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Chapter 16
In the sterile stillness of the hospital room, Julian suddenly gripped Nina’s wrist.
“Will you stay with me?” he asked.
Nina looked down in silence. Blood was slowly seeping from his wrist, vivid and bright against his pale skin. But he didn’t seem to notice–his gaze never wavered, fixed on hers, as if her answer meant more than his own life.
A tight ache bloomed in her chest. She looked away and forced a crooked smile.
“Yeah,” she whispered. “I’ll stay.”
The clock on the wall ticked loudly in the quiet room, each second dragging like a thread through her heart. Julian’s tension softened slightly, replaced by exhaustion. He leaned back against the pillows, his voice hoarse and low.
“Nina, you never lied to me. Not once. So this time… don’t lie either.”
Something in her crumbled. Her nose stung.
“I won’t,” she promised.
She reached out, fingers brushing softly through his hair. “Have some rest now.
He murmured, eyes already closing, “Will you still be here when I wake up?”
She paused. The words caught in her throat.
But he had already drifted off, lashes resting gently against his pale skin. The wind stirred the curtains, sunlight slipping across his
quiet, handsome face.
It had been a long time since she’d seen him look this peaceful.
She sat there watching him, heart heavy. He looked so close–like she could reach out and step back in time. Like nothing had ever
changed. Like they were still who they once were.
She exhaled shakily, chest aching with a fragile warmth. It almost felt like hope, or something close to it.
The moment she dreaded crept closer. And then, the clock struck ten.
Her body began to feel weightless. Her vision blurred.
She was fading.
She bit her lip, voice cracking. “Julian… goodbye.”
Maybe this time, it really was goodbye for good.
As darkness crept in at the edges of her mind, she choked out one last plea.
“Live. Please… live well.”
A sudden gust blew through the window.
Julian startled awake.
Sunlight poured across the wooden floor in golden threads–but the room was empty.
But she was gone. No trace of her. No warmth. No voice.
Just the sterile stillness of the hospital- a silence so deep it crawled beneath his skin and stayed there.
Outside, the sky stretched wide and blue. Clouds drifted like lace, the morning light almost sacred.
Miles away, crematorium was still and cold.
Then the bell struck twelve.
Nina’s eyes flew open.
Chapter 16
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The mortician, halfway through brushing her cheeks with makeup, let out a strangled scream and bolted from the room.
“She’s alive! She came back from the dead!”
Nina sat frozen.
Her fingers brushed her neck–cold, but… pulsing. A heartbeat.
But… hadn’t she died?
She slowly pushed herself upright inside the coffin, catching sight of herself in the window’s reflection.
She froze.
It wasn’t her face. Not the one she remembered.
This face was unfamiliar–young, untouched, entirely someone else’s.
Her hand flew to her cheek. A rush of confusion tightened in her chest. None of it made sense. She should’ve been gone. Her time was up. After seven days, she should have vanished completely. Why was she still here, alive?
Why… like this?
Before she could make sense of anything, the door creaked open.
She turned.
And there he was.
The man from the plane.
He stood in the doorway, tall and still. His black coat glistened slightly from the rain, his expression unreadable. The dim light pooled around his silhouette, swallowing everything behind him.
She tensed as he approached, unsure.
The mortician’s voice broke the silence, trembling. “S–She just sat up. I swear! I–I think you should take her to the hospital. Immediately!”
But the man didn’t flinch. He walked forward with eerie calm and stopped at the edge of the coffin, towering over her.
His presence blocked out every sliver of light.
Nina instinctively leaned back, uneasy.
He stared at her for a moment, then slowly leaned down. His icy eyes locked with hers. A faint smirk tugged at his lips–quiet, controlled, unsettling.
“Aren’t you going to thank me?”
Chapter 16
