The ambulance lights flashed against the dark night sky as Lina was rushed into the emergency room.
Everything felt like a dream.
The cold hospital air.
The distant sound of machines.
The quiet whispers of nurses moving quickly around her.
But through the haze of pain and exhaustion, Lina noticed something strange
The mysterious man was still there.
Most people would have left after calling for help. But he stood calmly near the hospital window, hands in his pockets, watching everything unfold like he belonged there.
"Is she going to be okay?" a nurse asked the doctor.
"She collapsed from extreme stress and exhaustion," the doctor replied. "Her body has been under pressure for too long."
Lina slowly opened her eyes.
The white hospital ceiling came into view first. Then the soft beeping of the heart monitor reached her ears.
And then she saw him.
The same man.
Still standing there.
"Why… are you here?" Lina asked weakly.
The man turned his gaze toward her.
His eyes were calm, but there was something powerful about the way he looked at her.
"Because someone had to be," he answered.
Lina frowned slightly.
"You don't even know me."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"That's where you're wrong."
Lina's heart skipped.
"What do you mean?"
Instead of answering immediately, he walked closer to the bed. His presence filled the room with a strange sense of authority.
"My name is Adrian Cole," he said.
The name sounded familiar, but Lina was too exhausted to think clearly.
"You should focus on resting," Adrian continued.
"Why are you helping me?" Lina asked quietly.
Adrian's expression darkened slightly.
"Because you were betrayed," he said.
The word hit Lina like a knife.
Betrayed.
Her chest tightened.
Memories of Daniel and Vanessa laughing together flooded back.
Tears gathered in her eyes again.
Adrian noticed.
"You shouldn't cry over people who never valued you," he said calmly.
Lina looked at him.
"Easy for you to say."
Adrian didn't respond immediately.
But the look in his eyes suggested something deeper.
Something she didn't understand yet.