Regret Came Too Late

Grace's mind was in turmoil. She couldn't fall asleep, unsure if what had just happened was a dream or reality. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess.

It wasn't until evening that Joanne arrived at her hospital room.

Joanne looked pale. Her face was ashen, looking as if she had lost a lot of blood. Even when she sat on the edge of the bed, her fingers trembled slightly.

Grace grew concerned and quickly got out of bed. "What happened? Is the wound hurting?"

Joanne slowly shook her head, but the pallor on her face was evident.

"Grace, I'm going to discharge myself."

Her voice was hoarse, and she looked like she had been crying. It seemed like she had cried a lot.

Grace felt her heart tighten. "Did something happen at home?"

She didn't remember much about Joanne's family situation.

"No, I'm just really tired. I want to go home and sleep. I can't sleep here at the hospital."

"Alright, then I'll take you home," Grace offered.

"No, I want to be alone for a while."

Joanne's voice was heavy with sadness, and when she tried to stand, she almost stumbled.

Grace could tell she didn't want to talk about it, so she didn't press further.

also felt like going home. The interruption had taken her mind off Ethan, and she didn't think about

realized it had been on silent mode. There were many messages

"What are you doing?

you picking

pick you

hours and no reply-are

messages were piling up. There were over 20 in

and she didn't have the energy to scroll through them

to rest. When she was

her hand, their warmth spreading

"Ed?"

name, reaching for her phone

brought to her lips,

"Eat something."

had been cleaned up She had sweated through the night, and her pajamas

an

few sips of the soup, and the smell

make this yourself?" she

fingers trembled slightly. "I'm not very good

aroma, a sign that he had

better. "So, when you

long as

didn't even care about how

words had come out wrong. "I didn't

"Mean to what?"