Chapter 221

RUNE

He gently brushed her hair off her face, listening to the musical sound of her breath. Pale-faced and vulnerable on the bed, she looked like an angel—a beautiful, helpless one.

Rune covered her warm, stiff hand with his; the only proof that she had life in her was the beeps of the heart rate monitor that had kept him awake throughout the night.

The doctor had said she was making progress but still had a fifty-fifty chance of surviving. He had prayed, and if he could call his hunger strikes fasting, then he did that, but she was showing less chance of opening those eyes.

The nurses would frequently enter the room and offer to watch over her so that he could freshen up, but he consistently refused their offers.

The only time he took his eyes off her was when Laron called, in his scared trembling voice to inquire if Kyra was getting better.

Rune, choosing the easiest route to avoid further worrying him, always gave a reassuring nod, though deep down, uncertainty gnawed at him like a