The grief was immediate and crushing, hollowing her out from the inside.
Evelyn's shoulders trembled as silent tears soaked into the pillow.
She couldn't scream.
She couldn't ask why.
She couldn't even cry properly.
She just shook.
Axel bent down, resting his forehead against hers, his voice barely holding together. "I'm so sorry," he whispered brokenly. "I'm so, so sorry."
"No. It's my fault. It's my..." Her grip tightened painfully, nails digging into his skin as if she were trying to anchor herself in reality.
Tears streamed endlessly down her face, each one heavier than the last.
Axel wrapped her gently in his arms, careful of her injuries, holding her as close as he dared.
His own tears finally fell, dripping onto her hair as he pressed his face against her temple.
They stayed like that, clinging to each other in the quiet room, grief thick and suffocating between them.
