(Aurora's POV)
The ambulance arrived two minutes later. The paramedics took over and I stood up, stepping back as the crowd parted around the stretcher. Someone started clapping. Others joined in.
I walked away before anyone could say anything to me.
I found a quiet stretch of sidewalk and stood there. The tightness in my chest had loosened, just slightly. Not because anything had changed. But because for a few minutes I had been completely present, completely useful, and there had been no room for despair.
I wasn't ready to believe there was no way out for a seventeen-year-old boy.
My phone buzzed.
I looked down. The hospital's number.
I pressed the phone to my ear. "Hello?"
"Ms. Caldwell - I've been trying to reach you." Dr. Mercer's voice was rapid, almost breathless. "I have ne
