Page 42 of A Prescription to My Heart

I shift, kicking off my heels and pulling back the covers of her bed. “Alright, get in, Goldie.”

Marigold lights up instantly. “Really?”

“Really.”

She scrambles under the blankets, making space for me. I climb in, pulling the covers over us as she snuggles close.

“Thanks, Talia.”

I smooth her curls away from her forehead. “Anytime.”

Another flash of lightning. Another clap of thunder. But Marigold burrows into my side, already drifting.

I stay still, listening to the storm outside, trying to ignore the way my heart is pounding.

Trying to ignore the fact that Soren is just down the hall. And that sooner or later, I’ll have to face him.

Rain lashes against the windows, wind howling through the night, rattling the panes. The room is warm under the glow of a fairy nightlight, Marigold’s small body curled into mine, her steady breaths fanning against my arm.

She’s such a good kid. I can’t help but feel closer to her than even my own patients. Clever. Bright. Stubborn. It’s easy, caring for her.

And then, I hear it.

The creak of the door. The shift of footsteps. I know it’s him.

I feel the weight of Soren’s gaze, the sudden stillness in the air. He’s standing in the doorway, watching us. Watchingmecomfort his daughter.

My skin prickles. My heartbeat kicks up.

I should open my eyes. I should acknowledge him. But I stay perfectly still, my breaths slow and even, pretending to be asleep.

I’m not ready to face him. Not with Marigold wrapped around me like I belong here. Not with the heat of his presence pressing into the space like an unspoken question.

The room smells like shampoo and rain, and beneath it, something sharper—Soren’s cologne. Clean, crisp, familiar.

For a long moment, he doesn’t move. I wonder what he’s thinking. If he’s going to wake me. If he’s going to say something.

Instead, I hear the softest sigh. Then his footsteps retreat. The door clicks shut.

Only then do I let out a slow breath, my fingers unclenching from the sheets. My body is tight, coiled with something I don’t want to name.

I don’t know what’s worse—that he saw me like this, or that for one terrifying second…

I wanted him to stay.

The rain drums against the roof, a steady rhythm that matches the thoughts racing through my head. Marigold shifts slightly beside me, her tiny fingers curling into my shirt. She’s deep asleep, blissfully unaware of the storm raging outside—or the one inside me.

I can’t stop thinking about Soren.

Not as Dr. Soren Calloway, the brilliant, no-nonsense surgeon. Not as my neighbor who drives me crazy with his brooding silences and sharp glances. But as a father.

A father who tucks his daughter in at night. Who brushes the hair out of her face and listens to her endless stories. Who leaves work in the middle of the day just to make sure she’s okay.

I haven’t had much luck with men.

My last relationship ended in betrayal—three years wasted on someone who swore he loved me while lying through his teeth. Before that, it was an engagement that crashed and burned when I realized I was the only one making an effort. Two failed attempts at love, two times I got burned. I told myself I was done after that.

No more falling for the wrong men. No more letting myself hope.

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