Page 103 of Phantom Flower

I stared at them.

When the doctor finally walked into the waiting room, I was on my feet before he could even open his mouth.

He looked tired, but his expression was calm. He did not look like he came to deliver bad news.

“He is stable. The surgery went well. We were able to repair the major damage to both thighs. The knife missed the femoral arteries, which was fortunate. He lost a lot of blood, but we have transfused him and he is responding well. He will need extensive physical therapy and recovery time. But with proper care, he should regain full mobility. His legs will be okay eventually.”

I exhaled a shaky breath I did not realize I had been holding.

“Can I see him?” I asked immediately, already moving toward the door.

The doctor raised a hand. “Not yet. He is still unconscious and in recovery. It is best to let him rest—”

I stopped, turning slowly to face him.

“Is me going to see him going to jeopardize his health?”

The doctor hesitated. “No, but—”

“Then move out of the fucking way.”

The doctor’s eyes widened slightly. He glanced at the two security guards standing near the hallway, then back at me.

After a long second, he stepped aside.

“Room 412,” he said quietly. “Just… try not to disturb him too much.”

Rei was there.

Lying in the hospital bed with tubes and monitors connected to him. His legs were heavily bandaged, elevated slightly. The flower he had been wearing earlier was gone, lost somewhere in that blood-soaked living room. His silver hair was messy against the pillow, and his face looked so small, so fragile.

I closed the door softly behind me and walked over to the bed. My hands were still shaking as I pulled the chair closer and sat down beside him.

I just looked at him.

My little fairy.

Broken again because I had not protected him well enough.

I reached out, almost afraid to touch him, and gently brushed a strand of hair away from his forehead.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry, Rei.”

My thumb stroked gently over his cheek.

“I should have never let you go back there. I should have kept you with me. Locked in my arms where nothing could touch you. Where I could keep you safe.”

I swallowed hard, my hand moving down to gently hold his. His fingers were limp in mine, but I laced them together anyway, pressing his hand against my chest so he could feel my heartbeat.

“You scared me today,” I continued softly. “When I saw you on that floor… covered in blood… screaming like that… I thought I was going to lose you.”

I kissed his knuckles.

“You’re mine, little fairy. You have been mine since the moment I saw you. I do not care how fucked up that sounds. I do not care if I am too possessive, too violent, too much. I need you. I need you breathing. I need you smiling at me when I bring you flowers in the morning. I need you rolling your eyes when I cook you something too sweet. I need you safe.”

I did not care that he could not hear me. I just kept going.

“I know you are scared of me sometimes. I know I have hurt you. I know I dragged you into my world and broke pieces of you I can never put back the way they were. But I swear to you… I will spend the rest of my life making sure no one else ever hurts you again. I swear that if this world is not gentle with you from now on, I will destroy it and build you a new one.”