JAY-JAY POV
The moment I saw Keifer's blood, something inside me broke.
It wasn't just the present — the hospital lights, the smell of antiseptic, the sound of doctors rushing him away.
It was the past crashing back into me.
Flashback
I was probably six years old.
I remember sitting on the floor, playing with my dolls, humming softly to myself.
Then the yelling started.
My stepfathers' voices thundered through the house, sharp and cruel.
The sound made the walls shake, made my stomach twist.
I froze, clutching my doll tighter, wishing I could disappear.
"Jay-Jay, get here!" His voice thundered through the house.
I froze, clutching my doll, then slowly walked inside.
Mom wasn't home. The silence pressed down on me.
He smirked, his laugh sharp and cruel. "Your mom isn't here… which means I can do whatever I want."
My stomach twisted.
I wanted to run, but my legs wouldn't move.
Suddenly, his hand clamped around mine, rough and painful.
He shook me, his voice rising. "Stop crying!"
But the more he yelled, the harder the tears came.
I couldn't stop them.
I was six years old, terrified, powerless.
His shadow loomed larger, his anger filling the room.
He stormed out for a moment, and when he came back, something glinted in his hand.
A knife.
My breath caught.
The world tilted.
I backed away, heart pounding, tears blurring my vision.
All I could think was:
Please, someone save me.
Please.
When he tried to stab me, I escaped his grip. I remember the panic, the way my small fists flew without thinking, the knife clattering to the floor.
I picked it up, trembling, my heart pounding so loud it drowned out everything else.
"Jay, give me the knife!" he yelled, his voice sharp, cruel, demanding.
I didn't. I couldn't.
He came forward, his shadow swallowing me whole. And in that moment, terrified and desperate, I struck.
The scream, the shock, the blood — it all blurred together.
Mom came at that time, her voice breaking through the chaos. "Jay-Jay… what did you do?"
He tried to twist it, his tone suddenly soft, fake. "Jenna, please don't be mad. She stabbed me because she didn't like me."
But I couldn't hear them. I couldn't stop staring at the blood.
It stained my hands, my clothes, my memory.
Maybe that's why I hated Jenna.
Because she never listened to me. Because every time I tried to explain, she punished me instead.
She used to lock me in a dark room. I remember crying out, my voice echoing against the walls, but no one came. The darkness pressed down on me, heavy and endless, until I felt like I didn't exist at all.
Then one day — I don't even remember how — she left me at Grandma's house.
I stayed there. Safe, but confused. Three years passed before Jenna came back, wanting to reconnect, wanting me to forgive.
But I didn't want to go.
I asked Grandma why she left me there, why Jenna disappeared. Grandma never answered. She just looked at me with sad eyes, as if the truth was too heavy to speak.
I've been trying to find the answer ever since. But it's useless. The memories are broken, scattered, pieces of a puzzle I can't put together.
So I left it.
END OF FLASHBACK
But even now, sitting in this hospital, Keifer's blood still on my hands, I feel the weight of it.
The silence.
The unanswered questions.
The way abandonment leaves scars deeper than any wound.
And maybe that's why I cling to Keifer so fiercely.
Because he listens.
Because he stays.
Because he promised he wouldn't leave — and I can't bear to lose him
"Ate," Keigan's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Hmm?" I murmured, blinking at him.
"You've been staring at that room for two hours," he said gently, worry etched across his face. "Please… go home and rest."
"I'm fine, Keigan," I whispered, shaking my head. "Where is Keth?"
"He's with Keiran," Keigan answered softly.
I nodded, but the world around me suddenly shifted. My vision blurred, the hospital lights melting into hazy streaks.
"Ate?" Keigan's voice rose, sharp with panic.
I tried to steady myself, but dizziness washed over me like a wave.
My knees buckled.
Then everything tilted.
I fell.
"Ate!" Keigan yelled, his arms reaching for me as the floor rushed up.
His voice cracked with fear, echoing through the waiting room.
The last thing I saw before darkness swallowed me was Keifer's door — the place where they had taken him — and the thought that I couldn't leave him.
Not now.
Not ever.
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Keigan POV
I was talking to Ate, trying to calm her down, when suddenly her face changed. Her eyes looked distant, unfocused.
"Ate," I called out, sharp with panic.
She tried to steady herself, but I could see it — the dizziness washing over her, her body swaying.
Before she could hit the ground, I caught her in my arms. My heart raced, fear clawing at me.
"Ate!" I called out again, maybe yelled, my voice echoing through the waiting room.
Her head lolled against my shoulder, her eyes half‑closed.
"Doctor!" I shouted, desperation spilling out.
A nurse rushed over, her shoes squeaking against the tile. "What happened?" she asked quickly, already kneeling beside us.
"She just… she just collapsed," I stammered, my voice shaking. "She was staring at the room, and then—she got dizzy, and fell."
The nurse pressed her fingers to Ate's wrist, checking her pulse. Her face tightened with focus. "We need to get her on a stretcher. Call the doctor now."
I held Ate's hand, squeezing it tight, whispering, "Stay with me, Ate. Please."
The nurse looked at me, her tone firm but reassuring. "She's going to be okay. We'll take care of her."
But as they lifted her onto the stretcher, my chest felt heavy. Ate had been holding everything in — Keifer's blood, the waiting, the fear. And now it was too much.
I followed close behind, refusing to let her out of my sight.