Chapter 2: The Secret Behind Her Eyes
I drove to the hospital with my heart pounding.
When I walked into Clara's room, I stopped in the doorway.
Clara's mother, Diane, was standing with her arms crossed.
Her eyes were red.
Her expression was something I couldn't read — anger, or something else entirely.
Then I saw Clara.
She was sitting up in her hospital bed, her own head completely shaved.
And she was smiling.
Really smiling — the kind I hadn't seen on her face in months.
Julian was seated beside her, holding her hand.
I looked at Diane.
"What happened?"
She pointed at Julian.
"He came here this morning without telling anyone.
He walked in, sat down with Clara, and the next thing the nurses knew—" Her voice broke.
"She asked them to shave her head.
Because of him."
I turned to Julian.
He looked up at me quietly.
"She kept saying she was scared to lose it.
So I told her we'd do it together."
Diane pressed her hand to her mouth.
"I'm not angry," she finally whispered.
"I just — I wasn't ready to see her like this.
And then I looked at her face and she was..."
She couldn't finish.
But then Diane's phone buzzed on the table.
She glanced at the screen and went completely still.
She looked up at me with an expression I didn't understand.
"There's something I haven't told you," she said.
"Something about Clara.
About why this is all so much harder than you know."
---
May you like
What secret has Diane been hiding — and how does it change everything?
Click the link below to read the full story.
