Amelia had so many words caught in her throat, but none made it out.
Of course—how could Eric ever be someone she could lean on?
“Amelia?” Eric’s tone sharpened.
The weird silence on the other end made him somehow anxious.
A few seconds passed before her voice finally came through.
“I’ve got something going on today.
Can we reschedule?”
Eric let out a cold laugh.
“Reschedule?
You think I’ve got time to mess around like you do?
It was you who kept insisting on divorce, then disappearing when it actually came down to it.
What is it you really want?”
Amelia’s face drained of color.
Her voice came out hoarse.
“I truly can’t step away today.
Just tell me when you’re free—I’ll be there, on time.
I promise.”
“I don’t have time for this nonsense.” And with that, Eric hung up.
Amelia stared at her phone, gripping it tightly.
After a long while, she let out a bitter little laugh.
Every time she needed Eric the most, he was never there.
When disappointment becomes routine, it just stops feeling like a surprise.
She sat alone in the cold, quiet waiting area for what felt like forever.
Only when the nurse came to let her know they were switching rooms did she snap out of her daze.
Thankfully, Grace had made it through the emergency, though the doctor warned Amelia that her mother’s organs were visibly declining—it wasn’t a good sign.
He advised her to mentally prepare for the worst.
Amelia thanked him, walked him out, and asked the caregiver to bring her a bowl of hot water.
Seeing her about to fetch a towel, the caregiver quickly offered, “Miss Carter, let me handle it.”
“It’s okay, I’ve got it.
You take a break.
If I need anything, I’ll call you.”
The caregiver nodded and quietly stepped out.
Amelia wrung out the wet towel and sat by the bed, gently wiping her mother down.
It had been six years since the accident.
Six years of this same scene.
Grace’s muscles had basically wasted away—what remained was a frail body, barely kept alive by nutritional fluids.
Even with that, her condition was deteriorating, day after day.
One day, Amelia knew, she might wake up and her mom just…
People are strange like that.
When Amelia was a kid, Grace hadn’t exactly been gentle.
She was the strict kind—the type who treated her child like some sculpture to be perfected.
Love was a secondary thing, conditional on results.
And yet, that natural bond between mother and daughter…
it just wouldn’t break.
Even that tiny, stingy sliver of maternal affection—it was something Amelia could never let go of.
As long as Grace was still breathing, Amelia could keep on going without fear.
At least she was still alive.
She carefully cleaned her mother’s upper body.
Flipping her over would need help, so she called the caregiver back in.
By the time everything was done, she was sweating.
The private bathroom in Grace’s room only had hot water after 8 p.
m.
The caregiver mentioned a public shower room on the lower floor meant for people staying with patients.
She even kindly lent Amelia a clean change of clothes.
Amelia thanked her, grabbed her toiletries, and headed downstairs.
It was dinnertime at the hospital, so the shower room was almost empty.
After a hot shower, her whole body felt lighter, her headache less intense.
The sky outside had dimmed; it was already past 7:30.
The daytime heat had faded, and the night breeze carried a hint of warmth.
Amelia didn’t rush back upstairs.
Instead, she made her way to the terrace on the second floor, letting the wind wash over her.
Aside from some DMs on Twitter, the only message Amelia got was from Samantha, asking where she’d gone and why she wasn’t home yet.
She replied, [At my mom’s.]
Samantha texted back quickly, [How’s she doing?]
Amelia: [Same as always.]
Samantha: [Well, same is better than worse.
Who knows, a miracle might just happen one day and she’ll wake up.]
Samantha’s words brought a bit of comfort to Amelia.
She responded, [Hope you’re right.
Don’t wait up, I’ll be back late.]
Samantha: [Got it.
Call me if anything comes up.]
Amelia sent her a heart emoji.
Click—
A sudden flash lit up the space around her.
Startled, she spun around and spotted a guy a few meters away.
He looked refined, holding up his phone, the camera pointed straight at her, and his eyes locked on hers.
He seemed caught off guard when she turned around, then gave a shy smile.
Amelia’s lips tightened as she got up and walked straight to him, snatching the phone out of his hand.
Her voice was cold: “No one ever told you that taking photos of strangers without permission is a violation of privacy?
What’s the passcode?”
The man blinked, kind of amused but surprised, and still gave her the numbers: “0712.”
Once unlocked, all Amelia found was a shot of the night view downstairs.
From the flash to her rushing over and grabbing the phone—it all happened in seconds.
No way he had time to delete anything.
So…
maybe he really hadn’t taken her photo.
Yeah.
That’s embarrassing.
How was she even supposed to recover from that?
While she was mentally scrambling for damage control, he spoke first.
“Sorry, I just thought the view downstairs looked amazing.
Didn’t mean to scare you.”
She hurried to walk it back, “No no, I’m the one who should apologize.
I overreacted, really sorry.”
She handed the phone back and added, “The photo actually looks pretty good.
Are you into photography?”
He smiled, “Nah, just a hobby.
But you reacted to the flash real fast—something happen before?”
Amelia usually didn’t open up to strangers, but his voice was warm and calming, kind of made her let her guard down unconsciously.
“It’s nothing too serious.
Just once, I was caught by some street photographer group.
They posted the pictures online without editing, and it caused some trouble for me.
So yeah…
I’m kinda touchy about stuff like that now.”
“Totally understandable,” Alexander Monroe said, giving a small laugh.
“You are photogenic though—I get why a photographer wouldn’t want to mess with the image.
Still, not okay what they did.”
A well-placed compliment always lifted the mood, especially one that didn’t come off cheesy.
Amelia couldn’t help but feel a little better.
She was just about to say something when her phone rang—it was a call from the caretaker.
Whatever was said brightened her expression instantly.
She quickly told Alexander, “Thanks,” and bolted out like the wind.
*****
Alexander stood there for a second, a bit dazed, then chuckled to himself.
Back in the hospital room, Jason was grumbling at the nurse under his breath, “Easy, will you?
It hurts.”
Seeing Alexander come in, he shot him a look.
“Thought you ditched me for real.
Back then when you left, I broke my foot.
Now you’re back, and I get glass in my hand.
Seriously man, are you cursed or something?”
Alexander reached out and patted him on the shoulder.
“That injury of yours?
Perfectly timed.”