It had been almost ten days since the attack, and two since the doctors had finally let them go home. Yahvi was still under strict rest orders, but color had started returning to her cheeks, and the stubborn sparkle in her eyes was proof enough that she was mending.

Vedansh had been her shadow through it all. He’d taken leave from work for the first week, only slipping in for urgent work now and then, never staying away longer than necessary. Every time he came back through that door, his eyes went straight to her before anything else—as if confirming she was still there, still breathing.