Kiefer (POV)
I stepped inside the room. Her body was connected to different machines, lying there so still that it terrified me.
I walked toward her slowly and took her hand in mine.
"Jay… please wake up," I whispered.
"I know I made a mistake hiding everything from you. I know I hurt you. But I had to do it… or at least, I thought I did. What was the point of hurting you and lying to you if it still led us here?"
My voice broke.
"I pushed you away because I thought it would protect you. I thought if you hate me, you would be safe. But look at you now… I still couldn't save you. And now you're here because of me."
I swallowed hard, trying to hold myself together.
"You know, right? I'm scared. I'm so scared to see you like this… like you could leave me at any second." I pressed her hand against my forehead.
"Please don't hurt me like this anymore. Open your eyes, Jay… please. I'm begging you. They said your body is shutting down. Why are you giving up so easily?"
I let out a shaky laugh through my tears.
"You're a fighter, Jay. You're stubborn whenever you want something. My Jay Jay never gives up easily… so don't give up on yourself. Don't give up on us."
My tears fell onto her hand.
"I can do whatever you want if you just wake up again. I need you, Jay. I can't live without you anymore."
I closed my eyes for a second, trying to breathe.
"You know that I love you, right? With everything I have. Only you."
I laughed weakly.
"I already picked names for our kids… Caretaker and Watcher. Don't you want to meet them and see who they'll get their stubbornness from?"
I brushed her hair away from her face.
"I'll take you on dates. I'll take you to all-you-can-eat buffets. Don't you want to eat? I'll cook pancakes for you whenever you demand."
My chest tightened painfully.
"You're the only person who ever loved me like this, Jay. Even when I hurt you, you still stayed. Don't you want to yell at me again? Call me the king of assholes? Gago"
I smiled through my tears.
"You're my everything… my life."
I kissed her hand gently.
"You're not weak, Jay. You're the strongest woman I've ever known. I told you I would fight for you, and I meant every damn word."
My voice cracked again.
"So come back to me. Even when I gave up, you never did."
I looked at her, praying for any sign that she could hear me.
"Section E is waiting outside for you. You said you wanted to see your dad…."
I swallowed hard.
"Your brothers are here too. The family you always wanted… they're all crying for you."
I held her hand tighter.
"So please… come back to me, Jay," I said.
By then, my tears were falling freely. I could not stop them anymore.
The doctor stepped inside the room. "It's time," she said softly. I slowly let go of Jay's hand and forced myself to step back.
Then I heard it.
Her heartbeat on the monitor began to rise, slowly but steadily. I looked at her and saw a single tear slip down the corner of her eye. It was like she was telling me she had not given up. Not on herself. Not on us.
A broken smile spread across my face.
"I'll wait for you outside," I whispered.
I leaned down close to her ear so only she could hear me.
"Come back to me fast… I'll give you plenty of kisses," I said with a faint smirk.
The doctor looked at the monitor, then back at me. "She's going to be okay now," she said softly. "I promise you."
Then they wheeled her toward the operating room. When I turned around, everyone was staring at me. Some faces were filled with concern, some with anger, and some with questions they were too afraid to ask. The room was packed. Section E was there. Aries, Percy, Jare, Angelo, and Tita were all standing nearby.
Then Jare came and held my collar and pulled me to look at his eyes...and said. "You asshole," he snapped. "Why did you say things you didn't mean? How could you say you didn't care about her?" I didn't push him; he has every right to punch me.
Everyone looked confused.
"Tell us, Kiefer," Kit said, pointing at the operating theater...." your words broke her."
"Don't ask me anything??…" I said and tried to avoid it.
"Do you even know what you did to her?" Felix shouted at me. "She could have died, Kiefer."
"Don't tell me you don't love her," David said. "Everyone here knows you love her."
"Why are you still hiding, Kiefer?" Calix said. "She is dying inside," he added.
"She's not dying; she promised me she will fight," I snapped. I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my skin. I was trying to convince myself.
Yuri pulled Jare and said
"That accident wasn't accidental, was it?" he asked coldly, folding his arms across his chest. "You know that too."
"What is he talking about?" Aries asked, his voice rising. "Tell us, Kiefer. What the hell is going on here?"
"I still don't know, but I won't deny that," I said.
"Is Jay Jay in danger?" C-IN asked softly.
I finally give up."Fine!" I shouted, my voice cracking. "I love her. Do you think it was easy for me to hurt her? Do you think she would believe me if I said I didn't love her?"
I laughed bitterly, even though there was nothing funny about it.
"You all knew I was lying so easily… so how could she not? She's in love with me. She reads me too well. That's how much control she has over me."
My chest tightened painfully.
"To make her believe me, I had to kill myself while saying it. Every time I saw her breaking, it felt like my own heart was being ripped apart. Every word I said to her felt like I was stabbing myself."
I looked down at my shaking hands.
"But none of you know what would happen if she stayed with me."
"Why, Kiefer?? What is the reason?" Yuri asked.
"I had to push her…not because I don't love her anymore, but because I want to see her breathe like a normal person. I didn't want to drag her into my miserable life. I would rather let her hate me, scream at me,… than watch her die because of me," I said with a broken voice.
"I thought… after I came back from London, I would ask for her forgiveness."
I laughed bitterly, but there was no humor in it.
The room fell silent.
I looked back at them, my eyes burning.
"You don't understand what kind of life I have. I've seen people die in front of me. I've seen blood. I've seen what one bullet can do. Every second of my life is at risk." I took a deep breath.
"She's my everything. My life. My home. Do you know what I felt when I saw her lying there… bleeding? While my hands were covered in her blood?"
My voice broke.
"It reminded me that in this world, no one could hurt her the way I did. And I failed to protect her."
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to keep talking.
"Every reason I kept telling myself—that I was protecting her, that pushing her away was the right thing—even when I knew it was killing her… it all shattered in that moment."
My chest tightened painfully.
"You know what she said when she thought she was dying? She said she never regretted loving me."
I closed my eyes for a second.
"She never asked me to protect her from a distance. All she wanted me to be beside her."
My voice dropped to a whisper.
My voice cracked again.
So I told them everything. I explained what happened in London. I told them about the danger, about the people after me, and about why I pushed Jay away.
"She would've understood if you told her," Mayo said angrily. "Look what happened now."
"You don't know Jay," I said bitterly. "If she knew, she never would've left me alone. She would've followed me to London just to protect me. She always throws herself into danger for the people she loves."
I ran a hand through my hair, trying to breathe.
"She's stubborn when it comes to the people she loves. That's who Jay is."
"Do you remember when Dylan pointed a gun at her?" I asked, looking around at everyone in Section E. "She still stood in front of me. That's my Jay."
I laughed bitterly, tears burning my eyes.
"So how could I not hide it from her? Even now, when she saw the truck coming toward us, she still wrapped her arms around me so she could protect me."
My voice cracked.
"How can she love me like that?"
I sank to the floor, breaking apart like a man who had just lost his entire, creaking world.
Percy (POV)
I sat in the cold iron chair, staring at my hands. They were still covered in her blood.
I could still see her face clearly. She never showed how much she was hurting. She smiled through everything. No one ever asked her how she is. even me..I could have taken her with me when she said she would come.
People kept walking in and out of the hallway, but I barely noticed them. I heard everything Kiefer said. Every single word.
"Why are you blaming him alone?" I asked, my voice shaking with anger and frustration as I looked around at everyone.
"When I found her, she wasn't crying. She was smiling."
My throat tightened painfully.
"I didn't even notice she was hurt."
I looked down at my bloodstained hands.
"When I asked her why she did it… she pointed at her heart." I pressed my hand against my chest. "And she said it didn't hurt anymore."
My voice broke.
"She was already dead inside when I saw her," I said, my voice breaking. "All of you killed her little by little… because she felt like she had no one to lean on. She was all alone."
I looked down at my trembling hands.
"She was just holding onto an empty shell of herself."
I wiped my face roughly, trying to stop my tears.
"And when she saw me crying… she laughed. A broken laugh."
I looked at them, my chest hurting more with every word.
"She asked me to mourn for her when she died… because she thought she had no one who would."
"She said she didn't want to be alone at her funeral."
The room fell silent.
Until we heard heavy footsteps echoing through the hallway, each step heavy enough to make the floor creak beneath them. It sounded like someone walking through death itself.
Then warm arms wrapped around me.
"Don't cry. Kuya is here. I'll take care of her," he said softly.
"Kuya…" Jare whispered.
Jare wrapped his arms around him from behind, and I moved closer too. We were both broken. We both cried in Kuya's arms.
"What are you doing here?"