The morning sun spilled gently across the white sheets as laughter echoed through the house.
“Dad, you’re cheating!”
“I am not cheating,” he replied, trying and failing to hide his grin.
Six-year-old Ella stood on the bed, hands on her hips, her curls bouncing as she glared dramatically at him. “You moved when I jumped!”
“I moved because someone tried to attack me,” he said, pulling her into his arms as she squealed with laughter.
Standing by the doorway, you couldn’t help but smile.
This… this was your life.
Messy mornings. Warm laughter. The kind of love people only dreamed about.
And at the center of it all was him,
Dr. Preston Hollingsworth.
Brilliant. Respected. The kind of doctor people trusted with their lives.
And yet, at home, he was just a man who let his daughter braid his hair horribly and pretended it looked amazing.
“Mom!” Ella reached for you. “Come here! He’s losing!”
You walked over, laughing softly. “Is that so?”
Preston looked up at you, and for a moment, everything stilled.
Because the way he looked at you…
It wasn’t just love. It was home.
The trip was supposed to be simple.
Just a short escape. A break from his long hospital shifts. A promise he had made to Ella after missing her school performance.
“Beach trip,” he had said, kneeling in front of her. “Just us three.”
And he never broke promises.
By evening, the car was filled with music and soft chatter. Ella sat in the back, humming along to a song she didn’t fully know, her voice slightly off-key but full of joy.
“Dad, faster!” she giggled.
“Absolutely not,” Preston replied, amused. “Safety first.”
You laughed, leaning back into your seat. “Doctor instincts never rest, huh?”
“Never,” he said lightly. “I have two lives to protect.”
You turned your head, catching his eyes for a brief second.
And in that moment? Everything felt… perfect.
Then-
A flash of light. Too bright. Too close.
The world twisted. Metal screamed. Glass shattered.
And everything went dark....
When you woke up, it felt like drowning.
Your chest burned. Your body refused to move. The air was thick with the metallic scent of blood.
For a moment, you didn’t understand where you were.
Then you heard it.
A sound that didn’t belong in this world.
“Ella…?” His voice. Small. Broken.
Your heart dropped.
You forced your eyes open, vision swimming until it focused...
And then you saw them.
Preston was on the ground, cradling her.
Ella. Too still. Too quiet.
Her tiny body lay in his arms, her head resting against his chest like she had simply fallen asleep.
But she hadn’t...
“No… no, no…” Preston’s voice shook violently. “Hey… hey, sweetheart… look at me…”
He tapped her cheek gently, panic rising in every movement.
“Come on… you’re okay… you’re okay…”
His hands, those steady, miracle-working hands... were trembling as he tried to find a pulse.
He tried to fix it. Because that’s what he always did.He fixed things. He saved people.
“Breathe…” he whispered desperately. “Please… just breathe…”
Nothing.
You didn’t realize you were crying until your vision blurred completely.
“Preston…” your voice broke as you tried to crawl toward them, your body screaming in pain.
He didn’t respond. He just kept holding her. Rocking her slightly.
Like if he didn’t stop, she wouldn’t leave.
“She’s just unconscious…” he murmured, almost to himself. “She’s strong… she’ll wake up… she always does…”
Your heart shattered with every word.
You reached him, your shaking hand touching his arm.
“Preston…” you whispered. “She’s-”
He froze.
Slowly… he lifted his head.
And looked at you.
You had never seen his eyes like that before.
Empty. Shattered. Unrecognizable.
“You were sitting closer to her,” he said quietly.
Your breath caught.
“I told you…” his voice trembled, something dark creeping in. “I told you to hold her properly…”
Tears streamed down your face. “I... I did-”
His voice broke into something raw.
Something unbearable.
“YOU SHOULD’VE DIED INSTEAD OF MY CHILD!”