Chapter 3: The Lie She Used to Protect Me
Her skin was ice-cold when I finally took her hand.
The feeling broke something in me. I remembered that same hand wrapped around mine on winter nights, laughing as she stole warmth from my palms. I remembered her bangles clinking against coffee cups, her fingers brushing flour from my shirt, her touch turning ordinary rooms into home.
Now her hand felt weightless.
“Why are you here alone?” I asked, my voice cracking despite every effort to keep it steady.
Maya looked away.
Beside her stood an IV pole, silent and thin, like a guard assigned to watch over her suffering.
“It’s nothing,” she said.
The lie was gentle. Soft. Familiar.
She had used that tone for years whenever she wanted to protect me from her pain.
“Just some tests, Arjun. You shouldn’t be here.”
I lowered myself onto the floor beside her.
“Then I’ll be somewhere I shouldn’t,” I said. “But I’m not leaving.”… Continue Reading ⬇️