Seera emerged from her room with hesitant steps, as if her feet refused to go forward despite the short distance. When she returned to the living room, she was greeted by the family's curious gazes.
Her mother raised an eyebrow, frowning slightly before saying in a firm voice, with a hint of tenderness:
"Why were you so long in the bathroom? It's very late, Seera."
Reena interjected before Seera could reply, crossing her arms and looking at her mischievously:
"You were scrolling on your phone, weren't you?"
Seera flustered, her gaze dropping to the floor, then she slowly raised her hand to caress a lock of hair behind her ear and whispered:
"Uh… yes, I was scrolling a bit."
Her mother sighed, passing a hand over her forehead, then said in her usual tone:
"Good for you. How many times have I told you girls: no phones in the bathroom?"
Ellen suddenly laughed, raising her eyebrows and gesturing with her hand in the air:
"True, you've said it a thousand times... but the app itself, I don't know why it makes me laugh so much!"
Reena laughed too, shaking her head:
"The phone has become part of our soul."
Her mother quickly looked at the clock, then exclaimed in a serious tone:
"It's past midnight. Come on, everyone to their room."
Seera turned quietly and left without a word. She entered her room and closed the door softly behind her, then approached her circular balcony that overlooked the outside. She turned her gaze to the right, where Aiden's balcony still seemed faintly lit by a lazy, flickering light behind the glass.
She stood there for a moment, silently gazing at that illumination, as if something about it spoke the unspoken. Then she slowly turned, walked to her bed and sat down. Her cats bounded around her, brushing their tails against her cheek and circling her body, until they quietly fell asleep beside her.
Seera lay on her back, her eyes fixed on the ceiling. Her face was still, but her eyes held a heavy distraction, as if she was searching for an escape from the whirlpool of her thoughts.
At that exact moment, Aiden was not asleep.
He stood in his bathroom, his body slightly hunched as he disinfected a deep wound on his arm. He bit his lower lip, stifling a groan between ragged breaths, as he poured the antiseptic liquid over the wound.
Strands of his hair clung to his forehead, matted with sweat, and the fever showed him no mercy, making his eyes glow with a burning intensity, and his chest rise and fall heavily.
Seera's voice did not reach him, nor did her eyes see him, but both were enveloped in the same silence, facing each other between two balconies and two heartbeats, each immersed in their pain, and neither yet knowing... how alive this bond between them had become.
The morning dawned warm, carrying in its breezes the scent of spring flowers that had begun to wilt, and the gentle infiltration of summer into the city. Golden sunlight streamed through the windows, flooding the rooms with its soft hue, and the chirping of birds flowed from between the slender branches.
Reena, her hair hastily tied up, stood in the middle of the living room, staring at her phone and waving her hand nervously, her voice slightly raised:
Reena (looking sharply at her phone):
"Ellen, hurry up! Stop eating, you'll miss the bus!"
Her mother sat calmly at the breakfast table, lightly raising her coffee cup, the scent of coffee wafting through the air. She smiled nonchalantly, then commented, looking out of the corner of her eye at her daughter:
Mother (in a soft, sarcastic voice):
"That's because she spends so long in front of the mirror getting ready."
Seera:
"Wake her up earlier then."
Her mother sighed slowly, placing the cup on the saucer with a soft clink:
"She doesn't want to, and she's stubborn like her father."
Ellen quickly rose from her chair, wiping her hands:
"Okay, okay, last bite... and now I'm leaving!"
Reena quickly followed her, grabbing her bag from the sofa:
"Wait, let's go together!"
The mother and Seera remained alone, beginning to clear the table, the sound of plates clinking softly.
Seera, opening a small cabinet and inspecting an empty can:
"Mom, we ran out of cat food this morning."
Her mother nodded:
"I'll go buy some... and maybe explore the city a bit. Aren't you going to look for a job today?"
Seera closed the cabinet door with a little force and said in a flexible tone:
"Yes, of course, but I won't go out early."
Outside, Aiden's friend stood in front of the apartment, holding his phone, looking around anxiously and calling out slightly loudly:
"Aiden! Come on, answer me!"
Her mother, putting her bag on her shoulder and looking from the apartment door towards Seera, said in a serious tone:
Mother (anxiously):
"Seera, close the door well, and don't open it for anyone... only us, understood?"
Seera smiled, pointing two fingers to her eyes then to the door, as if confirming her vigilance:
"Don't worry, I'll be careful!"
She closed the door slowly, but as soon as it shut, a strange, heavy feeling enveloped her. She placed her hand on her chest, her features changed, her pulse quickened, and she felt as if her heart wanted to leap from her ribs.
Seera (whispering to herself, wide-eyed):
"Why... do I care about Aiden like this?"
Without thinking, she stepped onto her room's balcony. The air touched her face, making strands of her hair sway slightly. She looked at the opposite balcony... Aiden's balcony. It was still, motionless, silent. The absence was palpable and disturbing.
She placed a ladder between the two balconies, then climbed the trembling ladder with feet that almost failed her, every muscle in her body taut, her left hand extended forward to balance herself. The summer air whipped her face.
She whispered to herself between ragged breaths, as if trying to silence her terror:
"Seera... don't look down... don't look down..."
Every step she climbed was a blow to her heart, every exhale she made was trembling, as if she were walking on fragile air.
Finally, after an exhausting struggle, she reached the edge of Aiden's balcony. She slowly raised her foot, gathered her courage, and lightly jumped inside, her heel striking the floor with an ominous quietness. She straightened slowly, then couldn't resist the urge to look down.
She gasped:
"Oh my God... if I fell... I'd be a dead body now...!"
She lightly slapped her cheek, as if wanting to awaken her mind from its madness, and muttered with a confused smile:
"Seera, reckless... you're a crazy girl!"
She entered from the balcony door into the living room, and stopped, mesmerized.
Sunlight seemed to pour honey onto the place. Before her, a charcoal-colored leather sofa with gray and copper cushions, arranged around a low glass table with glossy black edges.
The walls were sandy beige, adorned with photographs of deserted city alleys, framed in elegant black. The scene suggested solitude... elegant isolation.
To the right, a dark wooden cabinet, holding books with foreign titles, string-wrapped volumes, and some small bronze statues, one of them a masked face, silently watching the place with an eerie calm.
Seera sat on the edge of the sofa, gazing at everything with her wide brown eyes, gleaming with wonder and curiosity.
She whispered, as if talking to herself:
"Aiden... isn't just a cop..."
She looked towards the door, her heart racing:
"Did I do all this... and he's not even here? Did he go out?"
She nervously lowered her head to the ground, and suddenly... she saw small drops of blood dripping onto the polished wood.
She trembled, her eyes widened, and she took a step back:
"Blood?! Why... is there blood?"
Her heartbeats became drums echoing in her ears. She furrowed her eyebrows, and slowly extended her hand towards the handle of the only closed door.
"Should I... really open it?"
A cautious hesitation, then swallowed by determination:
"And why am I even here in the first place?"
She turned the handle very quietly, her chest rising and falling, and the door opened with a faint sound, as if groaning from captivity.
Aiden was lying on the bed, his body drenched in sweat, his face terrifyingly pale. The room was slightly dark, and the air was eerily still.
Seera approached with cautious steps, her knees trembling. Her voice came out broken and faint:
"Aiden... Aiden? I just... wanted to check on you... yesterday you looked injured..."
He didn't move. He didn't answer.
Her breaths quickened, and her heart pounded in her chest. She slowly extended her hand, as if touching a flame, and placed it on his forehead. It was hot... hotter than normal.
She gently pulled back the cover... she gasped.
His arm was bleeding, his blood partly dried but forming a small pool beneath his body.
Seera retreated in fear, her hand over her mouth, but she quickly composed herself. She went to him and began to gently shake him:
"Aiden! Aiden wake up!"
He finally opened his eyes, his voice hoarse and barely audible, he muttered:
"...S-Seera..."
Seera quickly bent down, untied the bandage, found an antiseptic bottle on the table, disinfected it, and re-wrapped the bandage, this time skillfully.
Then she quickly looked around:
"My phone... no phone! I didn't bring my phone...!"
She looked at him pleadingly:
"Aiden, please... the password, give me your phone's password!"
He whispered with dry lips:
"...23...10....09"
Seera opened the phone with trembling hands, the faint light of the screen casting shadows on her face, which was strained with worry and tension. The number of missed calls was increasing, every unanswered ring, every failed attempt, like a silent echo of something unknown threatening the calm.
She whispered to herself in a low voice:
"Aiden... if you don't answer, everything might fall apart."
Suddenly, his body moved slowly and heavily, trying to sit up, his eyes bearing the burden of deep fatigue and unspoken bitterness. She watched him carefully as he spoke with difficulty:
"How... how did you get in?"
Seera caught her breath, her lips trembling, her words coming out as a disturbed confession:
"I jumped... across the ladder... I couldn't leave you like this... I've only known you since yesterday, but... I couldn't bear the thought of you being alone."
He offered a faint smile, a mixture of pain and resignation, as if trying to hide his weakness behind it:
"I'm... used to enduring pain alone... nothing new."
She looked at the blood-stained bandage on the table, her fingers gently touching its surface, and said in a firm voice, choked with tenderness:
"This isn't endurance... this is neglect. I can't watch your blood dry while you do nothing."
She slowly approached, her hands trembling slightly as she placed one on his trembling hand, and honest fear etched itself on her face:
He closed his eyes for a moment, as if trying to resist a wave of pain or a feeling of brokenness, then whispered in a voice tinged with weakness:
"You... weren't really scared?"
Her lips trembled and a simple confession was etched on her face:
"I was scared... more than you can imagine... but I couldn't... I couldn't leave you."
She sighed slowly, then said firmly, not without confusion:
"I'll call an ambulance now, we can't delay any longer."
He looked at her in silence for seconds, as if his mind was trying to grasp a moment of calm in the midst of the storm. Then he offered a weak smile, as if drawing some strength from it, and whispered in a tired tone:
"Can you drive?"
Seera blinked, a moment of silence passed between them, then she laughed softly, trying to lighten the weight of the moment though worry still floated in her eyes:
"Yes... don't worry. An EMT will drive the car."
A shadow of a genuine smile seemed to appear for a moment in his eyes, then he said in a weaker tone, but one full of what seemed like plea:
"Seera... I mean... my car. Can you drive it?"
Seera swallowed, her heart skipped a beat for a moment, then she answered in a low voice, with some astonishment and some determination:
"I haven't driven in a long time... but... if it will save you... then let's go... before your condition worsens."
Their gazes met again, calmer, less hurried, as if the moment gave them space to breathe. And in those gazes, despite the thick shadows surrounding Aiden, and despite the questions yet unasked—there was a faint warmth seeping in, the beginning of an invisible bond, quietly forming amidst the chaos of the heart and the storm outside.