The world returned to Juliette in fragments.
A slow beeping.
A burning in her ribs.
The weight of her eyelids.
The smell of antiseptic.
Warmth closed around her hand.
And breathing.
Not hers.
Someone else's.
She forced her lashes to flutter.
The light stung.
Her head throbbed.
And then
a shadow moved beside her.
He was there.
Cassian.
Sitting so still he didn't look real at first.
His elbows rested on his knees, his fingers pressed to his forehead like a man praying.
His shirt was wrinkled, sleeves rolled up, dark circles under his eyes.
He looked like he had fought a war and barely survived.
Juliette inhaled sharply.
Cassian's head snapped up instantly.
"Juliette?"
His voice
God.
Soft, shocked, disbelieving.
Like he had been holding his breath for hours and someone finally let him breathe.
Her vision blurred.
Everything hurt.
Her throat was dry.
Her tongue felt heavy.
But she saw him
saw the moment relief broke across his face like a storm that finally found an exit.
He leaned forward, but slowly, as if he was afraid she would shatter.
"You're awake," he whispered.
Juliette blinked, confused, lost.
Her memories crashed back without warning
the street
the headlights
the horn
the fall
the pain
the darkness.
Her heart rate spiked.
The monitor beeped faster.
Cassian stood instantly, one hand hovering near her cheek, not touching yet.
"Hey…..hey, breathe. You're safe. You're alright. I'm right here."
Her chest tightened, panic climbing her throat.
She didn't speak.
She couldn't.
Her breath came too fast, too shallow.
Cassian's voice softened further like he was calming a scared child.
"Juliette, look at me."
She tried.
His face steadied her.
Not because she wasn't angry.
Not because she wasn't hurt.
But because he was the first thing she saw when she woke up.
And something inside her recognized the way he was looking at her
like he had been scared too.
A tear slipped down her cheek before she could stop it.
Cassian froze.
"Don't cry," he whispered.
"Please… don't cry."
He finally touched her very gently thumb brushing the tear away.
Juliette swallowed painfully.
Her ribs burned at the movement.
Cassian noticed immediately.
"You're in pain?" he asked softly.
She nodded, tiny, slow.
He pressed the nurse call button instantly, then sat back down, still holding her hand but without gripping it too tight.
He had never touched her so carefully before.
"Your ribs are bruised," he said quietly, watching her breathe as if every breath mattered.
"And your head… you took a hard hit."
Juliette closed her eyes, the memory stabbing through her again.
"I… fell," she whispered, her voice hoarse and thin.
Cassian's jaw clenched.
"You were pushed by the impact," he said, voice low with anger but not at her.
At the world.
At the accident.
At himself.
She opened her eyes again, searching his face.
"You… were here?" she asked weakly.
He exhaled shakily.
"I never left."
Something warm and sharp hit her chest.
She looked at his wrinkled clothes, the unshaven shadow on his jaw, the faint tremor in his fingers.
"You didn't sleep," she whispered.
He shook his head.
"I wasn't going to close my eyes while you were lying there unconscious."
Her heart twisted painfully.
Juliette looked away
not to ignore him,
not to punish him,
but because everything felt too big, too heavy.
She wasn't ready to deal with the lady she saw him with.
Not yet.
Not when her head still pounded and her body felt like it had been hit by fear and metal at the same time.
But Cassian didn't push.
He didn't ask.
He didn't demand.
He didn't even ask why she was distant.
He just watched her breathe.
The nurse entered, adjusting her IV, taking her vitals, asking if she felt dizzy.
Juliette answered quietly, one-word replies, her voice still shaky.
Cassian stood beside the nurse the whole time, arms crossed not dominant, not commanding just protective.
When the nurse left, the silence filled the room again.
But this time, it wasn't cold.
It was fragile.
Juliette whispered, barely audible:
"I… I was scared."
Cassian's eyes softened painfully, beautifully.
"I know," he said quietly.
His voice broke.
"I was too."
She blinked at him.
His shoulders dropped, tension uncoiling.
"I thought…"
He swallowed.
"I thought I lost you."
Her breath hitched not from pain, but from something deeper.
Cassian leaned forward, resting his forehead against the side of her bed not touching her, just close.
"You're okay. That's all that matters. We can talk about everything else later. Just… stay with me."
Juliette's eyes filled again.
She didn't speak.
She didn't confront him about the lady.
Not today.
Today… she was just a frightened girl who survived something terrifying.
And Cassian was just a man who realized he didn't want a world where she didn't exist.
He lifted his head and whispered:
"Rest, Juliette. I'm not going anywhere."
And she believed him.
For the first time.