Breathless

Chapter 1

🌾 Day of breathe🌾

The first time Audrey met Jason, she didn't knew that he would one day become the reason she couldn't breathe the hospital smelled like antiseptic and fear.The automatic doors Audrina health institute, slid open with a soft sigh, swallowing her into white walls and polished floors that reflected everything too clearly, the hospital was known as one of the most prestigious in the country.Built by the powerful jalayemi family and run by the best specialist.For audrey, however it was more than just a hospital, it was home. Nurses moved quickly. Phones rang. Somewhere down the hall, a monitor beeped in steady rhythm.She walked briskly down the corridor cluthing a box of cupcakes to her chest, nurses and doctors greeted her warmly as she passed, Audrey smiled at each of them. Everyone knew her here.Afterall her father Deji jalayemi was one of the top doctors in the country.

"Good morning Dr.Audrey". One of the nurses teased.

Audrey laughed."I'm not a doctor.Not yet."

The nurse winked "Give it time"

Audrey's heart felt warm.Medicine was her passion, but baking was her escape. Especially when her chest felt tight or the weight of expectations became too much.

She reached the surgical floor just the red Operating light was switched on

Her father, Deji, was already in surgery.

She sat in the waiting area with her vanilla cupcakes balanced carefully in her palm, the vanilla frosting slightly smudged from the car ride. It had been a school free day. She was supposed to be at home, watching cartoons, not sitting beneath fluorescent lights that made everything feel colder than it was.She sat in the waiting area.

Her inhaler rested in the pocket of her cardigan.

Just in case.

She told herself she wasn’t nervous. She’d grown up around hospitals. She knew the difference between routine and emergency. Today wasn’t routine. Her father’s jaw had been set tighter than usual when he left the house.

Across the room, she noticed him.

Jason

A boy about her age, maybe older,tall, broad shoulders, with sharp features and stormy eyes that held too much pain for someone so young, his posture was rigid, as if he had built walls around himself, he sat alone in a chair too big for him. His elbows rested on his knees, hands clasped together like he was holding himself in place. He wasn’t crying. He wasn’t fidgeting. He was just… still.

Too still.

The television mounted on the wall played a children’s program at low volume, bright colors flashing uselessly across his face. He didn’t look at it once.

Audrey watched him for a long moment before he realized she was staring.

He must have felt it, because his eyes lifted.

Dark. Focused. Guarded.

They didn’t look like the eyes of someone who believed things would turn out fine.

She looked away first.

A nurse passed by, whispering something to another staff member about a cardiac case in Theatre Three. Audrey knew that theatre. It was her father’s.

Her fingers tightened slightly around the cupcake wrapper.

After a few seconds that felt longer than they should have, she stood.

She didn’t know why.

Maybe because she hated seeing people alone in places like this. Maybe because the silence between them felt heavier than the room. Maybe because she understood something about holding your breath and pretending you weren’t.

She walked over and stopped a few steps away.

“Hi.”

The boy looked up at her again, cautious but not unfriendly.

“Hi.”

His voice was steady. Too steady.

“Are you waiting for someone?” she asked, though the answer was obvious.

“My dad,” he said. “He’s in surgery.”

She nodded. “Mine too. Well—not mine. He’s the one doing the surgery.”

That made him blink.

“You’re Dr. Deji’s daughter?”

She lifted her chin slightly, not in arrogance but in habit. “Yes.”

He studied her for a second like he was trying to match the powerful name with the girl in front of him.

“Oh,” he said quietly.

The room felt different after that. Not lighter. Just aware.

“What happened?” she asked softly.

He hesitated, then shrugged one shoulder. “Heart".

That one word carried weight.

She sat in the chair beside him without asking. Close enough to show she wasn’t leaving. Not close enough to invade his space.

Silence settled again, but this time it wasn’t as sharp, she noticed how guared he was.As if trusting people was dangerous.

She glanced at the cupcake in her hand.

Chocolate.Vanilla frosting. Slightly uneven swirl because she’d insisted on decorating it herself.

She held it out toward him, without overthinking.

"You should eat"

He looked at it like she’d offered him something impossible.

“It’s not poisoned,” she said seriously. “I promise.”

“I’m fine beside am not hungry,” he replied automatically.

It wasn't pride

It was refusal

She tilted her head. “You've been here for a while and you have'nt eaten.”

It wasn’t a question.

His eyes flickered, surprised.

"And"

The word wasn't rude just sharp

She didn't back down

She shrugged. “And people don't think clearly when their hungry.”

A pause.

He studied her like she was a problem

"You don't know me", he said quietly

It wasn't defensive, it was factual

She met his gaze "Please"

Then, slowly, he took it.

Their fingers brushed for half a second. His were colder than hers.

“Thank you,” he said.

He took a bite.

For the first time something softened in his eyes.

"It's good"

Audrey grinned "Of course it is"

Jason almost smiled.

She nodded like it was no big deal, though her heart was beating a little faster for reasons she didn’t understand.

The operating light of the surgical floor was switched off, her dad and her older brother asher, stepped out first, pulling of their gloves.His calm face softened when he saw her.

Asher spoke calmly."The sugery was sucessful.He's stable."

"Thank you" jason said to her brother

His voice was calm again

Controlled again

Her brother nodded, before walking away to meet another family

Audrey noticed the tension leave his shoulders.

Their eyes met.

Jason looked away first.

Later, Asher explained the recovery process. She watched jason from across the room.He stood quietly, listening but not speaking.

Something about him felt lonely.

She watched him disapper down the hallway beneath the harsh hospital lights

She didn't know then that one day, he would carry that same cold control in every room he entered.

She didn't know that he would learn hide fear behind distance

She didn't know breathing - for both of them - would one day be complicated.

All she knew was this

He hadn't smiled once

And somehow, she wanted to be the reason he eventually did.

The boy who didn't smile

The first thing audrey noticed about jason was that he almost never smiled.

A week since the hospital, a week since the quiet boy with stormy eyes had taken a cupcake from her hand like he wasn't sure he deserve her kindness.A week since she had learned his name

Jason carter

And somhow the same jason carter went to her school

Audrey pushed open the glass doors school building, balancing her books against her chest.The morning hallway buzzed with noise - lockers slamming, laughters echoing, footsteps rushing towards class

"Audrey"

She turned just in time for ihouma to grab her arm

"You will not believe what just happened" ihouma said dramatically

Audrey laughed "Good morning to you too"

Isabella appeared beside them, fixing her hair in the reflection of a locker."She's been waiting to tell you this for five minutes"

"What happened" audrey asked

Ihouma leaned in like she was about to reveal a national secret

"Jason carter is back"

Audrey blinked

Her heart skipped in the most incovenient way

"....Here?"

"Yes here" Ihouma said "As in back to school. As in currently breathing the same air as us"

Isabella crossed her arms "Apparently he came back yesterday"

Audrey tried to look calm. Completely unbothered.

Inside, her mind replayed the hospital moment - the quiet waiting room, the soft beeping machines and the way jason starred at her cupcake like it meant more than it should

"Oh" she said softly

Ihouma eyes narrowed

"Oh?" she repeated suspiciously

Audrey shurred

"I met him before," she admitted

Both girls froze

"You WHAT?" ihouma gasped

"At the hospital" audrey said quickly "My dad was operating on his father"

Isabella blinked slowly

"Hold on," she said "You casually met the most mysterious boy in school and didn't tell us?"

Audrey laughed nervously

"It wasn't a big deal"

Ihouma starred at her like she had personally committed a crime

"You gave him a cupcake, didn't you?"

Audrey's jaw dropped

"How do you always know?"

"Because your audrey," ihouma said "You feed people when you don't know what else to do."

Before audrey could respond, suddenly the hallway went quiet

Well....quieter

The strange shift that happens when someone intresting walked in.

Audrey turned

And there he was

Jason carter stood near the entrance, tall and calm, his expression unreadable. His dark jacket hanged loosely over his shoulders and his eyes scanned the hallway like he didn't belong here

Beside him stood someone who looked almost identical

Same height.Same dark hair.

But this one looked.....friendlier

He was smiling

"That must be his twin," isabella whispered

Jaxon carter

The smiling one said something to jason, nudging his shoulders

Jason didn't react much

Typical

Then his eyes moved across the hallway

And stopped

On audrey

For a moment, everthing else blurred.The noise.The movement.The crowd

Jason looked at her like he recognised something familiar

Not warm

Not cold either

Just....aware

Audrey felt heat rise to her face, and quickly looked away

"Oh my gosh" ihouma whispered excitedly "He remembers you"

"I gave him a cupcake" audrey muttered

"Yes and now he's starring at you like you changed his life"

"Stop it"

But when audrey risked another glance, jason was still looking

Not smiling

Not waving

Just watching

Jaxon noticed it too

He followed jason's gaze, spotted audrey and grinned immediately

Then - before jason could stop him - jaxon raised his arm and waved his hand enthusiastically

Audrey nearly dropped her books

Jason sighned quietely and dragged a hand through his hair like he regretted existing

Ihouma squealed

"OH MY GOSH HE WAVED."

"No he didn't" audrey whispered frantically

"Yes he did!"

Jason looked like he wanted to disappear into the floor

But just before he turned away, audrey noticied something strange

For half a second....

The coner of his mouth twitched

Almost like he was trying not to smile