Third person's POV
The morning settled slowly over the hospital, creeping in through the pale curtains like a shy visitor. The first thing Liora felt was pain in her lower back, dull and heavy, and the stiffness in her neck where she had fallen asleep sitting up. She had spent the entire night leaned toward the bed, her hand resting over her grandfather’s, refusing to let go even when exhaustion pulled her under. Her body felt like it had been folded wrong, left in a shape it was never meant to stay in. She winced as she shifted, stretching her spine bit by bit.
The room was quiet. The machines beside the bed kept their steady rhythm, a soft series of beeps and faint mechanical exhales. It no longer sounded terrifying the way it had last night. Now, it sounded like breathing.
Sh
