Chapter 81

Elena’s POV I opened my eyes and blinked slowly, feeling dizzy. The room felt unreal, like I was trapped in some dream that I couldn’t wake from. “What’s going on?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. My throat was dry, my limbs weak. Eric was sitting close, his hand brushing against mine, grounding me. “You were shot,” he said quietly, his tone almost too calm to be true. “But it’s over now. You’re stable. You’re alive.” I frowned, confusion clouding my mind. “If I was just shot, why did you… why did you give me your blood? Couldn’t someone else have helped?” His expression was unreadable, his gray eyes sharp and calm, but the tension in his jaw betrayed him. “Because no one else could. And I didn’t want anyone else to.” I hesitated. “I… don’t understand…” My words stumbled against the fog in my head. A doctor entered then, accompanied by two nurses. They checked the monitors, adjusted the IV, and finally removed the transfusion line. “She’s stable now,” the doctor said with a s