Chapter 35
JIYA
Isat in the office beside Jack while he went over the monthly summary with me.
Papers were spread across the desk in front of us—receipts, invoices, supplier reports—and Jack’s voice moved steadily through the numbers as he explained them one by one.
Normally, I would have been following along carefully, asking questions and making notes, but that afternoon, I was barely listening.
My mind was tangled in thoughts—thoughts of Cole, of the tension between us, of the way he had looked sitting in the restaurant with Stephanie that night.
The image replayed like a cruel loop I could not escape.
Cole sitting across from her.
Stephanie leaning close to him.
Her hand on his.
His fingers brushing hers.
The way he had kissed her hand.
The memory made something twist painfully inside my chest. I had tried to stay composed while standing at their table that evening, acting like nothing inside me had shattered.
I had forced myself to smile, forced my voice to stay even as I wrote down their order.
I had kept my head down so no one would see the storm building behind my eyes.
But the moment I walked away from them, my stomach had burned, and my chest had felt tight enough to suffocate me.
Seeing him with her had hurt far more than anything.
I had felt guilty for sleeping with Cole, but I had also felt horrible the day he had left my kitchen after our argument.
Over the following days, I had rerun that conversation in my mind.
Every word.
Every look.
Every painful silence.
And with each replay, new realizations slithered into my head.
It had been unfair of me not to share my past with him.
Unfair to keep him at a distance while expecting him to somehow understand the walls I had built around myself.
Unfair to push him away while secretly hoping he would stay.
And calling that night a mistake…
That had been wrong.
Deeply wrong.
Because it had not been a mistake.
I’d had an amazing night with him.
And the truth I had been trying to bury finally surfaced in my thoughts.
I had felt things with Cole that I never thought I would feel again after Caleb. Feelings I had buried so deeply I believed they were gone forever.
But Cole had quietly changed that.
And the painful irony was that he did not even know it.
I had never told him any of these things.
Not once.
Instead, I had pushed him away.
I had waited for him to call.
Or send a message.
Anything.
But nothing had come.
The silence between us had been prolonged.
He had come by the house to see the children, but even then, he had called Geeta beforehand to make sure I was not home.
He had avoided me.
Completely.
It hurt deeply to see our friendship come to this awkward, painful distance.
“I’ll grab a cup of tea,” I said, pushing my chair back. My voice sounded distant even to my own ears. “Can I get you a coffee?”
Jack nodded.
I walked into the kitchen, grateful for the brief moment alone. I filled the kettle and set it on the stove. Before the water began to heat, I heard hurried footsteps rushing toward the kitchen.
I looked up.
Jack stood in the doorway.
His face was pale.
Completely pale.
My stomach dropped instantly.
“Jiya!” he said breathlessly. “There’s been an accident at the construction site. It’s Cole.”
Everything inside me went completely still. My mind refused to process the words.
“What…?” I whispered, the sound barely leaving my lips. It felt as though someone had pulled the ground out from beneath my feet.
Cole.
Accident.
The words collided violently in my head.
Jack did not wait to explain further. He grabbed his keys and motioned for me to follow. We rushed outside and jumped into the car. The tires screeched slightly as he sped out of the parking lot and onto the road toward the hospital in the city.
My heart throbbed against my ribs. My fingers trembled uncontrollably in my lap. My whole body began to feel numb, as though my mind was trying to shield itself from the terror flooding through me.
“What happened, Jack?” I asked, my voice shaking despite my attempt to control it.
Jack kept his eyes on the road. “Stephanie called,” he said quickly. “She said there was some mishap at the construction site. She said Liam was fine, but Cole was unconscious. That’s all I know.”
Unconscious. The word echoed loudly in my mind. A cold wave of fear crashed through my chest.
Images I did not want flashed through my head—ambulances, blood, hospital beds, machines beeping in dim rooms.
My breathing quickened. No. No. Please no. Dear God, please let Cole be fine. My hands pressed together tightly as I stared ahead. Please. Please. Please.
The drive felt endless.
Every red light felt unbearable.
Thirty minutes later, the hospital finally came into view. Cars were lined up at the signal outside the entrance.
I could not wait.
Before Jack could even react, I shoved the car door open.
“Jiya! Wait!” Jack shouted behind me.
But I was already running. I darted through the passing cars, horns blaring around me as drivers slammed on their brakes.
None of it mattered.
Nothing mattered.
My mind was consumed by only one thought.
Cole.
I burst through the hospital doors, my chest burning from the run. “Cole Harris!” I shouted breathlessly at the reception desk. My lungs struggled for air. “Cole Harris!” I repeated desperately. “He was brought into this hospital. Construction site accident.”
The receptionist looked quickly at her computer. “He’s in triage. Straight through those doors. Ask the receptionist there.”
I ran.
The smell of bleach hit my nose the moment I entered the hospital corridor. The scent dragged an old memory violently to the surface.
My birthday.
The hospital.
The terrifying moment when doctors had rushed me in for my heart surgery.
My chest squeezed painfully, but I forced myself forward.
I pushed through the triage doors and rushed to the next desk. “Cole Harris!” I gasped again, clutching my side as I struggled to breathe.
The nurse barely glanced up. “Third curtain.”
I ran again.
My hands trembled as I reached the curtain and pulled it open.
And there he was.
Sitting on the edge of the hospital bed.
Trying to button his shirt.
A white plaster stretched across his forehead. Several bandages were wrapped around his arms and hands.
He was sitting up.
He was moving.
He was alive.
My knees nearly gave out beneath me. A sob escaped my throat before I could stop it.
“Cole!” I cried.
I rushed forward and threw my arms around him, hugging him so tightly that the force pushed him back a step. Tears spilled down my cheeks uncontrollably. The fear I had been holding back finally broke free.
“Jiya, are you okay? Is everything alright?” he asked in surprise.
But I could not answer.
My whole body trembled. All I could think about was how close I had come to losing him without ever telling him how much he meant to me. I held onto him desperately, as though letting go might somehow make him disappear.
He wrapped his arms around me gently, his hands steady against my back.
“Hey,” he murmured. “I’m alright. I’m okay.” He leaned closer and pressed a gentle kiss against my ear. “I promise you,” he whispered. “I’m fine.”
My body shuddered again as relief flooded through me. I allowed myself to stay there, pressed against him, feeling his heartbeat, feeling the comfort of his arms around me.
Then a familiar voice sounded from behind the curtain.
“Cole? I’m here.”
I immediately pulled away from him, wiping my tears quickly as I lowered my gaze toward the floor.
Stephanie walked in, slightly out of breath.
The moment she noticed me standing there beside Cole’s bed, her expression shifted to polite surprise. “Oh, hi Jiya!”
“Hi, Stephanie,” I replied quietly.
Before the awkwardness could spread through the room, another familiar figure appeared behind her.
Jack stepped inside, his eyes immediately landing on Cole. “Cole, are you okay?” he asked, his voice full of concern.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Cole replied, brushing it off. “Nothing serious.”
Jack nodded slowly, relief softening his features before his gaze shifted toward me. “Are you alright?”
I opened my mouth, but before I could answer, Cole stood up.
“What happened? What’s wrong?” he asked.
His eyes locked onto mine.
For a moment—just a moment—I let myself look back at him.
The concern on his face made my chest constrict. Everything I had felt on the drive there rushed back at once: the fear, the panic, the realization of how much he meant to me. Something must have flickered across my face, because I saw the change in his eyes immediately.
Jack cleared his throat awkwardly. “Um… nothing,” he said, glancing between the two of us like he had walked into something he didn’t quite understand.
He rubbed the back of his neck and continued, “She jumped out of the car and ran between traffic since the signal was taking too long. I thought she got hit at one point.”
Cole’s head snapped toward him and then to me. “You did what?” His voice rose as he walked toward me.
The sudden intensity in his tone made my heart pound harder.
I met his gaze again, but this time I didn’t let my emotions show. “I’m glad you’re fine,” I said quietly.
That was the truth.
The only thing that mattered.
I turned to Jack, glancing briefly between him and Stephanie. “If you or Stephanie need anything, please let me know. I have to get back to the restaurant.”
Before anyone could stop me or ask questions, I turned and walked out of the room, without looking back.
By the time I stepped into the house after getting out of the cab, my emotions felt twisted inside me.
I went straight to the shower.
The moment the warm water poured over me, everything I had been holding back came rushing out like a dam finally breaking. My shoulders shook as the reality of the day settled over me.
I cared about Cole.