What awaited me behind the curtain was a scene more surreal than any nightmare I’d ever imagined. As the doctor pulled it back, my heart pounded in my chest, each beat echoing in my ears like a drum. Michael lay on the hospital bed, his face grazed and bruised, yet painfully familiar. Despite the injuries, his eyes remained unmistakably his, a blend of warmth and a hint of mischief that first captured my heart years ago.
But it wasn’t just Michael that made my knees give out beneath me. It was the woman sitting by his bedside, her head bandaged and her arm in a sling, who looked up at me with eyes as wide and startled as my own.
“Jessica?” My voice barely rose above a whisper, each syllable quivering with disbelief and betrayal.
