Jay Jay's POV:
Hospital room- 3:42pm
White walls. Beeping machines. The smell of antiseptic.
I blink slowly, like my eyelids are made of bricks. My head feels like someone stuffed it with cotton and then set it on fire. Everything hurts. My ribs, my knuckles, my existence
I'm alive.
Barely.
"She's awake!!" I hear them yell.
I look around with my blurry eyes.
Section E.
All of them, as if they just won an Olympic gold medal.
"Jay!" Batang Kumag squeezes me to a hug.
My ribs scream in protest but I don't say anything. I just blink at him, dazed.
"Careful, idiot!" Calix snaps, yanking him back. "She's not a punching bag."
"Sorry! I panicked!" Ci-n says, already tearing up. "You looked so pale I thought you were a ghost!"
"Bro, she's not dead," David mutters, but his voice cracks halfway through.
I blink again, trying to process the chaos. They're all here. All of Section E. Ci-n is holding a bouquet of half-wilted flowers. Felix has a balloon that says "Congrats on Your Divorce?" and Edrix is filming everything like it's a documentary.
"Why are you all here?" I croak, voice dry and raspy.
"Because you're our mutya Jay!" Calix says, stepping forward. "And we thought we lost you."
My throat tightens. I want to say something sarcastic, something dramatic, something me. But all I can do is nod.
Then I see him.
Keifer.
He walks through the hospital door like some model on the red carpet.
"Keifer! Your wife is awake!" Ci-n shouts as the whole section e cheers.
He doesn't flinch. Doesn't deny it. He just gives his classic smirk.
He walks straight to me and says, "About time, Mrs Watson."
The room erupts. The whole section E blasts into cheers. Aries? Aries looks like he's about to commit a felony.
Keifer sits beside me, brushing a strand of hair from my face. "You scared me."
"I thought I was gonna die." I whisper.
"You didn't," he says. "You fought. You survived. And now you're stuck with me."
"Lucky me," I say, voice dry.
Then Aries steps forward.
The temperature drops.
He's holding my necklace. The one I lost during the chase. He places it on the table like it's a peace offering.
"You're staying with me," he says, voice low.
Keifer doesn't move. "She's staying with me."
"She needs rest. Not romance."
"She needs safety. I gave her that."
"You gave her bruises."
"I gave her me."
The room goes silent.
I lie back, exhausted. Loved. Broken. Caught between two storms.
I blink. "Guys…"
"She's not your responsibility," Aries snaps.
"She's not your property," Keifer fires back.
"She's my sister."
"She's my wife."
The room goes silent.
I blink at Keifer. "You just said that out loud."
He shrugs. "We're official. I'm allowed."
Aries looks like he's calculating how many laws he'd break if he threw Keifer out the window.
"I'm not a child," I say, voice steady. "I get to choose."
Aries turns to me. "You almost died."
"I didn't."
"Because we got there in time."
"Because he got there in time."
Aries's jaw tightens. "You think he'll protect you?"
"I know he will."
Keifer doesn't say anything. Just takes my hand, gentle, careful, like I'm made of stars and glass.
Aries sighs "It's really your choice Jay, die or survive"
Aries stares at our hands. Then at me. Then at the door.
"I'll be outside," he says coldly. "When you're ready to think clearly."
He walks out.
The room exhales.
Ci-n bursts into tears. Felix starts narrating like it's a telenovela. Edrix zooms in on my hand in Keifer's.
And me?
I lie back, exhausted. Loved. Broken. Official.
And I know one thing for sure.
Mark Keifer Watson doesn't just think I'm his wife. He's already planning the honeymoon.
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Aries's POV:
Hospital Hallway – 3:59pm
I slam the door behind me harder than I mean to. The sound echoes down the sterile hallway, but I don't care. Let them stare. Let the nurses glare. Let Keifer rot.
I pace.
One, two, three steps. Turn. Repeat.
My fists are clenched so tight my nails are digging into my palms. I should've punched him. I should've dragged Jay out of that room myself. I should've done something—anything—before she looked me in the eye and chose him.
Him.
Mark freaking Keifer Watson.
The guy who thinks calling her "Mrs. Watson" is romantic instead of manipulative. The guy who turns every moment into a performance. The guy who nearly got her killed.
And she still chose him.
I lean against the wall, breathing hard. My chest feels tight. Not angry tight. Not even protective tight.
Just broken.
She's my sister. My chaos. My headache. My heart.
And I couldn't protect her.
I close my eyes and see it again—her body slumped, blood on her hands, Snorlax in the dirt. I hear her scream. I hear Keifer's voice. I hear my own, too late, too far.
I failed her.
And now she's holding his hand like it's her lifeline.
I want to scream. I want to rip the stupid balloon Felix brought. I want to throw Edrix's camera out the window. I want to rewind time and make her not fall for him.
But I can't.
Because she already did.
And she's not a child anymore.
I sink into the bench outside her room, elbows on my knees, head in my hands.
She said she gets to choose.
And she chose him.
I just hope she survives it.
Because if he breaks her—
I'll break him.
Hospital Rooftop – 4:17am
I needed air.
Not the recycled kind they pump through the vents. Real air. Cold, biting, honest.
The rooftop's empty except for me and the vending machine that hasn't worked since 2019. I sit on the ledge, legs dangling over the edge, staring at the city lights like they might blink out if I glare hard enough.
I hear footsteps behind me.
I don't turn.
"Jay Jay's asleep," Keifer says quietly.
I still don't turn.
"She asked me not to follow you. Said you needed space."
I snort. "And yet here you are."
He walks closer, but not too close. Smart. "I just wanted to say something."
"Let me guess," I say, voice sharp. "You love her. You'll protect her. You'd die for her."
"I already almost did."
That makes me turn.
He looks wrecked. Shirt wrinkled. Eyes bloodshot. Hands trembling.
Good.
"You think that earns you something?" I ask. "A medal? Her heart?"
"No," he says. "But it earned me a chance."
I stand. "You don't get chances with Jay Jay. You get tests. And you failed the first one."
"I didn't leave her."
"You led her into danger."
"I didn't know—"
"You should have."
Silence.
The wind picks up, tugging at our clothes, our tempers.
Keifer steps forward. "I know I'm not perfect. I know I mess up. But I love her in a way that doesn't care about perfect. I love her like she's gravity. Like she's the reason I stay grounded."
I hate that it sounds true.
I hate that I believe him.
I look away. "If you hurt her—"
"I won't."
"If you lie to her—"
"I won't."
"If you ever make her cry the way she cried when she thought you left her—"
"I won't"
I stare at Keifer, the person that used to be my friend, the person who used to think me as a friend.
I can't risk Jay Jay's life though...