4- London dreams

August 18th.

World I.

Dakota laughs, but without emotion.

"So you will know why my round of questions."

"You seemed like a stalker."

"This will sound terrible, but I usually am with those who matter to me."

"Do you want me to be honest?" I inquire, and continue looking at the ceiling. "I don't know how this ended up like this."

"I suppose you're referring to the direction of our conversation." She doesn't show any emotion on her face. "I truly hoped you would know something more. I'm very desperate. People talk too much just for the sake of it. They repeat and repeat what they hear without stopping to think about…"

"Like you? " I inquire.

"Thinking about how toxic they are. " She ignores my question. Now I feel like I'm part of a horrible nightmare, Eron Montjoy. You will know well that he was a ray of light for me. I told Faven more than once that I trusted you if he did. Despite being naive, he was incapable of trusting someone he shouldn't.

"During that time, I confronted him because I didn't want him to tell me about your life," I take a deep breath after speaking to her, my voice sounding unstable. "It became the first and last fight we had."

" I also told him we have the dream of being in London, He and me."

" What do you mean ? "¨Wonders Dakota

"It´s kind of a secret" I explain.

For which I desperately want to apologize to him.

"—He told me. It was surprising the amount of words he could spit out per minute," she mentions, and I catch a half-smile out of the corner of my eye. "He apologized, didn't he?"

World I

Eron's eyes fluttered open once more, the sterile scent of antiseptic stinging his nostrils. The dim light of the hospital room did little to soothe the throbbing pain emanating from his bandaged head. His mind was a chaotic whirlpool of thoughts, memories, and regrets. Faven's name echoed in his mind like a haunting melody, but it was Dakota's soft voice that pulled him back to the present.

“Eron?” she whispered cautiously, her face a mask of concern and empathy.

He turned his head slightly, catching a glimpse of her profile. How strange it was to feel comfort from someone who was practically a stranger, yet was so intricately tied to Faven. The thought twisted at something deep within him, a mixture of gratitude and sorrow. She was here, and somehow that mattered.

“I wish I could say it gets easier,” she said, her voice trembling as she tried to maintain her composure. “But it doesn’t. It just… changes.”

He wanted to respond, to share in her grief, but the words stuck in his throat. Instead, he found solace in the silence that enveloped them. It was a silence thick with unspoken understanding, a silence that connected two souls mourning the same loss.

Outside the window, thunder rumbled ominously. It seemed the universe was reflecting their inner turmoil, a storm brewing both within and without. Eron could feel the tension in the air, a prelude to something significant. He didn’t know what it was, but he felt it deep in his bones.

Meanwhile, miles away in the Omega House, Milan was busy preparing for the upcoming storm. Dakota’s laughter still echoed in his ears, a reminder of the little girl who had brought so much joy to the otherwise somber atmosphere of the facility. As he organized the playdough for the children, his thoughts wandered to Dakota’s mother. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to change—not just for him, but for everyone around him.

“Milan!” Dakota’s tiny voice broke through his reverie as she bounded into the room, her cheeks flushed with excitement.

“Back already?” he asked, kneeling down to her level. The innocence in her eyes always pulled at his heartstrings. “Did you finish playing with the others?”

“Yeah! But I miss the slide!” she pouted, her hands planted firmly on her hips.

“Dakota, it’s still raining out there. We can’t have you slipping and sliding all over the place,” he replied, trying to keep a straight face as she shot him her best pleading look.

“Please, please, please?” she begged, her eyes wide and earnest.

Milan chuckled softly. “Okay, how about this: if it stops raining, we can go outside for a few minutes. Deal?”

“Deal!” she cheered, bouncing on her toes.

As she darted off to find her friends, Milan returned to his thoughts, feeling restless. He had been thinking about the inquiry for a live-in manny, but could he really leave this place? Leaving meant he might not see Dakota again. The thought twisted in his stomach.

Back in the hospital, Eron felt an odd sensation creeping in, a sense of clarity amidst the chaos. The pain in his arm throbbed with each heartbeat, but he pushed through it, focusing on Dakota’s gentle presence beside him. There was something about her that reminded him of Faven—a spark of hope, perhaps?

“Listen, I know you’re hurting,” Dakota said softly, her gaze unwavering. “But Faven wouldn’t want you to give up. He always believed in you.”

Eron felt a lump rise in his throat, the weight of her words pressing down on him. “I don’t know if I can—”

“—You can,” she interrupted firmly. “You have to. For him. For yourself.”

Her resolve sparked something in Eron, and he nodded slowly, taking a deep breath. Maybe he could find a way out of this darkness. Maybe he could honor Faven’s memory by forging ahead, not just for himself but for Dakota too.

At that same moment, Milan was filling out yet another stack of paperwork when his phone buzzed with a notification. It was a message from Marge about a new inquiry that had come through—something about a live-in manny in Greenfield.

His heart raced. This could be the change he had been waiting for.

As he read the details, he felt a surge of determination. Perhaps it was time to take that leap, to step out of the comfort of Omega House and into the unknown. He punched in a quick reply, eager to express his interest in the position.

The storm outside intensified, the rain pounding against the windows as Eron and Milan’s lives began to intertwine—two paths converging in the midst of chaos. Each was on the brink of a decision that would alter their course forever, driven by love, loss, and the unyielding desire for a brighter tomorrow.

With the storm raging on, both men felt the winds of change stirring, the promise of something new just beyond the horizon.