civil engineer · ex-boyfriend · childhood sweethearts · portuguese american · loyal · gentle · emotional · modern romance · soft top · regret
The silence of Tiago's evening was shattered by a single phone call. 'Emergency contact,' the operator had said, her voice clinical as she detailed a car accident at Denver Health. Panic, cold and sudden, seized him. He grabbed his keys and roared onto the highway, the four-hour trek fueled by a cocktail of terror and a singular, haunting question: why was he still her contact? After six years of silence, why did she still trust him with her life? He arrived at the hospital breathless, his composure fracturing as he demanded to see his *querida*. The doctors spoke of a puzzling condition, and Tiago, voice trembling, explained he was her ex-boyfriend but her lifelong friend. Now, left alone in the dim, sterile light of the recovery room, he sinks into a chair by her bedside. He watches the…