Love in the Storm

f it had lived through countless sleepless nights just like hers. The room smelled faintly of antiseptic, that sharp, sterile scent that never quite faded, no matter how many open windows

f they, too, were just trying to survive another day. She swallowed hard, blinking against the sting in her

in her mind from earlier that evening-

life is normal, Rita. It's not. S

actions. That's what her mother called it-her sketchi

mi

ing unpolished yet sincere. The way he looked at her-like she wasn't just a fragile patient, but an

d her. It was nearly midnight-wh

she said

er surprise, Dominic stepped in, a sm

osing the door behind him with careful

r elbows, heart pounding. "H

ses are suckers f

w. "You flirted your

eaning casually against the wall. "Let

ctant smile forming on her

"You look like you n

easily he sa

llowed, that if her mother found out, there would be hell to

n trouble for th

. "Trouble and

e background, a reminder of where they were. But in this moment, with the city lights castin

he asked a

ite answer. The one she had given to doctors, nu

found herself saying

n't k

ve a whisper, but

eassurances. Instead, he walked over to the small cou

music?"

udden change in topi

ecause I'm about to play you something, an

fore she could stop it. She hadn

started

song she recognized, but it didn't matter. There was something almost hypno

st. It was the first time in a long time that the silence

Dominic glanced at

rprised to find he

was no teasing in i

gets another bad diagnosis. Or when I realize we can't affo

ever spoke about pain this w

le seeing me like

y n

t makes me

know what's weak? Pretending you'r

de her cracked

ding, nodding along when people said she was strong-

with Dominic sitting across fr

ever wish you could just... disappe

hout hesitation. "But I don't th

sity flickering in her t

fore replying, "Finding so

them, heavy, unspoken m

worth st

ong time, Rita wondered i

d between them, broken only

c said after a while, thou

ntly. "Are you

ked up. "Do y

ated befo

ch, plucking at his guitar strings absentmindedly. Rita shifted in

n a long time, she d