't explain yet… but I never stopped thinking about you."
From the corner of the room, Mandy snorted.
"Ugh. I'm gonna puke. What is this, a Hallmark special?"
They both turned to look at her.
She crossed her arms, leaning on the doorframe like she'd seen this scene a hundred times before.
"You two figure your mess out. I'm not babysitting tonight."
She turned with a flick of her ponytail.
"I'm leaving. Ciao~"
The door swung shut behind her with a soft click.
Julian stirred slightly, groaning.
Regina looked down at him, then up at Connor—this boy she had loved, this boy who wasn't even fully human, this boy who still made her heart skip even now.
Her head throbbed. Her chest ached. Her future suddenly looked like a twisted storybook with teeth.
But even through all the confusion and fear…
She whispered, "Don't leave me again."
Connor stepped forward, gently brushing his knuckles against her fingers.
"I won't," he said.
Not this time.