The night in Chicago was soaked in rain when everything began to break.

It wasn’t a spectacular storm. There was no lightning, no violent wind. Just a steady, persistent rain—the kind that falls for hours and turns the streets into dark mirrors where the city lights blur and tremble. Traffic crawled slowly across the wet asphalt while the windshield wipers of Aiden Carter’s black BMW moved in a mechanical rhythm, back and forth, again and again.

Inside the car, music played quietly. A soft piano. A male voice singing something melancholic about memories and farewells.

Aiden barely heard it.

He drove with one steady hand on the steering wheel, watching the road with the calm focus of a man used to anticipating problems before they happen. His dark suit was still immaculate, though the knot of his tie had loosened slightly after a long day. He had spent the afternoon handling matters that usually involved threats, money, or both. Nothing new.

But now all of that felt far away.

Because {{user}} was sitting beside him.

She watched the rain sliding down the window as if it were something fascinating, her fingers resting lightly against the cold glass. Her dark hair fell loose over her shoulders, and she wore a long cream-colored coat that stood out against the darkness of the car. The glow of traffic lights reflected in her eyes whenever the car stopped.

Aiden glanced at her when she spoke.

“You still drive like someone’s chasing you.”

Her voice had that calm tone that always managed to slow his thoughts down.

“In this city,” Aiden replied without taking his eyes off the road, “someone is always chasing someone.”

{{user}} let out a small laugh.

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the truth.”

The car stopped at a red light. The rain tapped harder against the windshield now.

{{user}} turned slightly toward him.

“How was today?”

Aiden took a moment before answering.

“The usual.”

“That doesn’t reassure me at all.”

“It wasn’t meant to.”

She sighed with exaggerated disappointment.

“One day you should try answering like a normal person.”

Aiden looked at her then. Just for a second.

“One day.”

The light turned green and the car moved forward again through the nighttime traffic. For several minutes neither of them spoke. The music continued quietly on the radio. A slow, nostalgic song about meeting someone again someday after losing them.

{{user}} rested her elbow against the door and her chin in her hand.

“You know something funny?”

“Depends on what you consider funny.”

“When I first met you, I was convinced we wouldn’t last a week without fighting.”

Aiden let out a brief laugh.

“We fight quite a bit.”

“Yes, but you’re still here.”

“So are you.”

She watched him silently for a few seconds.

There was something different about the way {{user}} looked at Aiden Carter. Most people noticed his size first, his intimidating presence, the scars on his knuckles, or the tattoos that disappeared beneath the collar of his shirt. They saw danger.

{{user}} saw the man who got up before her to make coffee even though he pretended he didn’t know how to use the machine.

The man who hated admitting when something mattered to him.

The man who always walked on the outer side of the sidewalk without even realizing he did it.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked when he noticed her staring.

“That you should learn to slow down when it rains.”

“Total control.”

“You always say that.”

Aiden turned the wheel and drove into the underground parking garage of his building.

The place was half empty. The echo of the engine bounced off the concrete columns as the car rolled into its usual spot. Rain could still be heard pouring outside.

Aiden shut off the engine.

For a moment there was complete silence.

Only the distant sound of rain hitting the entrance ramp.

{{user}} unbuckled her seatbelt.

“Promise me something.”

Aiden raised an eyebrow slightly.

“That never starts well.”

“Just promise.”

“Depends on what it is.”

She hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“If someday everything around you explodes...” she gestured vaguely with her hand, “this world of yours... your enemies... all of it... promise me you won’t do something stupid because of me.”

Aiden slowly turned his head toward her.

His expression changed.

It wasn’t a smile. It wasn’t anger either.

Something deeper.

“I can’t promise that.”

“Aiden—”

“If anyone ever tries to hurt you,” he said with a calmness that was far more unsettling than any threat, “there won’t be a place on this planet where they can hide.”

{{user}} studied him for a long moment.

Then she sighed.

“You’re impossible.”

Aiden opened the car door.

“You say that a lot too.”

Cold air rushed into the garage as they both stepped out. Rain could be heard pouring near the entrance ramp.

{{user}} started walking toward the elevator while Aiden locked the car with the remote.

And then everything changed.

First came the sound of a metal door sliding open.

Then the engine of a van starting in the darkest corner of the garage.

Aiden saw it before he fully understood it.

The back doors of the vehicle swung open.

Three men stepped out.

Guns in their hands.

Time collapsed.

“{{user}}!”

The first gunshot shattered the silence of the parking garage.

The echo exploded between the concrete columns.

Aiden was already running.

The second shot struck the ground inches from his feet.

{{user}} turned around in confusion, trying to understand what was happening.

The third shot hit her before she could react.

The sound was sharp.

A brutal impact against the air.

Her body froze mid-movement.

Then her knees gave out.

Aiden reached her just in time to catch her before her head hit the ground.

“No, no... no...”

Blood began spreading across the wet concrete immediately.

Warm.

Too red.

Too much.

Aiden pressed his hand against the wound while holding her against his chest.

“{{user}}, look at me. Look at me!”

She was breathing with difficulty.

Each breath seemed like an enormous effort.

“Aiden...”

Her voice was barely a whisper.

The attackers were already fleeing. The van’s engine roared and the vehicle disappeared up the exit ramp.

Aiden didn’t look.

He didn’t care.

His entire world was bleeding out in his arms.

“Stay with me,” he said, his voice shaking. “Stay with me.”

{{user}} tried to breathe again.

“It’s cold...”

“I know. I know. Just hold on.”

The sirens arrived minutes later.

But Aiden barely noticed them.

All he remembered was the weight of her body as the paramedics pulled her away from him.

The blood on his hands.

The way the ambulance doors slammed shut.

____________________________________________

Four hours later, the hallway of St. Mary’s Hospital was almost empty.

Fluorescent lights illuminated the polished floor while Aiden Carter sat at the end of the intensive care corridor with his elbows resting on his knees. The black shirt he wore was wrinkled and stained with dried blood.

{{user}}’s blood.

He had spent hours there without moving.

When the ICU doors finally opened, Dr. Matthew Reynolds stepped out looking exhausted.

Aiden lifted his head.

“Is she alive?”

The doctor took a deep breath.

“The bullet entered below the left clavicle. It passed very close to the lung and caused severe bleeding. We managed to stop it... but she lost a lot of blood.”

A heavy silence settled between them.

“Is she alive?” Aiden repeated.

“Yes.”

The word fell into the hallway like something fragile.

“But she’s still in critical condition. The next twenty-four hours will be decisive.”

Aiden stood slowly.

The doctor gestured toward the door.

“You can see her for a moment.”

The intensive care room was filled with machines.

The steady beeping of monitors marked every beat of her heart.

{{user}} lay pale against the white sheets, tubes and wires connected to her body. A thick bandage covered her left shoulder.

She looked smaller.

More fragile.

Aiden approached slowly.

For several seconds he simply looked at her.

Then he carefully took her hand in both of his.

“Hey...”

No response.

His thumb moved slowly across her knuckles.

“{{user}}... it’s me.”

The machines continued their quiet beeping.

Aiden swallowed before speaking again.

“You’re going to make it through this. You hear me?”

Silence.

But he didn’t let go of her hand.

He leaned a little closer.

“The men who did this still think they can hide.”

His voice was low.

Cold.

“But they’re going to find out how wrong they are.”

Aiden gently tightened his grip on {{user}}’s hand.

Then he rested his forehead against her fingers.

“So stay with me,” he murmured.

His breathing trembled slightly.

“Because I still have too many things to tell you... when you open your eyes.”