From Hate Flourishes Love (Editing)

When My World Starts Again

🅩🅐🅝🅓🅔🅡

I pace down the hallway, waiting for a nurse, someone, anyone to give me an update on my husband. It's been 6 hours since the surgery started and I haven't learned anything about Kai's condition.

"Zander..." Colt squeezes my shoulder. "Don't worry. Kai is a fighter, he'll make it through the surgery."

"Yeah," I sniffle, wiping my nose. "Ngh,"  I wince.

I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to bear the pain.

"You should have that looked at," Colt points. "I'm pretty sure it's broken."

"I'm fine," I tell him.

"So," Colt rubs the back of his neck. "You think I have a chance?"

I raise a brow at him. "A chance at what?"

"You know," he punches my arm. "At your brother-in-law?"

"What is wrong with you?" I ask him. "You're more worried for your love life than Kai making it out of surgery." I shake my head, walking away.

I stare down the still hallway, but nothing moves. Just white walls, too quiet and a growing weight I wasn't able to shake. I wrap my arms around my trembling self, hoping Kai will be okay.

"Kai is going to make it," I tell myself. "He's coming back to you."

Colt sits beside me. "Hey," he says in a low voice. "You think Kai would leave you behind like that? No, dude. He just needs a bit more time to make it back to you."

Clot claps a strong arm around my back, pulling me in a hug.

"Mr. Storm?"

"Yes?" I quickly get on my feet when the doctor comes my way.

"The surgery when well," Dr. Farah starts, uncertainly, "but it will be a few days, maybe a few weeks before we can say for sure that it made an improvement in your husband's condition."

"Can I see him?" I ask.

"Not yet," he says. "Kai's immune system is bit weak at moment. We don't want to increase his chances of catching an infection after surgery."

"Okay," I rasp.

I steel myself. And head down the corridor. I was so worried about Kai that didn't think to thank Riel for giving him a fighting chance.

"Zander," Colt shouts, running behind me. "Wait up!"

I stop the elevator from leaving from him. He stands beside me, grinning. "You're going to see Riel, right?"

"Colt," I mutter. "Unless you want your face match mine." I point to the ugly purple bruise covering my face. "Steer clear of things that are already taken."

"Zander, relax," he says smugly. "I have fought some most dangerous people in the world. ISIS. Al-Qaeda. The Taliban. Boko Haram. I'm not scared of some old guy."