"I'll be there soon."
Naomi's voice stayed flat. "You get ten minutes with Lily. That's it."
She ended the call.
Back in the room, Naomi's eyes settled on the hospital bed, and whatever calm she'd managed dissolved right back into worry.
She wrapped Lily's small hand in both of hers and pressed it gently to her cheek.
"Baby, I'm sorry. I should have kept you safer than this."
She'd noticed the signs for a while now the quiet, the deflections. If she'd pushed just a little harder, asked one more question
None of this would have happened.
The guilt sat heavy in her chest. Her eyes stung, blurring, and she wiped at them on reflex, the back of her hand coming away wet.
Startled by her own reaction, she checked Lily quickly still sleeping, small face pale, lashes twitching faintly but
