The hospital room was a suffocating prison, the mechanical beep of monitors slicing through the silence. Clara lay broken, her face pale and bruised under the sterile lights, tubes and bandages tracing the wreckage of the crash. Matt couldn't look away. He gripped her hand, his voice a fractured whisper. "I don't exist without you, Clara. If you're gone… I'm gone too." His words trembled, desperate. "I love you… I love you…"
"Matt, enough." Adrian's voice broke in from the doorway, quiet but firm. "Come on, man. Let's go."
"Go where?" Matt's gaze stayed locked on Clara, her chest rising faintly with the ventilator's rhythm. "Back to this hellhole? She's not coming back from this. You heard the doctor no hope." His fingers tightened, as if he could will her to stay.
Adrian stepped closer, his tone heavy. "Matt, there's a family out there a six-year-old kid. They need her heart. You've got to let her go."
Matt's head jerked up, eyes blazing. "Do you even hear yourself? What the hell are you saying?"
"I'm sorry, man…" Adrian muttered, hands sinking into his pockets.
"My heart's shattered, Adrian. Just… get out. Don't stand there watching me break." Matt's voice cracked, a sob tearing free. "Is this it? Everything ends today? We were just starting to live, and now she's leaving me?"
His phone buzzed on the table Doctor calling…Matt stared at it, jaw clenched, his hand frozen. Adrian frowned, then snatched the phone from the table. "Matt, you've got to " He answered it mid-ring. "Hello, Doctor… Yeah, it's Adrian… Okay. Bye." He hung up, his eyes meeting Matt's with a hard edge. "Doc's asking about the donation. They need your answer now."
Matt's jaw tightened, his voice a growl. "Give me a minute alone, Adrian."
"Fine." Adrian stood, tossing the phone back onto the table, and shuffled toward the door. "I'm going. Come find me when you're ready." His footsteps echoed heavily as he left, leaving Matt to sink back into his chair, his mind sliding into the past.
Flashback: St. Thomas University Dormitory
Night | 10:45 PM
The dorm room reeked of stale pizza and unspoken regrets. Lucas sprawled across his bed, crooning with over-the-top flair, "Anna, come to me… let me taste your sweetness…" His voice wobbled, more drama than melody.
"Dude, what's wrong with you?" Adrian groaned, tossing a sock at him. "Stop the drama already."
Lucas caught it, clutching it tight. "Easy for you to say, Adrian. You can't understand our pain." He glanced at Matt. "Right, man? We've got the same hurt just different names. My ex, Anna, for me. Reena for you."
"Shut up!" Matt snapped from his bunk, sitting up with a scowl. "Who cares about your ex? Her dad's probably scamming half the town. Don't you dare compare her to my Reena." His voice was sharp, a fresh wound bleeding through.
"Guys, chill!" Adrian threw his hands up. "Lucas, Anna screwed you over, okay? Dumped you overnight for some arranged marriage. 'Forget me, find someone else' and you're still hung up? Come on."
Lucas sat up, eyes flashing. " You said she was my soulmate! My 'happily ever after'! Now she's gone, and I'm supposed to just move on?"
"She was sweet, I'll give you that," Adrian said, softening. "But it's done. Fate's got someone else for you."
Matt shook his head, his voice low and fierce. "No one else. Not in this life, not in any other. Reena was it." His words hung heavy, a quiet echo of the pain he'd buried until now.
To be continued....