[Day-9 (afternoon)]
[Mirage Corp Medical Facility]
Aurora drifted between sleep and wakefulness, the pain medicine pulling her under and then letting her surface again. The monitor at her bedside kept time with a steady beep. The sound was small and regular and somehow made the room feel less empty.
Each time she opened her eyes, Kane sat where he had been the whole morning - in the chair beside her bed, shoulders tight, hands folded. He hadn't left. He looked as if he hadn't slept. The dark circles under his eyes were deep; his hair stuck up in places; his shirt still had smears where the blood had dried. His face was lined with exhaustion, but his eyes never wandered off her.
The morning had crawled by. She had woken fully for the first time hours ago and had talked with Kane about what happened. The light through the blinds had shifted. Outside the window a car passed, and somewhere far off someone was talking on a phone. The world kept moving while she tried to heal.
