Rue’s Perspective

When I woke up, the first thing I saw was Aiden.

For a moment, my mind refused to accept the image. It felt like hallucination, the kind born from exhaustion and fever. But then I focused, and the shock hit me full force.

He looked terrible.

Not tired in the dignified, restrained way Aiden usually carried himself, but ruined. His hair was a mess, strands falling into his eyes as if he’d run his hands through it a hundred times. His shirt was wrinkled, his jacket nowhere to ...