Discovering My Love Too Late

I had vanished from Austin's world without warning. It was a cliché, to say the least.

The memory cut off abruptly, and I felt a sharp pain stabbing my chest.

After taking a deep breath, I raised my eyes to the red mark on Austin's neck and forced a bleak smile.

"Austin, do you still love me?" I asked.

His expression froze, then a tangle of emotions flashed across his eyes.

Before he could answer, the rehabilitation center's door swung open. A nurse stepped out, smiling warmly as she took my arm.

"Ah, so you're the patient. You've finally come. Mr. Miller was so worried while you were gone. Come, let me take you inside for your rehabilitation session."

I turned and crouched down to hug Callie.

"Callie, I need to go for my treatment now. You go back for your check-up, okay?" I murmured softly.

Callie looked up at me timidly, then nodded obediently.

I took a deep breath and walked into the rehabilitation room.

The nurse strapped me onto the cold examination bed and pulled the curtain shut, blocking my view. Machines hummed and whirred around me.

A few familiar voices drifted in from behind the curtain. They belonged to Austin's friends. Their tones were laced with mockery.

"She thinks she's someone special. What was she trying to achieve by playing the vanishing act?"

"Hey, I heard rehab can be really painful. Is that true?"

"Oh, it's true. Rehab hurts so bad that it'll make you wish you were dead. Some people even piss themselves from the pain."

A burst of raucous laughter followed.

"Dion, go ahead and push the button. Have a little fun."

The next second, a surge of electric current shot through my bones without warning. A violent pain, sharp as needles, pierced through my entire body in an instant.

I clenched my teeth and trembled uncontrollably. Cold sweat started beading on my forehead, but I refused to make a sound. Soon, the taste of blood filled my mouth.

Seeing how stubbornly silent I was, Austin's friends—still behind the curtains—urged excitedly for Dion to turn up the intensity.

The pain was like fire scorching my nerves, like blades slicing through my bones. My breathing turned ragged, my mind grew hazy, and my vision darkened.

Just as my consciousness teetered on the edge of collapse, the door slammed open.

Austin's furious roar shook the room. "What the hell are you guys doing? Why did you knock her out?"

My awareness flickered in and out. Dimly, I sensed Austin's rage and heard him throw the equipment to the ground with brutal force.

"Who gave you the permission to do this? I brought her here to heal, not for you to torture her!"

His friends burst into mocking laughter.

"Dude, why are you so angry? Don't tell us you've actually fallen for Sonya?"

"Dion's going to be heartbroken."

Dion covered her face, sobbing dramatically. "Austin, have you fallen for Sonya again?" she asked pitifully.

Austin frowned and said through gritted teeth, "That's impossible! I just don't want you idiots going too far and killing someone."

The moment the words left his mouth, he grabbed Dion by the waist and kissed her deeply on the lips.

Whistles and cheers erupted around them.

Austin's kiss was fierce, deliberate—as if proving something to his friends, or maybe to himself. But his gaze was hollow, his mind elsewhere.

He asked himself, who was it that he truly wanted to kiss? Had Dion's perfume always been this strong? And was that little girl really his daughter?

Austin absentmindedly ended the kiss, and the people around them laughed loudly as they left.

The ward once again fell into silence.

…

My eyes remained closed, and my back was soaked with sweat. I couldn't move or open my eyes.

Austin gently approached the edge of my bed and crouched down. With the utmost tenderness and slowness, he placed a kiss on the wounded top of my foot.