The sterile white lights of the hospital room felt like they were vibrating against Capri’s skull. She lay back against the stiff pillows, her leg elevated and encased in a heavy cast, a dull, rhythmic throb echoing the beat of her heart. The door creaked open, and she didn't even have to look to know it was Ryder. She could smell his familiar scent even through the medicinal haze of the room. Usually, his arrival meant a smirk and a distraction, but today, the weight of his presence felt crushing. "Don't." Capri rasped. She kept her eyes fixed on the flickering TV screen in the corner, refusing to meet his gaze. "Don't do the 'concerned friend' thing, Ryder. It doesn’t suit you."
She gripped the thin hospital blanket, her knuckles white. "You should go." She trembled despite her best efforts to keep it cold. She finally turned her head, her eyes glassy and brimming with an ache. "Watching you look at me like I'm something fragile…it’s making me realize things I’ve been trying really hard to ignore." A single tear escaped. "We were supposed to be the easy part of each other's lives. But I’m lying here terrified--not of the surgery or the recovery, but of the fact that I’ve fallen for you. And now I'm stuck in this bed, hurt and wide open, realizing that you have all the power to break what's left of me."
