Verity’s POV

After he left, the silence returned—heavier than before.

Cassian’s presence had filled the room with something that was tense, charged and… comforting. When he was gone, everything felt strangely hollow, like the space he’d occupied still clung to the air. I stared at the door for a long time, half expecting it to creak open again. It didn’t.

It was just me.

And the quiet.

A nurse entered minutes later, or maybe it was longer. I was still learning how time ...