The One Who Stayed

Here's a romance-style blurb:

Lily Carter has spent her entire life alone.

At twenty-four, she works long hours in a small café, lives in a run-down apartment, and expects nothing from anyone. No family. No friends. No one waiting for her at the end of the day. She's learned that the only person she can rely on is herself.

Then one rainy night, everything changes.

A car accident leaves Lily with a concussion, a broken arm, and a one-way trip to the emergency department. There she meets Dr. Victoria Hayes-a brilliant trauma surgeon known for her confidence, her sharp tongue, and her unwavering control.

Victoria has spent years keeping her emotions locked away behind professionalism. But there's something about the shy café worker that gets under her skin. When Lily is discharged and Victoria discovers there's no one coming to take her home, she can't ignore the protective instinct demanding she step in.

What begins as a single night of care quickly becomes something neither woman expected.

As Victoria finds herself wanting to protect Lily from a world that has given her nothing, Lily begins to experience feelings she's never had before-feelings that challenge everything she thought she knew about herself.

Because for the first time in her life, someone is choosing to stay.

And Victoria Hayes has never been very good at walking away from something she wants.

A slow-burn sapphic romance featuring forced proximity, hurt/comfort, found family, a possessive doctor who falls first, and a shy woman learning that she deserves to be loved.