246
~Bella's POV
I led Noah down the quiet hospital hallway, our steps echoing against the pale, polished floor. Neither of us said much, the kind of silence that didn't need filling. The kind that felt sacred.
The sun had started to set by the time we stepped outside. The sky wore a soft orange hue, streaked with pink like someone had brushed it gently with pastels. The breeze was cooler now, brushing against our skin as we walked slowly to the car parked near the driveway.
When we reached the car, I opened the passenger side for him, but instead of getting in, I closed the door again and turned to him. He looked tired, not the kind of tired that sleep fixed, but the kind that sits deep in your chest. Still, there was something new in his eyes. A softness that hadn't been there earlier. Hope, maybe. Or the beginning of it.
I didn't speak. I just stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him.
For a second, he froze.
Then, slowly, he sank into me.
