CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Where the Clinic Ends13Please respect copyright.PENANA44uYR3HJs7
(Matteo’s POV)
He stood in front of the clinic for the last time.13Please respect copyright.PENANANWvONYLa5J
It looked smaller now.13Please respect copyright.PENANAN8oxcMyPDE
Almost harmless.13Please respect copyright.PENANABeW6wmXqk2
Like a place that hadn’t broken people inside its walls.
But he knew better.
He had become this place once.
And now… he was going to destroy it.
She was in the car.
Watching him from the passenger seat.
No words.
Just eyes full of silent understanding.
He held the key in his hand.13Please respect copyright.PENANA1zMjKjgBVK
Then dropped it to the ground like it was poison.
Inside his jacket: a flask of lighter fluid.13Please respect copyright.PENANAkYte6sl8fd
A Zippo.13Please respect copyright.PENANA1e2PSX3HHz
And an old, burnt patient folder with his name blacked out.
He walked inside.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Room by room, he poured it.
On the desk where he used to take notes.13Please respect copyright.PENANApV54hGMzww
On the couch where women wept.13Please respect copyright.PENANAzOFYVewHUV
On the floorboards that creaked from too many secrets.
And finally—on the bed in the back room.13Please respect copyright.PENANAX0G8Otj7iS
The bed where she first told him "I’m not here for sex."
He lit the match.
Dropped it.
Watched the flames kiss every inch of his sin.
He walked away as the smoke curled into the night sky.13Please respect copyright.PENANA1AYZ6Jvd4C
Didn’t look back.
Not even once.
She rolled the window down.
Said nothing.
But when he opened the door and got in beside her,13Please respect copyright.PENANAU0Ny37rbzG
she reached for his hand.
He didn’t speak either.
But he held it back—13Please respect copyright.PENANA5if94yYlkA
like it was his anchor.
Five hours on the road.
They didn’t talk about the fire.13Please respect copyright.PENANAevJRBTPdjD
Didn’t talk about where they were going.
Instead—
They stopped at a gas station.
Got fries.13Please respect copyright.PENANA1IxjtEyKXU
Ice cream.13Please respect copyright.PENANAh6JP21i7cX
Water bottles.13Please respect copyright.PENANAWOnQgSXjHg
And a pack of mints.
By 3 AM, they were at a roadside motel.13Please respect copyright.PENANArMbl3LX8Xq
Cheap.13Please respect copyright.PENANAUaGGrz0YJu
Quiet.13Please respect copyright.PENANAqTl7WxC9NJ
With flickering signs and a vending machine that didn’t work.
He paid in cash.13Please respect copyright.PENANAh5SQgUN33e
No ID.13Please respect copyright.PENANACB9DLQTnex
No trace.
The room was cold.
She took a hot shower first.
He followed.13Please respect copyright.PENANAFgtba1SBic
Stepped in behind her.
Didn’t touch her at first.13Please respect copyright.PENANAUP1THdcyCE
Just watched the water trace her spine.
Then—
“Do you regret this?” he asked against her neck.
She didn’t answer.
Just turned.13Please respect copyright.PENANATiCqi7E89E
Pulled him down by the jaw.
And kissed him.
It wasn’t gentle.13Please respect copyright.PENANAOit74jwLfw
It wasn’t soft.
It was claiming.13Please respect copyright.PENANAi1Vac34gBX
Raw.13Please respect copyright.PENANAIfReXOciN4
Wrecked.13Please respect copyright.PENANAdPA03MRj19
Needed.
Like two souls trying to forget what the fire had burned away.
Hands on backs.13Please respect copyright.PENANA6PieadJpiX
Fingers in wet hair.13Please respect copyright.PENANAPkNBP51ozO
Moans swallowed between lips.
Water dripping.
Steam rising.
Bodies pressed.13Please respect copyright.PENANAassFKPXzZt
Flesh remembering flesh.
“I don’t regret you,” she whispered, trembling.
“Then don’t leave me,” he choked.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
They made love like sinners begging to be saved.
And for once—
It felt like they already were.
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