Since that night, something small had changed in Adam's heart. He didn't fully understand it, but he felt it like a spark lighting a long darkness. He visited the shop almost every day—not to buy flowers, but because in Layla's presence, he found a reason to breathe again.
One evening, the weather was cold and the sky heavy with clouds. He sat at his usual table, watching her try to lift a heavy box of flowers. He couldn't control himself, stood quickly, and caught the box before it fell.
— "Let me… you shouldn't tire yourself out."
She smiled despite his insistence and said:
— "Don't worry, I'm used to it."
— "But you shouldn't get used to what wears you down."
He looked directly into her eyes, and for the first time, he felt she wasn't just a girl in a wheelchair… but a force embodied, despite her physical weakness.
She spoke lightly, trying to break the seriousness:
— "Adam… you act like a bodyguard."
— "Maybe… I want to be."
Her hands paused, she lifted her head toward him, and her smile trembled for a moment. She didn't reply, but she felt his words pierce something deep inside her.
He sat beside her, helping arrange the flowers. His fingers occasionally brushed hers by mistake, but this time he didn't pull away quickly. The silence between them wasn't heavy; it was warm, as if they had found a language that needed no words.
In that moment, Adam realized her presence was no longer just a coincidence… it had become something that filled the emptiness inside him, something that reconnected him to life again.