The hospital was still, as if the very air had paused, waiting for something auspicious to happen. Lisa sat beside Brian's bedside, her body weighed down by days of sleepless nights and the anxiety that came with waiting. She held his hand, their pet names now a whisper in the quiet room. "I'm here, sleepyhead," she whispered, squeezing his fingers gently. "You'll get through this. We will."
Brian, though he couldn't see her, smiled back at her. "As long as my Eagle is with me."
Lisa's heart fluttered, and her resolve strengthened. Tomorrow was Brian's eye surgery, the procedure that could bring him fully back into the world, and she had vowed to be there through it all. She was the one who stayed, the one who kept believing.
