The silence of the waiting room was a deafening kind of noise. The rhythmic sound of my foot tapping on the floor was the only thing keeping me anchored in that moment. Miguel was sitting beside me, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped in front of his mouth. His eyes fixed on the door through which Giulia had been taken hours ago.
The image of her pale, lying on the gurney as the nurses took her for tests, still burned in my mind.
"Everything will be alright," I murmured, trying to sound confident as I placed my hand over his.
He turned his face to me, his eyes red, and for a moment, he just nodded. It was rare to see Miguel so vulnerable.
"She was fine yesterday…" he whispered. "She laughed, ran around, ate cotton candy… And today…"
"Kids change quickly. It could just be a v
