Theo pulled a chair to sit beside the bed. From earlier, he hadn't taken his eyes off Daisy. She was curled up under his blanket, breathing evenly, her lashes resting gently against her cheeks. Peaceful… for once. Only because of the sleeping pills Aurora had slipped her.
His hand hovered inches above hers, hesitant, trembling, like touching her might make her vanish. He clenched his jaw and pulled back, instead gripping the armrest of the chair until his knuckles whitened.
She looked so small, so breakable in his bed. And the worst part, the part that made his chest ache like it was being torn open, knowing that her peace had nothing to do with him. She had found it in spite of him.
Leaning forward, he buried his face in his hands, his breath shaky. "I should've been the one to protect you from all of this…" he whispered into the silence.
