Elena's POV
The day of my discharge came sooner than I thought it would. The doctor stood at the edge of my hospital bed, flipping through charts with that clinical smile doctors always seemed to wear when they thought they were delivering good news. His words washed over me, phrases like "stable vitals," "healing well," and "outpatient care." Stable. Healing. Outpatient.
They sounded foreign. As if he wasn't talking about me. Because how could I be stable when my body still trembled every time I closed my eyes? How could I be healing when Dante's laughter still echoed in the back of my skull, haunting my every thought?
But when I turned my head, when my eyes found Justin leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and his gaze fixed on me, the meaning behind the words shifted. Stable meant I could leave this sterile white room.Healing meant I was one step closer to finding myself again.And outpatient care meant I could go home, with him.
