Twisted Hearts... Tangled hearts

melled sterile, laced with the faint scent of antiseptic and something metallic-blood? Her

light forced her to shut them again. A dull

h her. Machines surrounded her, their screens flickering with numbers she couldn't comprehend.

ed to sit up, but a gentle yet fir

sweet

wn her spine. It was warm, inti

s watching her with an intensity that made her breath hitch. His dark hair was neatly styled, his ch

didn't k

cracked, weak from disuse. S

cker. If anything, something un

against the bed fra

aid, his voice

oosing his wo

it's me

g hollow in her mind, an empty

to push through the fog in her

es-pain? Frustration? It was

e in an accident," he said slowly, watching her reaction. "A car cr

ent. A c

as like reaching into a void. No images, no sounds, no sensatio

nto the sheets. "I..

ted hearing it. "The doctors said you might have memory

ain, searching his fac

d. Then, after a beat, he

her like a pun

heart pounding. "No..

d out a small velvet box, and flipped it open. Inside sat an engag

m but laced with something deeper, somethin

ne of this felt real. She didn't remember

t remembe

at her hands, as if they belonged to a s

too familiar for a man she had no recollection of. "Emili

She wanted to trust the s

g deep in he

Julian Cross was hiding

of the hospital room seemed to close in, the b

over her knuckles, the way his gaze burned into hers as if willing her to remembe

s face was unreadable, though a flicker of

said slowly, "then why don

just slightly,

d to feel something-a rush of familiarity, a sense of safety,

t enough for her to notice before he le

efully. "Your emotions need time to catch

have reassured

he open box. It was beautiful, expensive, something she mi

dark hair behind her ear. It was a tender gesture, bu

ember everything right away," he murmure

ieve him. Wanted to lean in

like it had been screaming from deep inside

dn't k

ething about Julian Cr

truth, she would hav