Chapter 20
June
“June!” The word came out blurred. I looked up so quickly my neck hurt.
Kai was moving. Not the small, unconscious movements I had spent two days watching for, but something different. His entire body jerked beneath the sheets, his brow furrowing as his breathing quickened.
“No… no…”
For two days, there had been no response. Just the steady rhythm of the machines beside his bed, each beep reassuring me that his heart was still beating.
Now the monitor began beeping faster as his movements became more violent.
“No. Don’t shoot.”
His body jerked again.
“Kai!”
His eyes flew open. For a second, he stared at me, pupils wide and unfocused. Then they found me.
“June…”
He said my name like he’d been searching for it in the darkness.
He sat up too quickly. I barely had time to reach for him before his arms came around me.
“You’re alive.” His voice cracked.
“I’m here.”
“I thought I’d lost you.” The words tumbled out. “I couldn’t find you. I couldn’t—God, June, I thought you were dead. I thought that shot—”
“I’m fine.”
“I love you.” His voice broke. “I love you so much. I’m so sorry for everything. None of this should have happened. I should’ve kept you safe. I should’ve listened to you.”
“Kai…”
“Whatever happened, it was my fault. Just—don’t ever do that to me again.”
He pulled back, his hands framing my face as though he needed to make sure I was real. His thumbs brushed beneath my eyes.
“Please. Don’t ever scare me like that again. I don’t think I can take it.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to live without you.”
The words came out almost frantic, as though he’d been holding them inside for days and had finally lost the ability to keep them there.
I tried to hold back the tears, but after two days of monitoring his breathing, checking his pulse, adjusting his medication, and pretending I wasn’t terrified every time his heart rate changed, something inside me finally gave way. Tears spilled down my cheeks.
Kai gently brushed one away.
That earned me the faintest smile.
For another moment, I stayed there, feeling the warmth of his body and the steady beat beneath my cheek, just long enough to convince myself this wasn’t another dream.
Then instinct took over. Not as the woman who had spent every waking hour praying he would survive, but as his doctor.
I gently pushed him back against the pillows.
“Lie down.”
He frowned. “June—”
“Lie down.”
He obeyed.
“Look at me.”
His eyes met mine. I lifted my index finger in front of his face. “Follow my finger.”
Slowly, I moved it from left to right, then upward and down again. His eyes followed.
I checked his pupils, eye movements, responses, speech, ability to focus, breathing and skin colour. Every normal reaction chipped away another layer of the terror that had been suffocating me since the shooting.
I touched his wrist. His pulse was fast, but strong.
I closed my eyes for half a second. Only then did I realise I was still crying.
“I think…” His voice was rough, barely more than a whisper. “…I'm okay.”
A laugh escaped through my tears. “No. You don't get to tell me you're okay. I'm the doctor. Until I say you're okay, you're not okay.” His mouth twitched. “And you're not allowed to scare me like that ever again.”
I heard it that time. We sounded like some broken record, repeating the same fear of losing each other.
“I'll try.”
“You'll do it.”
“Yes, doctor.”
“Good.”
I reached for his hand. His fingers closed around mine, warm and reassuring despite his weakness. Then he looked at me properly.
“I couldn't believe you just showed up like that.” His voice was weak, but the concern underneath it was unmistakable. “You promised to stay at the apartment.”
There was no anger in the question. Just fear.
“I had to.” I looked down at our joined hands. “I couldn't just sit there and do nothing.”
“You could have died.”
“So could you.”
“That isn't the point.”
“It is to me.”
He stared at me, then sighed. “How did you even get there?”
“I had some help.”
“Beng?”
“Matteo.” I hesitated. “Technically, Marie. She made him take me.”
He looked around the room, taking in the white walls, medical equipment and machines beside his bed.
“Where am I?”
“You're in the hospital.”
His eyes widened. “What happened?”
“You were shot.”
He looked down at himself, then back at me. “But it was only my knee.”
I stared at him. “You tore your stitches.”
His expression changed. “The stitches opened?”
I nodded. “You lost so much blood that you passed out.”
He was quiet for a moment, then his eyes narrowed. “Wait… I remember there were gunshots.”
I nodded.
He started looking me over, his hands moving toward my arms, shoulders and waist as though he needed to make sure I was intact.
“I thought he shot you?”
“No.” I pressed my hands over his. “I was the one firing.”
He stopped. “You shot him.”
“Yes. A few of us shot at him.” I paused. “But I fired first.”
“So he's dead.”
“Yes. I checked.” My voice softened. “He's dead.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke. I could still remember the gun in my hands, the deafening sound, the smell of gunpowder, and the horrible silence afterward.
Roger was dead, and somehow, I was still here. It had been luck. His gun had jammed, my hands had been shaking, and somehow my bullet had struck his shoulder badly enough to stop him before he could fire again.
I had spent years saving lives. That day, I had taken one.
I still didn't know what that meant about me.
“June…” Kai's voice pulled me back. “I want us to be together.”
“Kai…”
“Please.” His fingers tightened around mine. “Give me another chance.” He looked down at our hands. “All of this happened for a reason. It made me realise how much time we've wasted pretending we don't feel what we feel.”
I nodded slowly. We did only live once. Perhaps that was the cruelest thing about life. We could spend years thinking we had time, until suddenly—we didn't.
My eyes burned again. “Trust me. I wanted the same thing too.”
His eyes lifted. “But?”
“But it's not that simple.”
“I know I'm not perfect.” He smiled. “And I know you probably have a thousand reasons to say no.”
I looked at him.
“But I'm asking anyway.” He shifted beneath the sheets.
I immediately frowned. “Don't move.”
He ignored me, taking both my hands in his. His palms were warm, his grip steady despite everything his body had been through.
“June.” His voice changed. No teasing. No arrogance. Just him. “I love you.”
My eyes filled again.
“I have loved you for longer than I should probably admit.” He took a shaky breath. “And I don't want to waste another day pretending I can live without you.” He looked down at our joined hands, then back at me. “Marry me.”
My breath caught. “Kai…”
“I'll kneel if you want me to.”
“You can't even stand.”
“Minor detail.”
I laughed through my tears. He smiled, and for the first time since the shooting, the room didn't feel like a hospital or a battlefield. For one tiny moment, it felt like the beginning of something.
Then a gentle knock sounded at the door. Neither of us moved. The door opened, and the smile disappeared from Kai's face.
Lincoln walked in, followed by Lucy and Cousin Jenny, holding the hand of a little girl.
“Look who’s here,” Lincoln said softly.
I barely heard him. My attention remained on Kai, his hand wrapped around mine, his thumb moving slowly over my knuckles.
“Please say yes,” he whispered.
I opened my mouth, but I didn't know what I was going to say. Yes. No. Not yet. There were still too many things between us, too many lives tangled together and too many people who could be hurt.
Then a tiny voice broke through the silence. “There you are!” A little girl came running toward the bed. “Your hurt?”
“Huan Huan…” Kai's entire expression changed. The tension left his face, replaced by something warm and gentle.
Jenny cradled Huan Huan in her arms. “Come here, sweetheart. Let’s let Uncle Daddy get some rest.”
I blinked at the words Uncle Daddy, completely caught off guard. I looked at Jenny, then Lucy, then back at Kai. Had I heard that correctly? Huan Huan wrapped her tiny arms around Jenny's neck, oblivious to the complicated mess of adults around her.
“Mama,” she asked brightly, “babyccino?”
Jenny smiled. “Of course.”
“One for Uncle Daddy?”
“Of course.” Jenny turned toward the door, leaving me staring after her.
Uncle Daddy?
I looked back at Kai. He had gone very still. Not guilty. Not nervous. Just resigned, like a man who knew a secret was about to come crashing down. Then I looked at Lucy. My expression must have said everything.
“I’m guessing…” She paused. “You didn't know?”
I slowly shook my head. “What’s going on?”
Lucy glanced at Kai. He closed his eyes briefly before she sighed. “Huan Huan isn't mine. And she isn't Kai's either.”
I stared at her. “What?”
“She’s Jenny's daughter.” Lucy nodded toward the door. “Her ex… You know the story.”
I did. Or at least, I thought I did. There had been rumours about Huan Huan's father and questions about Lucy and Kai. And I should have noticed the timing.
I was Jenny’s doctor, after all.
Now it suddenly made sense. Huan Huan was older. Which meant she couldn’t possibly be Kai and Lucy’s.
At the time, I'd tried not to think about it, mostly because thinking about it hurt.
“We were worried about the gossip. The questions. The judgement.” She shrugged. “You know what people are like.”
I did. Too well.
“So…” I struggled to put the pieces together. “You…”
Lucy pointed at herself, then Kai, then toward the door. “Us?”
I stared at her. Kai finally spoke. “It was all pretend.”
I turned toward him. “What was?”
“My marriage to Lucy.”
Lucy nodded. “Kai offered to help us. To everyone else, we were the perfect family.” She squeezed his hand. “But behind closed doors, Jenny and I were the real couple.”
My mouth fell open. “You and Jenny?”
Lucy smiled the sweetest smile. “We were finally together. Just not in a way the world would have easily accepted. He gave us a way to have a family without explaining ourselves to everyone.”
Kai shrugged. “It was easier.”
“Easier?”
He looked at me. “For everyone.”