I stared at the back of my palm as Adrian gently rubbed the spot where he had just removed the catheter.
His touch was careful, almost reverent, as though he could soothe away everything I had been through with just that small gesture.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't protect you as I promised to," Adrian said, his voice low and heavy with guilt, each word weighed down by something deeper than the moment itself.
That was exactly who he had always been, someone who took the blame without hesitation, someone who accepted the fall even when it was clear the fault was never his to carry.
Besides, every single step I had taken, whether it felt wrong or right, seemed to have been laid out long before I ever made it.
It felt as though I was only walking a path already drawn, simply bringing it to life… making it come true.
"Babe, can you forgive me?" he asked again when I didn't respond the first time, his eyes searching mine, almost pleading.
