The words stung, reopening old wounds. This friend had been his lifeline: saving him from the accident, funding secret surgeries to restore his sight and mobility, even encouraging him to pursue Eliana romantically. Yet, in his torment, Rafael couldn't bear the reminder. "Enough," he growled. "I can't talk to you right now." With a swipe, he blocked the number, the action feeling like a temporary severance of a vital artery. 'I'll unblock him later,' he told himself, 'when the storm passes.' But for now, solitude was his armor.
Amid this emotional maelstrom, about a week into the two-week ordeal, Austin Miller's call pierced the tension. Austin spoke with his usual gravelly precision from the other end of the line.
