The hospital room was a prison. Not of cold steel or iron bars, but of sterile white walls that closed in like the pages of a book no one wanted to finish. The acrid scent of antiseptic burned her nostrils, sharp and unyielding. Maya sat curled on the narrow bed, the thin hospital blanket tangled around her like a second skin, offering no real warmth—only the illusion of comfort in a place defined by uncertainty and looming endings.
Rain hammered against the windowpane with relentless fury, a cascade of cold droplets blurring the city lights into a kaleidoscope of trembling colors. Outside, the world went on obliviously — the honk of impatient cars, the hurried footsteps of passersby, the distant siren's wail weaving into the night's symphony. But here, inside this claustrophobic bubble of harsh light and quiet despair, time slowed, each second stretching into an eternity weighted with dread.
Maya's eyes were fixed on the calendar pinned to the peeling wall beside her bed. A simple grid, but the numbers scrawled in thick red ink burned into her like a brand:
100 DAYS
She reached out, trembling fingers hovering over the ominous digits, then pressed lightly, as if she could erase the cruel truth by touch alone. The paper was cold, unyielding, a silent executioner marking her sentence. One hundred days to live.
The words echoed in her mind, relentless and merciless. Time had become a cage, each moment a link in an invisible chain pulling her closer to an unknown abyss.
Her breath hitched as a flicker of movement caught her eye. The door creaked open, slow and hesitant, slicing through the heavy silence. The sound made her start, heart lurching like a trapped bird.
He appeared in the threshold — Liam.
His tall, lean figure was outlined by the harsh hospital light, rain still dripping from his dark hair, casting faint shadows on his troubled face. His eyes, those piercing storm-blue eyes, searched her with a mixture of fear, regret, and something vulnerable she hadn't dared to hope for.
For a long moment, they simply stared at each other. The air between them thickened, charged with the weight of unspoken words and memories better left buried. It was as if the years of silence stretched taut, ready to snap.
"Maya," he said, his voice low and rough, fragile as a whispered plea.
She swallowed hard, the lump rising in her throat like a tidal wave threatening to drown her. "Why now?" she whispered, voice barely audible over the rain. "Why come back after everything?"
His jaw clenched, eyes darkening with a storm of emotions. "Because you need me. Because I can't lose you—not like this."
Her chest tightened painfully. Memories crashed against her mind in violent waves — their laughter beneath the city's neon glow, the feel of his hand in hers, promises whispered under starlit skies... and the brutal silence that followed their shattering.
"You don't get to decide what I need," she said bitterly, voice trembling with a fragile mix of anger and desperation. "Not anymore."
Liam took a slow step forward, the soft creak of his boots swallowed by the stillness. "This isn't about us anymore," he said. "It's about saving you."
Her eyes darted to the envelope he held, thick and official, its presence cutting through the gloom like a blade. "What is this?"
He placed it carefully on the bedside table, fingers lingering just a moment before retreating. "A contract. One hundred days. A marriage of convenience. We pretend — for the world, for the doctors, for your treatment."
Maya's heart slammed painfully against her ribs. "A contract marriage?" she echoed, disbelief and hurt bleeding through her words. "You want me to marry you? After all the pain, the distance, the silence?"
He met her gaze without flinching, eyes glistening with unspoken promises and regrets. "Because no one else will do this. Because I won't let you face this alone."
The thunder outside roared in response, rain thrashing against the windows like a thousand fists pounding at the fragile walls around her. The storm echoed the tempest raging within Maya — a violent clash of fear, hope, anger, and something dangerously close to yearning.
Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, blurring the sharp lines of reality. She looked away, biting her lip to swallow the sob threatening to break free. The calendar's red digits mocked her silently. The relentless ticking of the clock counted down her final moments.
"Why?" she whispered, voice raw and broken. "Why now? Why would you come back to me with this? After all the lies and silence?"
Liam stepped closer, his breath warm against her face, voice dropping to a tender murmur. "Because I still love you."
The words fell between them like fragile glass, trembling and shining with unbearable truth. Maya's breath caught, the walls she'd built around her heart trembling under their weight.
His fingers brushed a stray lock of damp hair from her face, the touch electric — raw and aching with a history that neither could forget. "We don't have forever," he said softly. "But we have now. One hundred days to try. To fight. To live."
Her eyes locked on his, wide and searching, torn between desperation and hope, between the agony of the past and the fragile promise of the future.
The storm outside cracked open the sky, lightning splitting the darkness like a revelation.
Could love survive a countdown?
Could two broken souls, bound by desperation and fate, heal before time ran out?
The room seemed to shrink, the walls closing in tighter, every breath thick with tension and unspoken fears.
Maya's heart thundered in her chest — a wild, desperate drumbeat echoing the storm beyond the glass.
The countdown had begun.