On the white sheets where Elise lay, the morning light still managed to cast pale stripes on her face through the blinds.

The skin of her face still looked weak and bruised, and her lips dry, but she had regained consciousness after a series of processes the doctors had gone through.

It had only been for a while, less than five minutes. But now that Elise slept again, Alejandro sat by her side with much relief, watching the rhythm of the rise and fall of her chest that now moved steadily.

The only time he had left her side since they brought her in was when the doctors had ‘forced’...