Adrien's POV | Ava's POV | Alex's POV
The white walls of the hospital were too clean. Too bright. Too loud in their silence.
Adrien sat up in bed, knees pulled to his chest, eyes staring at nothing. The bandages on his wrists felt tight. His ribs ached when he breathed. He hated the fluorescent lights, hated the buzz of nurses' shoes, hated how his body still flinched at every small sound.
He hated that he'd cried when they found him. In front of her.
And he hated most that she hadn't stopped holding him since.
The door creaked. He didn't look up.
But he knew it was her.
"A little better today?" Ava whispered. Her heels were gone. Her hair was tied messily. Her voice was the same one she used when he was five and feverish. Sweet. Fragile.
He didn't answer. Just shifted slightly as she sat on the edge of the bed.
Her hand reached out, trembled in the air, then settled gently on his arm. "My baby," she whispered. "My whole heart. My strong, strong boy."
Adrien's throat tightened.
She leaned in, pressing a kiss to his temple. Another on his shoulder. Her arms around him like she was trying to wrap herself around his soul.
He didn't pull away.
She smelled like gardenia and tears.
"I didn't know what to do without you," she whispered, voice cracking. "The world meant nothing, Adrien. Nothing."
He let her hug him. Then—quietly—rested his head against her shoulder.
---
Ava's POV
The cameras flashed outside the hospital. Journalists screamed her name. But Ava Langford stood in black, diamonds in her ears, chin high. She had built an empire. She had survived the impossible. She would not flinch now.
"Miss Langford, how are your son and Mr. Carter?"
"They're safe," she said, voice like steel. "And that's all that matters."
"Is it true you led the rescue yourself?"
"I did what any mother would do," she said. "I burned the world down to find my child."
The reporters stilled.
"I want to thank the authorities, the task force, and the agents who helped. But make no mistake—this is not over. The man who did this will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. And anyone who dares touch my son again will have to go through me."
Applause. Flashes.
And then—when she turned, behind the glass of her limo, behind the tinted walls—
She broke.
Her hands shook. Her vision blurred. She didn't cry like most people cried. She sobbed like the world was ending.
And she whispered, "Alex… I miss you. I missed you so much. I don't know how to forgive myself for what they did to you."
---
Alex's POV
He couldn't sleep.
The nurses said he was safe now. That Ava was in the next room. That Adrien had eaten a little. But Alex couldn't sleep.
Because in his dreams, Nolan was still laughing.
And Ava was still crying.
And Adrien was still screaming.
The door opened softly.
Ava entered, barefoot. Hair loose. Eyes red. "You're awake."
He nodded. "You?"
She sat beside him. "I gave a press statement. Told them I'd kill anyone who tried to hurt you again."
He let out a half-laugh. It hurt.
"Good," he whispered.
"I missed you," she said, voice breaking. "I missed you so, so much, Alex. I kept looking for you—I never stopped."
"I heard you," he said. "On the phone. That day. You called Adrien your baby. You never said his name. Just... my love. My boy. My heart."
She smiled weakly. "Because that's what he is."
She took his hand.
He squeezed hers. "And me?"
"You're mine too," she whispered. "You always were."
Silence fell between them. But it wasn't the kind that hurt.
It was the kind that healed.