Outside the door, silhouettes shifted—nurses murmuring urgently, hands gesturing in clipped movements. Sandra couldn’t decipher the words, but the rhythm of their conversation told her enough. Something had escalated. Something the staff didn’t want her to hear. A wave of dread swept through her, nearly knocking the breath from her chest.
She swallowed hard, pressing her palm against her forehead as tears threatened. Whatever was happening to Jake was serious, tangled, and hidden. She felt it in her bones, a tightening sense of inevitability. Somehow, she was connected to it without understanding how or why. Again, she asked for an explanation, but was met with vague answers.