The first thing I noticed was the sound of a steady beep. My head was pounding, and my body felt like it had been wrung out and tossed aside. My eyes fluttered open, the harsh fluorescent lights of the hospital room making me wince.
Everything came rushing back—the kiss, the blinding headlights, the crash.
I tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through my side, forcing a groan out of me.
“Lila?”
I turned my head toward the voice, my breath catching when I saw Aiden sitting in a chair by my bedside. His face was a mess—bruises blooming across his cheek and a cut above his eyebrow that had been stitched up sloppily. He looked tired, like he hadn’t slept all night.
“You’re awake,” he said, his voice low and rough. Relief washed over his face, but it didn’t do much to hide the guilt etched into his features.
“What… what happened?” I croaked, my throat dry and scratchy.
“The car,” he said quietly. “We got hit. Someone came out of nowhere. You—” His voice broke, and he took a deep breath before continuing. “You hit your head pretty hard. You’ve been out for a while.”
I frowned, trying to piece it all together. The crash felt like a distant nightmare, but the soreness in my body made it impossible to forget. “And you? Are you okay?”
Aiden gave a humorless laugh, gesturing to his face. “I’ve been better. But I’ll live.”
There was a long silence between us, the weight of everything unsaid filling the room.
“This is my fault,” Aiden said suddenly, his voice barely above a whisper.
I turned to him, confused. “What are you talking about?”
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his hands tangled in his hair. “I shouldn’t have taken you out. I shouldn’t have stopped the car like that. If I hadn’t… if I hadn’t kissed you—”
I blinked, the memory of the kiss flooding back. For a moment, I’d forgotten everything else. But now, it felt tainted, like it had been the trigger for everything that followed.
“This isn’t your fault,” I said, my voice firmer than I expected.
Aiden looked up at me, his expression tortured. “It is, Lila. You don’t understand. This… everything about my family, about me—it’s all poison. And now it’s dragged you into the middle of it.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but the door creaked open, cutting me off. A nurse entered, a clipboard in hand and a bright, professional smile on her face.
“Good to see you awake, sweetheart,” she said, walking over to check my vitals. “You gave everyone quite a scare.”
I nodded weakly, letting her do her job. Aiden sat back, his face unreadable as the nurse bustled around the room.
“Someone left you a gift,” she said after a moment, pointing to a vase of flowers on the table near the window. “Quite the admirer, I’d say.”
I glanced at the flowers—a bouquet of white roses, perfectly arranged. They should have been beautiful, but something about them made my stomach churn.
“Who sent them?” I asked, my voice cautious.
The nurse shrugged. “They were delivered this morning. No card attached.”
“Actually,” Aiden said, standing up and walking over to the bouquet. He reached into the flowers and pulled out a small envelope. “There’s this.”
My heart raced as he handed it to me. My fingers trembled as I tore it open, pulling out a small piece of paper with a single sentence scrawled across it:
“The Cross brothers are not yours. Stay away or experience worse.”
I felt the blood drain from my face, my hands gripping the paper tightly as I reread the words over and over.