Tangled Hearts

Chapter 11

Sophia sat on the edge of her bed, her fingers tracing the edges of the phone in her lap. The night had fallen into an unsettling silence, yet her mind raced with the events that had unfolded in the past 48 hours. The chase, the cars tailing them, the grainy footage at the hospital. And then there was the nurse. The one who'd died in the accident-no, it couldn't just be an accident. Something didn't add up, and it gnawed at her, keeping her awake even as exhaustion weighed heavily on her shoulders.

Why now? Why was everything happening so suddenly? Her heart ached at the thought of how much danger Asher was in, how much danger she was in. She had promised herself that she wouldn't let her emotions cloud her judgment. But it was impossible. Every time she thought about Asher, her resolve wavered. She liked him. No. She loved him. And that terrified her. She couldn't afford to let her feelings get in the way. Not now, not with everything at stake.

Sophia exhaled, pushing her hair behind her ears as she tried to sort through the puzzle in her mind. The nurse had been meant to meet her. She was about to tell her something-something important. But before she could, that truck... the accident. Her thoughts were tangled, uncertain. Was it all a coincidence? Could it be?

She leaned back against the headboard, closing her eyes for a moment. I can't afford to get lost in this. I can't let him- The thought stopped her mid-sentence. She couldn't keep ignoring it. She couldn't keep denying how much he meant to her. She knew that. But it was hard to focus on what needed to be done when her heart was so caught up in him.

Meanwhile, Asher sat in his room, staring blankly at the ceiling. Regret churned in his stomach, eating at him from the inside out. Maybe it had been a mistake to let his feelings surface. Maybe it had been a mistake to get close to her, to let her into his chaotic world.

He ran a hand through his hair, the silence of the room feeling suffocating. What was I thinking?

The thought of Sophia being so confused, questioning everything, made his chest tighten. He hated seeing her in distress, hated the way she was caught between helping him and trying to figure out what the hell was happening. She deserved peace.

She deserves peace... not this chaos. Not me. She's better off without me in her life. But I can't make myself walk away. Not now. Not when I...

He sighed, burying his face in his hands for a moment. What am I even doing?

It was a question he couldn't answer. The more he tried to push her away for her own sake, the more he realized that she was already too far under his skin.

Sophia's face flashed in his mind again-her concern, her determination to protect him despite the growing uncertainty. Why does she care so much?

He clenched his fists, frustration mixing with the lingering sense of guilt. I should let her go. It's safer for her. It's safer for both of us. But I can't. I need her... even if it destroys me.

━━━━ ◦: ✧✲✧ :◦━━━━

It was 4 a.m. when Sophia's phone buzzed, snapping her out of her thoughts. She glanced at the screen, frowning as the notification from the hospital lit up her phone.

"We regret to inform you that Nurse Janet Peterson passed away due to cardiac arrest earlier today. Cause of death under investigation. Please contact us for further information."

Sophia's blood ran cold as the words swam before her eyes. The nurse... she was dead. The same nurse who had been scheduled to meet her, the one she had been waiting for-she was gone. What had she been going to tell her? What had been so important?