18: Can see you

Adrian blinked his eyes open, feeling groggy and disoriented. His head still throbbed slightly from the fever, but there was something else—an eerie sensation, like someone was watching him. He sat up slowly, rubbing his temples, and looked around the room.

That's when he saw it.

Standing at the foot of his bed was a faint, transparent figure—Ethan. The Ethan he'd seen before in his dreams, the one who'd saved him from drowning, the one who'd cradled him in those soft, fleeting moments. But this time, Ethan wasn't a figment of a dream; he was real, standing right there.

Adrian gasped in shock, his heart pounding as he scrambled backward, losing his balance and falling off the bed with a thud.

"Adrian!" Ethan's voice was urgent, filled with worry. He crouched down as if to help, but his hand passed right through Adrian's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Adrian, still dazed, stared up at him, his heart racing. "Wh-what…?"

"Hey, don't move so fast!" Ethan's voice was strained with concern, even though he couldn't physically touch him. "You're still weak."

Adrian shook his head, trying to process the situation. He pushed himself up, sitting on the floor, clutching his chest. "You… you're really here?" His silver eyes widened as he looked at the soul standing before him.

Ethan knelt beside him, his face filled with a mixture of amusement and concern. "I've been here the whole time, Adrian."

"What…?" Adrian's voice cracked. He couldn't believe it. Ethan's soul, the very essence of the man, was right in front of him, glowing faintly, translucent. "How… How long?"

Ethan gave him a gentle smile. "Since the coma. I've been stuck in this… form, I guess. I've been around you, watching you, talking to you—even if you couldn't hear me."

Adrian's mouth opened and closed several times, his brain struggling to catch up with what was happening. "You've been… here… all this time?"

Ethan nodded, his expression softening. "Yes, I've been watching over you."

Adrian leaned back against the bed, his legs weak and trembling. His fingers clutched the sheets as he tried to make sense of everything. "This doesn't make any sense… I thought I was dreaming. I thought… Maybe I was just hallucinating because of the fever."

"No, Adrian," Ethan said quietly, his voice soothing. "I'm real. Well, as real as a soul can be."

Adrian looked up at him, his pale face reflecting the confusion he felt. "Why didn't you… I don't know… tell me sooner? Why didn't you just appear?"

Ethan sighed, running a hand through his hair—though the action didn't seem to do much since he wasn't corporeal. "I didn't think you were ready. At first, I didn't even realize I could be seen by anyone. I was just… there. Floating around, watching over you."

"You've been watching me?" Adrian's cheeks flushed as memories of private moments—when he was changing, when he cried himself to sleep, or when he spoke aloud to the empty room—flooded his mind. "All this time?"

Ethan smirked. "You talk a lot when you think no one's around, you know."

Adrian's face turned crimson. "I… I didn't know…" he stammered. "I thought I was alone!"

Ethan chuckled softly, his deep voice warming the room. "I wasn't spying. I was just… keeping an eye on you. Making sure you were okay."

Adrian frowned. "But why? Why me? You barely even knew me before the accident."

Ethan's smile faded, replaced with something more serious, almost tender. "I don't know," he admitted. "At first, I thought it was because you were my wife by contract, and I had a duty to watch over you. But after a while… I realized it was more than that."

Adrian's throat tightened. He couldn't explain the emotions swirling inside him—fear, confusion, warmth, and something deeper. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, somewhere along the line, you became important to me," Ethan said, his gaze never leaving Adrian's. "I care about you, Adrian. A lot more than I thought I would."

Adrian swallowed hard. He lowered his gaze, feeling overwhelmed by the sudden wave of emotions that Ethan's words had stirred within him. "You're… just saying that because you've been stuck here."

"No." Ethan's voice was firm. "I mean it."

Adrian's eyes darted back to him. "But I'm just…" A man who has been forced on you.

"Stop." Ethan's voice was gentle but authoritative. "You're more than you give yourself credit for. You've been through so much—your family, the marriage, everything. You didn't hate me...So How can I hate you when you are just my wife?"

Adrian bit his lip, unsure how to respond. The vulnerability in his chest made him feel exposed, as if Ethan could see right through him—not just because he was a soul, but because he truly understood him in ways no one else had.

"Do you… really think that?" Adrian asked, his voice soft, almost childlike.

Ethan nodded. "I do. I've seen how hard you work. You take care of me, even though I'm just a body lying there. You've handled everything—my mother, Mathew, the business stuff—all of it. And you've done it with no one to lean on."

Adrian's heart skipped a beat. He had always felt alone, even with people around him. But hearing those words from Ethan, the man whose life he'd been thrust into without choice, made something inside him shift.

"I… I don't know what to say," Adrian murmured, his fingers tightening around the edge of the bed. "I didn't think anyone noticed."

"I noticed," Ethan said simply. "Adrian. I want to protect you."

Adrian's chest tightened, and he looked up at Ethan, his silver eyes shimmering with a mixture of hope and disbelief. "Why… why do you want to protect me?"

Ethan smiled again, his expression softening. "Because I like protecting you."

Adrian's eyes widened slightly. "You… like it?"

Ethan nodded. "Yes. I like knowing that you're safe. I like knowing that, even though I can't do much in this form, I can still be here for you. It's comforting."

Adrian stared at him, speechless. He had always been the one protecting others—his mother, even his father and Wryn, despite their cruelty. He had never been the one being protected.

"I… I don't know what to say," Adrian whispered, his voice shaking slightly.

"You don't have to say anything," Ethan replied softly. "Just know that I'm here for you, and I always will be."

Adrian blinked, trying to process the warmth that was blooming in his chest. For the first time in a long while, he didn't feel so alone. He didn't feel like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

After a long pause, Adrian finally spoke. "What if….I want to leave?"

Ethan's eyes sparkled with amusement. "Then I'd support you."

Adrian blinked, surprised. "Really?"

"Of course," Ethan replied. "Just that...I will go with you."

"I never said I will take you with me." Adrian whispered, his voice trembling with emotion.

However, Adrian didn't notice that in the faint sunlight of the dawn, He looked etheral with those silver eyes so gentle and a warm smile on his lips.

Ethan wanted to bend down and catch the beautiful boy but he couldn't do it in this form...

So he just watched the boy smile happily.