Aria’s POV
Darkness.
Heavy. Suffocating. Like being buried under layers of thick wool.
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. Could only float in this endless void where nothing made sense.
Then—light.
It crept in slowly. Gentle. Persistent. Pulling me toward the surface of consciousness.
My eyelids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. I tried to open them. Failed. Tried again.
This time, they cooperated.
White.
Everything was white.
White ceiling. White walls. White sheets beneath my fingertips.
Where was I?
The question floated through my foggy brain. Disconnected. Like it belonged to someone else.
I blinked. Once. Twice. The world slowly came into focus.
A hospital room.
The realization hit like cold water.
I was in a hospital. In a bed. With tubes attached to my arm and machines beeping softly beside me.
What happened?
I tried to sit up. Bad idea. The room spun violently. My stomach lurched.
A groan escaped my lips. I let my head fall back against the pillow.
God. Everything hurt.
My throat was dry. Scratchy. Like I’d swallowed sandpaper. My limbs felt disconnected from my body. Heavy and foreign.
How long had I been here?
Sunlight streamed through the window. Afternoon, maybe? Morning? I had no idea.
I turned my head slowly. Carefully. Trying not to trigger another wave of dizziness.
The room was empty.
Just me. The machines. The sterile white walls.
No visitors. No family. No one.
Of course.
I closed my eyes. Forced myself to breathe.
That’s when I noticed it.
A scent.
Faint. Almost imperceptible. But definitely there.
Ebony and frost.
My eyes flew open.
Kael?
Had he been here? In this room? By this bed?
No. That was impossible. He’d made it perfectly clear he wanted nothing to do with me.
I was imagining things. The drugs they’d given me were messing with my head.
But the scent lingered. Clung to the air like a ghost. Like someone had been sitting right beside me. Close enough to touch.
I stared at the ceiling. Counted the tiny holes in the acoustic tiles.
What was wrong with me?
I knew I hadn’t been eating properly. Knew I hadn’t been sleeping. The stress of Finn’s threats. The devastation of Kael’s rejection. Everything had piled up until my body just... gave out.
But still. Fainting? In public? At my daughter’s school?
A bitter laugh escaped my throat. It hurt.
This was my life now. A complete and total disaster.
The door clicked.
I turned my head. Too fast. Dizziness washed over me again.
A man walked in. Middle-aged. White coat. Glasses perched on his nose. A clipboard in his hands.
A doctor.
He looked up from his notes. Saw that I was awake. A professional smile spread across his face.
"Ah. You’re conscious. Good."
He walked closer. Checked something on one of the machines. Made a note on his clipboard.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Like I got hit by a truck," I managed. My voice came out raspy. Barely recognizable.
The doctor nodded. Not surprised.
"That’s normal. You were severely dehydrated and malnourished when they brought you in. Your body essentially shut down to protect itself."
"Do you remember what happened?" The doctor pulled a chair closer. Sat down beside the bed.
"I was at a school. My daughter’s school." The words came slowly. "I was talking to my... ex-husband. And then I don’t remember anything after that."
"You collapsed." The doctor’s voice was matter-of-fact. Clinical. "Someone brought you to the emergency room. You’ve been unconscious for several hours."
"So what’s wrong with me?" I asked instead. "Besides the dehydration and the not-eating thing?"
The doctor hesitated.
"Mrs.—" He caught himself. "Ms. Shadow Moon. When you were brought in, we ran a series of standard tests. Blood work. Vital signs. The usual protocols for a patient presenting with syncope. One of the tests came back with an unexpected result."
The room felt smaller suddenly. The walls pressing in. The beeping of the machines too loud.
"What kind of result?"
The doctor took a breath. Met my eyes directly.
"Ms. Shadow Moon." His voice was gentle. Almost too gentle. "Are you aware that you’re pregnant?"