"I'm used to it." The words slipped out before Elena could stop them.
For a brief second, silence settled between them.
Elena seemed to realize what she had said because she looked away almost immediately, her fingers absentmindedly smoothing the edge of the bedsheet as if nothing had happened.
"It's not a big deal," she added, quieter this time. "You don't have to stay."
Clara didn't move.
Instead, she leaned back slightly in her chair, folding her arms loosely as she let out a small breath through her nose.
"You're very strange, you know that?" She said, her tone light but her eyes weren't.
Elena didn't react.
"Most people," Clara continued, tilting her head slightly, "would want someone around after waking up like that. Especially after what happened."
Still nothing.
So Clara tried something else.
"You called my brother's name the moment you woke up."
That made Elena freeze just for a second.
Clara noticed that.
