Pollen's P.O.V.
The private lounge of the Cosmic Medical Hospital was almost entirely empty, offering a sharp, immediate contrast to the chaotic environment we had navigated just twenty minutes ago. I sat quietly on a soft leather armchair, my hands resting over the strap of my tote bag, listening to the muffled hum of the central air conditioning.
We were waiting for Leo, who was currently at the VIP registration counter on the upper floor sorting out the administrative details for my evaluation. Because the hospital was located right on 20th Street, Snowflakes Town, it catered heavily to elite corporate executives and high-ranking personnel, meaning the registration process for private patients required careful, tedious paperwork.
I had taken my medicine right before arriving at the hospital doors, hoping the chemical shield would kick in before I had to face the crowd. But the stabilizer seemed to not be working anymore.
The moment Leo had pulled the silver sedan into the main entrance driveway, the sheer density of the public lobby had immediately pressed against my mind. As we walked through the glass sliding doors of the public section, a massive surge of unshielded thought bubbles from the passing patients, visiting families, and frantic doctors had flooded my peripheral vision.
'Please let the test results be negative… we can't afford another treatment round,' a heavy, dark blue bubble from a weeping mother text-flashed directly into my sightline.
Right beside her, a jagged, aggressively crimson cloud from an exhausted corporate manager in a suit crashed against my temples.
'If I miss the third-quarter deployment deadline because of this chest pain, the board is going to replace me.'
Even the passing medical staff weren't safe from the bleed-through. A pale yellow bubble vibrated above a resident doctor rushing down the corridor:
'Thirty-six hours on shift… if I misread this dosage chart, I'm going to lose my license.'
The chaotic mixture of physical pain, corporate stress, and emotional exhaustion from the crowd made me incredibly dizzy. My vision had blurred for a split second, a dull, familiar ache thrumming right behind my temples.
But I hid it well.
I clamped my teeth together, focused my eyes strictly on the polished tile floor, and kept my posture steady because I didn't want Zachy to worry about me. He was already on high alert after my collapse at the cemetery.
If he noticed even a single tremor in my hands, he would completely spiral with panic right there in the hallway.
Now that we were tucked away in the restricted wing, I continued to look around the space. No one was there. The public section earlier had been a blur of nurses going back and forth in a frantic rush, their footsteps squeaking against the linoleum as they wheeled gurneys past the triage desks. But in this private lobby, the entire vibe was so calm, peaceful, and full of relief.
The walls were painted a soft, muted beige, and the massive windows overlooked a quiet, manicured courtyard garden that blocked out the noise of Snowflakes Town entirely.
I deliberately kept my eyes fixed on the distant greenery, strictly avoiding looking at Zachy sitting right beside me. I didn't want to look at him because I knew his blue thought bubble would appear, overflowing with that heavy, suffocating worry that had been lingering in his mind since last night.
I didn't want to see how anxious he was for my results.
Instead, I slowly shifted my weight and leaned my head onto Zachy's shoulder.
He didn't move. He simply adjusted his arm slightly, letting me rest against him as he leaned his head back against the cushion.
"Are you nervous?" Zachy asked softly, his voice low and grounding in the quiet room.
"No, I'm just sleepy, I guess," I responded, my voice barely above a whisper. It wasn't entirely a lie; fighting through the unshielded thoughts at the entrance without a working stabilizer had left my body feeling completely drained.
"You've been sleeping a lot since yesterday," Zachy murmured, his thumb idly brushing against the fabric of his jeans.
"But I guess your brain needs the rest after everything it went through. Just keep your eyes closed until Leo gets back down here."
"Is Leo going to be much longer?" I asked, watching a solitary nurse walk past the frosted glass doors of the corridor with a clipboard, her movements slow and unhurried.
"Probably a few more minutes," Zachy replied, letting out a soft sigh that vibrated faintly against my temple.
"The administrative staff in this district love their executive protocols. Every single clearance form has to be stamped three times just because it's a priority check-up. But it's better this way. At least we don't have to sit out there in the noise."
"Yeah," I whispered, closing my eyes tightly as I let his familiar warmth anchor me.
"The noise out there was getting really loud."
Kyles's P.O.V.
I kept my back turned to the room, my gaze fixed blindly on the sprawling skyline through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of my fifteenth-floor private office. It was Saturday morning, and the weather across the upper districts was pristine.
The sky was a vast, unbroken sheet of pale blue, entirely clear of rain clouds, and the bright morning sun cast a sharp, metallic glint over the towering corporate structures of the city.
But the calm outside did nothing to steady the rhythm behind my ribs.
I was anxious.
It was a completely foreign, irritating sensation that made the skin across my knuckles feel entirely too tight. In all my years running the MorrisGroup, this was the first time I had ever broken protocol to hand someone a full, unrestricted two-weeks vacation on my private island. My actions were reckless, erratic, and lacked any form of executive logic.
BANG.
The heavy mahogany office door slammed violently against its frame, the loud crack echoing sharply off the minimalist walls. I didn't flinch. I remained as calm as the weather outside, my hands resting loosely inside my suit pockets as my mind continued to process the tight timeline leading up to Monday morning.
Xyrus had just barged into my space, his chest heaving slightly as his boots clicked aggressively against the polished concrete floor. He didn't say a word at first. He just marched straight toward the center of the room, his jaw tight with a frantic need for explanations.
"You're going to tell me what the hell you're doing, Kyles," Xyrus snapped, his voice cutting through the quiet hum of the office air conditioning. "Because I've been looking over that entry authorization all morning, and nothing about this situation makes sense."
I slowly turned around, my expression flat as I leaned my lower back against the edge of the glass window frame. I looked at him, taking note of his tense posture. Although I didn't need to explain anything to him—Xyrus was my lead tech asset, but he wasn't a formal part of the island's corporate hospitality board—he was acting as if he were single-handedly protecting the entire resort infrastructure from a security breach.
But he was my best friend. He was the only person who had stayed by my side when the world turned into a paranoid minefield two years ago, so he deserved to know at least some details.
"Sit down, Xyrus," I said quietly, my voice level and completely unhurried.
"I'm not sitting," Xyrus countered, crossing his arms firmly over his chest.
"You called me up to the fifteenth floor to talk about the invitation packet I dropped off at 16th Street yesterday. So talk. Why Pollen Anderson? Why the two-week luxury pass?"
I looked down at my right hand, the scraped skin across my swollen knuckles now a dull, fading purple. The physical reminder of my guilt was still there, throbbing faintly under the morning light.
"I overstepped," I confessed bluntly, my voice carrying a raw, heavy edge.
"When I was tracking her coordinates down at the cemetery, I crossed a line. I was so blinded by my own paranoia that I sat back and watched an innocent girl have a severe physical breakdown right in front of my eyes. Seeing her suffer like that... it made me realize how wrong I was."
Xyrus's arms slowly uncrossed, his furious expression instantly faltering into a look of genuine surprise.
"A breakdown? Wait... you actually saw her face-to-face?"
"No. She didn't see me," I corrected smoothly, turning my gaze back to the clear blue sky outside.
"But I watched her suffocate because of my paranoia. Sending her to Starry Nightsky Island isn't a corporate play, Xyrus. It's a proper apology. I just want her to be able to look at the night sky and genuinely relax, away from the noise I put around her life. That's all it is."
Pollen's P.O.V.
Leo arrived back in the private lobby a few minutes later, holding a high-clearance smart keycard to guide us up to Doctor Valerie's private office.
As we stood up to leave the lounge, I didn't even glance at Leo or Zachy. My head felt far too heavy to balance, so I kept my gaze strictly on the polished tile floor, following their shoes down the carpeted corridor.
During a brief pause near the executive elevators, I tilted my head slightly and saw Leo's thought bubble materialize in a muted shade of gray. He was as calm as ever on the outside, stepping forward to press the elevator button with perfect posture, but his internal thoughts seemed deeply worried—not just for me, but for Zachy also.
'Zachary didn't sleep a wink last night. If Pollen's neural readings come back critical today, Zach is going to blame himself for her breakdown. I need to make sure I anchor both of them through this.'
The lift glided up smoothly to the restricted psychiatric wing. According to the medical staff who greeted us at the floor desk, Doctor Valerie had just arrived at the clinic. Leo told us that we should go ahead and wait inside her office to avoid the main hallway, using his registration clearance to unlock the heavy door.
We were here.
The room was spacious, smelling of dried lavender and clean linen, with a large mahogany desk separating the seating area from a wall of medical certificates. I was the only one sitting down, resting on a plush chair right in front of the desk, while the other two stood side by side behind me like a pair of silent bodyguards.
A moment later, the door clicked open, and Doctor Valerie arrived.
We all stood briefly to greet her. Of course, her nephew Leo was right here, so she smiled more brightly than usual, her sharp professional demeanor melting instantly as she stepped forward to hug him tightly. They hugged each other warmly, her eyes crinkling with genuine affection.
"Good morning, Aunt Valerie," Leo greeted quietly, his usual formal posture softening just a fraction.
"Oh, Leo! Look at you, it feels like it's been ages!"
Doctor Valerie exclaimed, stepping forward to hug him tightly. They hugged each other warmly, her eyes crinkling with genuine affection. She pulled back slightly, patting his arm.
"You should visit the house more often, you know. Your uncle keeps asking about you."
"I've been a bit busy with work, Auntie, but I will," Leo replied with a small, rare smile.
Doctor Valerie then turned her bright gaze toward the rest of us.
"And good morning to you as well, Zachary, Pollen. I'm glad you all made it safely."
She pulled back completely and was about to hug Zachy next with the same familiar warmth, but Leo let out a sharp, sudden cough.
He adjusted his collar, casting a pointed, protective glance at his auntie as if telling her to back away from Zachy.
Doctor Valerie paused mid-step, her eyes darting between Leo's stiff posture and Zachy's slightly flushed face. Above her head, a quick, sharp magenta thought bubble flared.
'What a possessive dude.'
I saw her internal thought and laughed a little under my breath, the sudden hint of humor breaking the dense anxiety in my chest. Doctor Valerie cleared her throat, a knowing smirk playing on her lips as she stepped back behind her desk and motioned for us to relax.
"Please, make yourselves comfortable," she said aloud, her voice shifting back into its smooth, clinical tone as she sat down in her leather executive chair.