The hospital wing was silent. Most of the lights had been dimmed, and the faint beeping of machines echoed softly down the hallway. Lisa lay on her side, back turned to the door, her thoughts tangled in everything she couldn't say.
Why did he look at me like that?
Why now, after all these years?
She shut her eyes, willing sleep to come.
Then—
Knock knock.
A soft, hesitant tap at the door.
She turned slowly. The door creaked open.
Alex.
He stood there in a dark coat, his tall frame casting a shadow into the room. His expression unreadable as usual, but his eyes—his eyes looked... conflicted.
"I thought you'd be asleep," he said, stepping inside.
Lisa sat up slowly. "You came."
He didn't answer. Just approached and sat on the chair beside her bed.
Silence stretched between them.
Until Lisa broke it. "Why did you say that yesterday... about people stealing my attention?"
Alex looked at her, his jaw clenched. He didn't speak for a long moment.
Then he said quietly, "You've grown up."
She blinked. "What?"
"You're no longer the quiet little girl who hid behind her books. You're beautiful. Calm. Kind. And... people notice."
Lisa looked away. Her heart thudded painfully.
"But I don't want them to," he added, voice low.
"Why?" she whispered.
He hesitated.
His eyes were stormy now.
"Because I hate the idea of someone else touching what's—"
He stopped himself. Swallowed hard. "—what I've protected all these years."
Lisa looked at him sharply. "I'm not a thing to be protected, Alex. And you don't own me."
He stood, face tightening.
"I know," he said softly. "But it doesn't stop me from feeling like I do."
And with that, he left—again.
Leaving Lisa staring at the door, heart pounding with a mixture of anger, confusion... and something dangerously close to hope.
⸻
Scene Break: Rooftop of Feng Hospital
Mia stood beside Eli, both holding cups of warm tea, the city lights glowing beneath them.
"I saw you with Zia earlier," she said with a soft smile.
Eli laughed. "She's... something else."
"She's good for you," Mia said, her voice gentle but laced with a wistful note. "You look happier around her than I've ever seen you."
He turned to her slowly. "And you?"
She glanced at him, startled. "What about me?"
"You look lonelier than I've ever seen you."
Mia smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Because I'm standing beside the wrong man."
Eli's heart cracked.
He wanted to reach out, to say then stand beside me—but he didn't.
Because her ring still belonged to Alex…