Sleep talking

All night long, David tossed and turned, unable to find solace in sleep. His eyes were fixed on the delicate figure lying beside him—a woman who had endured so much in his care.

His own family hadn't been spared from the turmoil, and the memories weighed heavily on David's heart. Regret gripped him as he acknowledged his mistreatment of the fragile soul now resting beside him, a soul he had, at times, treated with undeserved kindness.

In the quiet of the night, he reached out, gently stroking Rowan's hair. She lay on the bed he had managed to secure for her in the cramped room they shared. Earlier, he had pleaded with the hospital staff for an additional bed, desperate for Rowan to have a place to rest. However, the hospital was inundated with patients, and their plea for an extra bed had fallen on deaf ears.

In that moment, as his fingers brushed through her hair, David's heart ached with a mix of remorse and tenderness, understanding the gravity of the hardships both he and Rowan fa