87. (DANE POV)

(DANE POV)

I watched Jo as she knelt over the toilet, her body shaking with each heave.

It wasn't just the nausea that had me on edge... it was the fact that she hadn't answered me. The silence was crushing, and the longer it dragged on, the more my mind spun out of control.

Why wasn't she saying she chose me?

Why couldn't she just say it and put me at ease?

When she finally stopped retching, I moved quickly, helping her out of her clothes.

Her skin was clammy. She looked so fragile...

It scared me.

I changed as fast as I could, trying to keep myself from spiraling into full-blown panic. I had to hold it together.

For her, for us.

There was an us, wasn't there? But her refusal to say it made me doubt everything.

I crouched down beside her, desperate to understand what was happening. "Jo, you do choose me, right? I expected a lot today, but this... this wasn't one of them."

She tried to reply, but another wave of nausea hit, sending her back to the toilet, dry heaving again.

Why w