Episode 81 — Whispered Wounds
Dawn crept in through the broken skylight, painting silver streaks across the warehouse floor. Aria hadn't moved from Raian's side, her hand still curled gently in his. Sleep tugged at her lashes, but she fought it. Every breath he took, every twitch of his brow, was a silent war between life and death. She wasn't going to blink and lose him again.
His breathing was steadier now. The medic's stitches had held through the night. His fever hadn't spiked. Small miracles—but she counted each one like lifelines.
Raian stirred. Slowly. As if returning from a place far deeper than dreams.
"Aria…"
Her name came out cracked, fragile like a dry leaf.
"I'm here," she said, quickly bending closer, her fingers brushing over his cheek. "You're okay now."
He opened his eyes just enough to meet hers. The light in them was faint, dulled by pain, but present.
"You stayed all night."
"I told you I would."
He tried to smile but winced instead. "I remember… your voice. You were crying."
She swallowed the lump in her throat. "You were dying."
His gaze drifted over her face, as if memorizing it anew. "Didn't want to die… not before I told you…"
Aria froze. "Told me what?"
Raian's lips parted, but no words came out. His strength was already waning. His eyes fluttered shut again, and his fingers slackened in hers.
Her chest ached with the weight of the unfinished sentence.
Not now, she told herself. He needed rest more than confessions.
But deep down, the words he hadn't said hung in the air like storm clouds, pulsing with meaning.
Saira entered quietly with hot soup and clean towels. She gave Aria a brief nod before sitting on a crate nearby, warming her hands over a thermos lid filled with tea.
"We'll need to move soon," she said softly. "People will start sniffing around once they realize who's missing from the explosion site."
Aria looked over her shoulder. "You think they'll trace it here?"
"Eventually. Raian's enemies aren't stupid."
Aria glanced down at him. "Then we move him tomorrow. Tonight, he rests."
Saira hesitated but nodded.
"Have you heard anything?" Aria asked. "From outside?"
Saira exhaled. "The blast wiped out most of Jin's main lab. Clean hit. No survivors were reported, but… his name wasn't on the death list either."
Aria's spine stiffened. "Then he's alive."
"Or in hiding."
"No," Aria said darkly, "he doesn't hide. He reloads."
Saira sipped her tea, eyes flickering toward the cot. "And if he comes back?"
Aria tightened her grip on Raian's hand. "Then I finish what he started."
Saira said nothing. They both knew what that meant.
The hours passed with a heavy stillness. Occasionally, Raian would stir—never fully conscious, but present enough to hold her hand tighter, to murmur fractured dreams.
It wasn't until sunset that his eyes opened again, clearer this time.
"You're still here?" he rasped.
"Until the end," she whispered.
Raian gave her a long look. "You were always too brave for your own good."
"And you were always too stubborn to die."
He chuckled weakly. "Guilty."
Then he grew quiet. "What happened to Jin?"
Aria's expression darkened. "The lab's gone. But he escaped."
Raian didn't react, but his jaw clenched slightly. "Then it's not over."
"No." She shook her head slowly. "It's just beginning."
His eyes searched hers. "You're not scared?"
"I was," she admitted. "But not anymore."
"Why?"
She leaned closer, her voice a whisper. "Because now, I have something to protect."
He blinked slowly. "Me?"
Aria smiled faintly. "And the woman I've become beside you."
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Just the quiet hum of a life barely held together.
Then Raian spoke again. "Aria… there's something I need to tell you. About Jin. About me."
She tensed. "What is it?"
His voice was softer now, thick with sleep but laced with secrets. "I wasn't just his brother."
Aria froze. "What do you mean?"
"I was his first project."
Her eyes widened.
"Genetically engineered. Not fully… human."
Aria stared, her lips parted, breath caught.
"I never told you," he continued slowly, "because I didn't want to become a monster in your eyes."
"You're not," she said immediately, her voice fierce and breaking. "You never were."
"But I was designed to be," he whispered. "Faster. Stronger. Smarter. He wanted an immortal army. I was the first successful prototype."
Aria shook her head, stunned. "Why would he…?"
"Because power was never enough for Jin. He wanted control over life itself."
"And you?"
"I escaped. Before he could clone me. Before he could strip me of who I am."
Aria touched his face. "You chose your soul over your strength."
He smiled faintly. "But it came with a cost. The only way to survive without the lab's treatments is with… you."
She blinked. "Me?"
"Your blood," he rasped. "It stabilizes the mutation."
A silence fell between them, sharp and breathless.
"So I was never just a doctor to you," she said quietly.
"No. You were always much more," he whispered. "But I knew… I knew the day you walked into that hospital, you were my cure. In every way."
Tears pricked her eyes. "And I thought I was just saving a wounded man."
Raian smiled, weak but real. "Turns out we saved each other."
She leaned forward, resting her forehead gently against his. "We're going to finish this, Raian. Together."
His voice dropped to a whisper. "Then let's start by surviving the night."