KEIFER'S POV — WHEN BLOOD BECOMES YOUR FAULT
I don't remember letting go of Ram.
I remember Jay falling.
That's it.
Everything after that moves in fragments—hands slippery with blood, my jacket ripped off and pressed hard against her stomach,
Cin shouting for pressure, Yuri screaming at someone to clear the way.
Jay was too light in my arms.
That was the first thing that broke me.
Her head lolled against my chest as we ran. Her breath came shallow, uneven. Every step felt like I was already too late.
"Stay with me," I kept saying. I don't know if it was for her or for me.
"Jay—look at me. Don't you dare—don't—"
Her eyes fluttered once.
Barely.
My heart stopped.
The sirens swallowed us before I could think again.
---
Hospitals are hell when you're powerless.
Bright lights. Cold floors. Blood-stained hands you can't seem to clean no matter how hard you scrub.
They took her from me the second we hit the doors.
"Sir, you can't—"
"She was stabbed," I snapped. "She's bleeding—"
"She's in surgery," the nurse said firmly. "You need to step back."
Step back.
Like I hadn't already failed to step forward fast enough.
I stood there while the doors closed.
Cin paced. Yuri sat with his head in his hands. David leaned against the wall, jaw locked so tight I thought his teeth would shatter.
Edrix finally broke the silence. "Ram's in custody."
I didn't feel relief.
Only emptiness.
Minutes passed. Or hours. I couldn't tell.
Then—
Footsteps.
Fast. Heavy.
I looked up.
Angelo.
Aries.
Jay's brothers.
Their faces told me everything before a word was spoken.
Angelo didn't ask what happened.
He walked straight up to me and shoved my chest hard enough to send me back a step.
"She went to school," he said, voice shaking with fury. "She didn't come home. And now she's here."
Aries grabbed my collar. "You said she was safe."
"I didn't know—" I started.
Angelo's fist connected with my jaw.
Hard.
I tasted blood.
Good.
"You don't get to not know," Angelo snarled. "She didn't choose your war."
Aries' voice cracked. "She stepped in front of a knife for you."
Silence fell like a guillotine.
I didn't defend myself.
Because they were right.
"I never meant—" My voice failed. I swallowed. "This was my mess."
Angelo's eyes burned. "And she paid for it."
They stepped back when the nurse called out, warning us.
I stayed where I was.
Because moving felt like pretending I deserved to.
---
Hours later.
The doctor finally came out.
"She's stable," he said. "The wound missed anything vital. We stopped the bleeding. She's out of danger."
The world came rushing back all at once.
My knees almost gave out.
"She'll wake up soon," he added. "You can see her. One at a time."
Angelo didn't look at me when he said, "Five minutes."
That was mercy.
The room was quiet.
Too quiet.
Jay lay pale against white sheets, bandages wrapped tight around her lower stomach.
Machines hummed softly, keeping time like a heartbeat I was terrified to interrupt.
I stood beside her bed.
Didn't touch her.
Didn't breathe.
Her face looked peaceful.
Like none of this had happened.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
The words felt useless. Weak.
"I should've ended this before it reached you. I should've kept you out of it. I should've—"
Her fingers twitched.
I froze.
Her lashes fluttered.
Slowly—too slowly—her eyes opened.
Confused. Heavy. Alive.
"Keifer…?" she murmured.
My chest caved in.
"I'm here," I said instantly, voice breaking despite everything. "You're okay. You're safe."
Her brows knit faintly. "Did… did we win?"
I laughed—quiet, broken. "Yeah. We did."
She breathed out, eyes closing again.
"Good," she whispered.
Then, barely audible—
"Worth it."
I closed my eyes.
Because if she ever realized how much that knife was meant for me—
I didn't know how I'd survive that truth.
And this war?
It wasn't over.
Not by a long shot.
But now—
It had a heartbeat.
And I would burn the world before I let it stop.
Jay didn't sleep much after that.
Neither did anyone else.
By evening, her room looked nothing like a hospital room anymore.
It was alive.
Too alive.
Section E arrived in waves—sixteen idiots trying very hard not to look scared.
Cin argued with a nurse about feeding schedules like he was her legal guardian.
Yuri read labels twice before handing Jay medicine, suspicious of everything.
David adjusted pillows with surgical precision. Felix told stories that went absolutely nowhere just to keep her smiling.
Rory played music softly from his phone. Edrix checked monitors like he trusted numbers more than doctors.
They hovered.
All of them.
Like if they looked away for even a second, she'd vanish.
Jay sat propped up against pillows, bruises blooming along her arms and jaw, color still wrong in her face—but she was awake. Weak, yes. In pain, definitely.
But her eyes were sharp.
Alive.
She made a face as Cin held up a spoon. "If that's soup again, I swear—"
"It's protein," Cin said defensively. "Doctor's orders."
Yuri added dryly, "And if you don't eat, Angelo will glare harder."
Jay glanced past them.
Angelo stood near the door, arms crossed, jaw tight, watching like the room itself was a threat. Tita Gema sat beside him, one hand pressed to her chest, eyes never leaving Jay.
Jay smiled faintly. "See? I'm fine."
Angelo didn't smile back.
"Don't," he said quietly. "Ever do that again."
She blinked. "Do what?"
"Put yourself in front of a blade," he replied.
The room stilled.
Jay's gaze shifted—to me.
I looked away.
She didn't push. She never did when something mattered too much.
"Okay," she said softly.
That was enough for Angelo to turn his head, emotion cracking just slightly. Tita Gema kissed Jay's forehead, murmuring prayers under her breath.
As visiting hours crept closer to ending, the nurses finally started shooing people out.
"Go," Jay ordered hoarsely. "All of you. I need sleep, not a concert."
Groans filled the room, but they listened.
One by one, they left.
Cin squeezed her hand. Yuri gave a small nod. Felix winked. David whispered something that made her laugh quietly.
Angelo lingered the longest.
Then—
It was just me.
Until Angelo cleared his throat behind me.
"You too," he said.
I didn't argue.
I stepped toward the door.
Halfway there, Jay spoke.
"Keifer."
I stopped.
Turned.
She looked tired now. Really tired. The kind that sinks into your bones.
"Thank you," she said. Not dramatic. Not loud. Just honest.
I nodded once. "Get some rest."
I left before she could say anything else.
Because if she had—
I wouldn't have been able to walk away.
---
The night settled hard.
Hospital lights dimmed. Hallways quieted. Machines hummed like distant breathing.
Jay lay awake.
The adrenaline was gone now, leaving bruises aching and her body heavy. The room felt too big without everyone in it.
She stared at the ceiling.
Thought about the warehouse. The knife. Keifer's face when he turned around.
She didn't remember everything.
But she remembered enough.
Her fingers brushed the bandage at her stomach gently.
A reminder.
A promise.
Outside, somewhere down the hall, Keifer sat alone, back against the wall, head bowed, hands still stained in memory.
And for the first time since the war began—
There was silence.
Not peace.
But something close enough to make it dangerous.
Because silence meant thinking.
And thinking meant realizing—
Nothing about this could ever go back to before.