Fauna held onto him a little longer, her cheek pressed against his shoulder, breathing in the familiar warmth that had haunted her for years.
She could feel the steady rise and fall of his chest, the faint scent of his skin and hair—it was grounding, soothing, everything she'd missed without even realizing how much.
For a fleeting moment, the world outside her hospital walls, the constant emergencies, the flashing lights, the endless calls for help, disappeared.
In its place was this quiet, fragile peace.
Hugging Mika gave her a calm nothing else ever had. In her work, every hour was life and death; every mistake weighed on her soul.
But here, in his arms, that tension slipped away. She could breathe, for once.
She felt safe. She felt whole.
And it terrified her how good that felt.
She wanted this moment to last forever, this stillness, this warmth, this tiny pocket of happiness she'd been denied for too long.
But then, all at once, something in her mind clicked.
Wait.
