Blake would be crushed if he saw her like this.
“Aria,” I wrap her in my arms, “I’m worried about you. You can’t keep pulling these hours at the hospital. You need to rest—”
“I’ll go crazy if I rest!”
She jerks back too fast, swiping at her wet cheeks.
Her bloodshot eyes meet mine, a ragged exhale escaping her lips. “I-I’m sorry. A tough day at work. Lost a patient. I shouldn’t have—”
“No.” I squeeze her hands. “Don’t apologize. Grief takes time. All forms of it.”
Scarlett and I exchange a look. She gently hands Aria a mug—something fragrant and soothing, I’m sure.
“If you need to talk—” Scarlett begins.
“I’m fine.” Aria strains a smile. She rummages through her purse. “I’m a medical professional. Trust me, I know when to get help.”
The bell over the door rings.
Ren strides in, footsteps silent and lethal.
Black half-mask. Black leather jacket. Black gloves. Black hair draped over his eyes. He’s recovering well, although he’s quieter than usual.
Ren’s steps falter when he spots Aria.
She looks up.
For a moment, time stands still.
Pain crosses his dark eyes. A sharp hitch of breath. His hand trembles, slowly rising to his chest, over his sternum.
He curls his other hand into a fist at his side.
Aria slides off the stool, seemingly oblivious to the strange tension crackling through the air. She barely seems aware of her surroundings lately, a raft lost at sea after Blake died.
“I can’t find my badge,” she mutters. “Must’ve left it at work. I have to go back for it. Or report it missing.”
Without waiting for a response, she brushes past a shell-shocked Ren—straight into the early summer rain.
She doesn’t even have an umbrella or a jacket. Only grief.
“I’m going after her—” I tell Scarlett, grabbing my trusty red umbrella.
But when I turn back—
Ren’s gone.
A black blur darts past the window, sprinting into the rain with a dark umbrella in hand.
And sitting on the counter near where he just stood—
Aria’s hospital badge.
My chest twists as I glance out the windows, their shadows long gone.
He’s been looking after her. The silent assassin.
Sometime later, the door swings open again.
