Myra
The fluorescent lights of the hospital lobby were blinding as we finally pushed through the sliding glass doors. It was 6:00 AM, and in a Vermont February, the world was still buried under a heavy, indigo darkness. The sun wouldn't even think about showing its face for another hour, leaving the air brittle and painfully cold. My body was running on a mixture of adrenaline and sheer, stubborn refusal to collapse.
We hadn't even reached Tony’s truck before a familiar rattle echoed through the hospital drop-off lane. Leo’s beat-up pickup truck swerved toward the curb, the engine coughing in the freezing air. Leo was behind the wheel, his face pale and tight, with MacKenzie in the passenger seat looking like she’d been crying. They were both still in their pajamas under heavy winter coa
