Jay stood outside the convenience store, the night breeze tugging gently at the sleeves of his coat. The glow of the overhead lamp softened the harsh shadows of the earlier encounter, but not the questions swirling in his head.
The bench where he had just sat with her felt strangely empty now. No warmth lingered. Only the echo of her voice—soft, apologetic, and fading into the distance.
“Let's meet again.... if we ever have the chance”
He replayed those words like a melody, unfinished.
Headlights flared in the distance. A sleek black car rolled to a stop along the curb.
Feng stepped out in a hurry, worry etched across his face the moment he spotted the shattered window of Jay’s car.
“Mr. Carson!” Feng rushed toward him. “Are you hurt? I came as fast as I could. Your message sounded urgent.”
Jay gestured lightly toward his bandaged neck. “A small scratch. Nothing serious.”
Feng’s eyes narrowed. “This looks more than ‘nothing,’ sir. What happened?”
Jay didn’t answer immediately. His gaze lingered down the street, where Serena had disappeared just moments before. He still hadn’t asked her name. A missed opportunity.
“There was a man. Masked, armed. Tried to threaten me in the parking lot. Said something strange,” Jay muttered, his voice lower than usual. “Said I had to die so he could live peacefully.”
Feng’s expression hardened. “That sounds like a targeted threat.”
Jay nodded, but his thoughts were elsewhere.
“I’ll get the company security team involved and file a report immediately,” Feng continued, already pulling out his phone. “And we’ll get someone to tow your car. In the meantime, let’s get you home. You need rest.”
Jay didn’t protest. But as he walked toward the car, he glanced once more at the mart entrance. Something in him still itched. Not from fear. But from a memory he hadn’t made yet. A name he hadn’t heard.
Jay slid into the back seat, the soft thud of the car door shutting out the night air. Feng returned to the driver’s seat and quietly pulled them onto the main road, the rhythmic hum of the engine lulling the silence between them. But Jay wasn’t resting. He leaned back against the headrest, his eyes fixed on the blur of city lights. His mind still lingered on the woman. The curve of her voice. The way her hands had trembled slightly while applying the antiseptic, yet her touch had remained steady.
Why hadn’t he asked her name?
He turned his wrist slightly and glanced down at his Cardiowatch. The digital screen lit up faintly in the dark cabin just as the device began to vibrate softly.
BEEP. BEEP.
Jay's brows knitted.
Again.
BPM: 123
Elevated.
His jaw tensed. Just like five days ago.
He rotated his wrist and muffled the screen beneath his coat sleeve, silencing the sound.
Feng caught the motion. “Is that your watch? Something wrong?”
Jay leaned back, jaw set. “It’s nothing,” he said, voice low and flat.
Feng gave him a sidelong glance in the mirror, unconvinced but said nothing more.
As the city stretched out ahead, Jay let the silence return. But inside his chest, nothing was quiet. Because now… he knew why his heart had acted that way, five days ago, and tonight.
~~~~
The hospital corridor was quieter at this hour, bathed in soft fluorescent lights that hummed gently overhead. Serena moved swiftly, her heels barely making a sound against the polished floor. The grocery bag in her hand shifted with each step, but her thoughts weren’t on its contents.
They were still on him.
That stranger from the convenience store.
That voice—gentle, uncertain.
That face—so much like Leo's it made her chest ache all over again.
She slowed her steps just before the ward door, steadying her breathing, then gently pushed it open.
Inside, the room was dim and peaceful. Aiden was propped up slightly in bed, blanket tucked to his chest, eyes fixed quietly on the little nightlight beside him. He wasn’t asleep, but close. Sitting by the edge of the bed, Dr. Yuan had been flipping through a tablet of readings, glancing up when Serena entered.
“You’re back,” Yuan said with a small, relieved smile. “He’s been asking for you.”
Aiden blinked at her, his tired eyes softening. “You were gone long.”
“I know, sweetheart. I’m sorry.” Serena set the grocery bag on the side table, then reached inside. “But look what I found.”
She held up the familiar blue and gold wrapper.
Aiden’s entire face lit up, even if faintly. “Dark chocolate?”
Serena nodded. “Only the best for my brave boy.”
He clutched the bar as if it were treasure, holding it to his chest. Serena leaned down and kissed his forehead, her palm gently resting over his.
Dr. Yuan stood, walking over to her side. “He didn’t say much while you were gone. But he’s stable. And we ran some checks just now, his vitals are holding. Still a bit weak, but that's normal.”
Serena exhaled deeply, nodding. “That’s good… really good.”
But her mind, despite the relief, drifted back again.
Jay Carson.
That name had become more than just words on a folder. He was real now. And he looked so much like Leo that her hands had trembled while tending to him. But what shook her more was the ache she’d felt walking away. The desire to turn back. To ask him everything he couldn’t possibly know.
But this wasn’t about her heart.
It was about Aiden’s.
As she sat back beside her son, watching him slowly drift to sleep with the chocolate still clutched in hand, Serena gently laid a hand on his chest, feeling its rise and fall.
Soft. Steady. Beating strong.
That’s all that matters, she reminded herself.
Still... Jay’s voice echoed faintly in the quiet room. And though Serena said nothing, she couldn’t shake the weight of the moment that passed between them, the one that neither of them had been ready to name.
~~~~
The ward was quiet, the overhead lights dimmed to a warm glow. Monitors hummed softly beside sleeping patients, casting faint reflections against the windows.
Aiden was fast asleep, his small chest rising and falling steadily beneath the light blanket. His hand rested loosely on the stuffed lion Serena had brought from home. The sight brought a gentle ache to Serena’s chest.
She sat beside his bed, not scrolling through her phone like usual. The device lay untouched on the table nearby. Her eyes were unfocused, lost somewhere far beyond the sterile walls of the hospital. Her arms were folded, shoulders slightly hunched—caught in a silence that didn’t feel like rest, but retreat.
Her mind, however, wasn’t quiet.
It replayed the moment in front of the convenience store. The masked man. The knife. Jay’s voice.
The way her heart skipped when she saw his face again. Framed under that streetlamp.
She had promised herself not to get caught up in memories. And yet...
The sound of the door opening quietly broke the stillness.
Dr. Yuan stepped in, holding a thermos and a small paper bag. His footsteps slowed when he saw her sitting there, motionless.
“You’re still awake?” he asked gently.
Serena blinked and turned to him, forcing a small smile. “Couldn’t sleep.”
Yuan came over and set the items on the table. “I figured. Brought you some warm soy milk and those sesame buns you like.”
Serena looked at the bag but didn’t reach for it yet. “Thanks.”
Yuan took the seat across from her, quietly watching her for a moment. “You look like you’re zoning out,” he said, half joking.
Serena gave a soft laugh under her breath. “Just tired, I guess.”
Yuan nodded slowly. But there was a flicker of concern in his eyes. “You sure that’s all?”
She hesitated, her lips parted for a moment as if she were about to speak… and then closed again.
Because how could she explain it?
How could she tell him that five days ago, she saw a man who looked exactly like Leo?
And tonight, she had met him again. Helped him. Touched him.
How could she say she almost called him by her late husband’s name?
Yuan wouldn’t understand. Not because he lacked empathy, he had plenty, but because this… this was something deeper than logic. It wasn’t about science or medicine. It was about ghosts that wore the face of someone you once loved.
So Serena smiled faintly instead and picked up the soy milk. “Thanks for this. I really needed it.”
Yuan watched her a second longer but said nothing. He simply nodded and leaned back in his chair, giving her space.
The ward remained quiet. Aiden slept peacefully.
And Serena sat beside him, sipping quietly, keeping the truth buried in the silence between sips because some things, even now, were too fragile to share.
ns216.73.217.39da2
and then Add to home screen.