Then the quiet click of the door closing, from the inside. She stayed.
I keep my arm where it is. I don't want her to see my face right now. Don't want her to see whatever expression I'm wearing as Drew digs a bullet out of my side.
The procedure continues. Minutes stretch like hours. I focus on the ceiling I can't see, on the rhythm of my own breathing, on anything except the sensation of being stitched back together like a torn piece of fabric.
Finally, Drew exhales. "Done. Just need to bandage it up."
I feel the cool press of gauze against my skin, the careful application of medical tape.
And then I feel something else.
My leg. It's shaking.
Fuck.
It happens sometimes. After the adrenaline fades, after the immediate danger passes—my body betrays me. Tremors I can't control. The physical manifestation of something I've spent my entire life trying to bury.
I keep my arm over my face, willing it to stop. Stop. Fucking stop.
Then,
A warm hand settles on my thigh.
Valentina.
She doesn't say anything. Doesn't ask questions. Doesn't make me explain.
She just... touches me. Gentle. Steady. Her palm pressing down with just enough weight to ground me, her thumb moving in slow, soothing strokes.
The trembling begins to ease.
I move my arm.
She's sitting on the edge of the sofa, her dark eyes fixed on mine. There's no pity in her expression. No fear. Just... something I can't name. Something that makes my chest tighten in a way that has nothing to do with the bullet wound.
We stay like that. Looking at each other. Neither of us speaking.
Drew clears his throat.
"I need to give him something to help him rest." He pulls a syringe from his bag. "You'll need to step out."
Valentina holds my gaze for one more moment. Then she nods slowly and rises to her feet.
"Get some sleep," she says quietly.
I watch her walk to the door. Watch her hand pause on the handle.
She doesn't look back.
But something has changed.
The door closes softly behind her.
Drew administers the sedative, and as the edges of consciousness begin to blur, I realize something that should terrify me.
I didn't want her to leave.
And for the first time in my life, I let someone see me weak.
