"Evie!" Mia's voice cracked suddenly, and she rushed towards me, tears welling up in her eyes. "Are you okay? I saw everything on the news about what happened!"
"Mom?" I blinked in surprise, my mind scrambling to comprehend her sudden appearance. She reached me in seconds, her arms enveloping me in a tight embrace.
I tried to compose myself as she squeezed my mid-section. "What... what are you doing here?"
She wept into my shoulder. “I came to see you, of course! I had to make sure you were okay.”
The events of the past few days flooded back – the chaos, the fear. "I'm fine, Mom," I assured her, pulling back slightly to meet her worried gaze.
"Why didn't you call me? I would've been there for you," Mia's voice quivered with emotion, and a hint of guilt gnawed at me. I hadn’t even thou
