Shattered Promises, New Beginnings

The storm outside LAX airport raged like a living thing, battering the windows with sheets of rain that distorted the world beyond the glass. I huddled deeper into my coat, the small velvet box in my palm growing warm against my skin despite the chill that had settled into my bones.

"Ninety-nine acts of love," I whispered to myself, the words a mantra that had kept me going through the endless delays and Gabriel's increasingly vague promises. Tonight was supposed to be different. Tonight was supposed to be everything.

I glanced at the departures board again, though I knew it wouldn't have changed. Flight BA283 from London Heathrow. Delayed. Indefinitely.

"Miss, I really need to advise you to head home," the airport staff member said, her voice kind but firm as she approached my bench for the third time. "This storm isn't letting up, and the flight could be canceled entirely."

I shook my head, my fingers tightening around the velvet box. Inside were the custom platinum cufflinks I'd spent weeks choosing for Gabriel—each engraved with our initials intertwined. They weren't just cufflinks; they were a symbol of everything we'd built together.

"I'll wait," I said, my voice steadier than I felt. "He'll be here."

The woman sighed but didn't push further. As she walked away, I pulled out my phone and scrolled through our last messages. Gabriel's final text before boarding in London: *Coming home to you, my love. This is it.*

This was it. His ninety-ninth promise. The one that would finally lead to forever.

I closed my eyes and rehearsed how it would go. He'd walk through those arrival doors, tired but beautiful in that way that always made my heart skip. He'd see me waiting and cross the terminal in long strides. Then he'd drop to one knee right here in the middle of LAX and ask me to be his wife.

The fever was making my thoughts fuzzy, but I couldn't leave. Not when I was so close.

"Miss?" Another voice, this one belonging to a security guard. "Are you alright? You look..."

"I'm fine," I lied, though my skin felt like it was burning from the inside out. The terminal lights seemed too bright suddenly, the sounds around me muffled as if I were underwater.

Just a little longer. Gabriel would be here soon.

But as the hours crawled by and the storm intensified, my determination began to waver. My head throbbed, and black spots danced at the edges of my vision. I tried to stand but found my legs unsteady beneath me.

"Ma'am?" Someone was touching my shoulder. "Ma'am, are you sick?"

I tried to respond, but my tongue felt thick in my mouth. The last thing I remembered was the ceiling tiles spinning above me as I collapsed.

---

Beeping machines. Antiseptic smell. Voices floating in and out of my consciousness.

"She's burning up," someone said.

"Probably been sitting there for hours in that damp coat."

"Get her some Tylenol and fluids."