The One I Cannot Touch

String 4: Shadows Look Like Hands

Like he'd seen too much and said too little.

Like the silence around him was by choice.

Jade's breath hitched - not because of attraction, but recognition. But it wasn't visual.

It was visceral.

Chase: [extending a hand] "Miss Vera. Thank you for having me."

Jade: [shaking his hand, quietly] "Please. Call me Jade."

Their hands touched.

For a second, it felt like a pulse traveled between them.

Then it was gone.

Flashback - One Year Ago
BGC Emergency Room

Jade sat in a cold hospital hallway, her hands trembling, the smell of antiseptic clinging to her clothes.

A man had collapsed beside her car in a parking lot - she never saw his face. She called 911, screamed for help, stayed beside him until the ambulance came.

The ER doctor had run out to meet them.

Gloved hands. Quick eyes. Steady voice.

He'd told her the man would survive.

She never asked for the doctor's name.

But something about his eyes stayed with her.

Present - 10:40 AM

The meeting had gone smoothly. Too smoothly.

Chase answered every question clearly. He spoke about fieldwork in Mindoro, about disease prevention, medical access, his focus on children and trauma victims.

But he never talked about himself.

Not once.

When asked about his previous work in Africa, he simply nodded and said: "I go where I'm needed."

After the meeting, Jade stayed behind.

She found herself standing near the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out over the city - her kingdom of steel and clouds. Chase approached, holding a report.

Chase: "Your team is impressive. Efficient."

Jade: [still looking out] "They have to be. We're playing God with budgets."

Chase: "And what about you?"

Jade: [turning slowly] "Me?"

Chase: "Are you efficient too? Or dangerous?"

Jade: [smirking faintly] "Sometimes both."

There was silence. Not awkward, but loaded.

Then-

Chase: "Do we know each other?"

Jade: [heart skipping] "What makes you ask that?"

Chase: "Your eyes. They feel... familiar."

Jade's breath caught.

Jade: "Do you believe in fate, Doctor?"

Chase: [after a pause] "I used to."

He walked away before she could ask what changed.

Later That Evening - Ally's Apartment

Ally poured them wine and played Phoebe Bridgers in the background - moody, soft, devastating.

Ally: "So? Spill. Was he ugly? Did he have bad shoes? Or does he make your spine feel like string cheese?"

Jade: [whispering] "I think I've met him before."

Ally: "Where?"

Jade: "I don't know."

Ally: "But?"

Jade: "But when he looked at me... I felt it. Like something invisible wrapped around my wrist and pulled."

Ally: "Red string?"

Jade nodded.

Ally: "Could it be him?"

Jade: "What if it's Lance?"

Ally: "Jade-"

Jade: "What if fate is cruel enough to bring me to someone else and still make me feel like he's here?"

Flashback - Six Months Before Lance Died
Lance's Apartment

He was making pancakes shirtless, humming off-key. The sky outside was bruised with rain.

Lance: "If anything happens to me, promise me something."

Jade: [sitting on the counter] "Don't be dramatic."

Lance: "Promise me you won't shut down. That you'll still find the string."

Jade: [mocking] "Our sacred pinky thread?"

Lance: "I'm serious. Love doesn't die. It just... finds new forms."

Jade: [quietly] "Why are you saying this?"

Lance: [turning to her] "Because I feel something coming. Like fate's already pulling the next chapter."

Present - Jade's Penthouse, Midnight

She lay in bed, wide awake, hand on her chest.

She stared at the ceiling, at the shadows dancing from the city lights.

She whispered into the dark:

Jade: "Is it you?"

And somewhere, miles away, Chase Miller sat in his hotel room, looking out the window, fingers grazing the old bracelet tied to his wrist.

Red.

Faded.

Frayed.

But never broken.