I didn’t go straight home.
I told myself I would.
That I’d leave the hospital, get back, wait for Max, and let him “handle it” like he kept saying.
But something had shifted.
Something I couldn’t ignore anymore.
Because this wasn’t just about waiting.
This wasn’t just about trusting.
This was about understanding.
And I didn’t understand anything.
So instead of calling a taxi back to the house, I stayed where I was.
Standing just outside the hospital entrance, the cold air biting slightly against my skin, my thoughts running faster than I could keep up with.
Max had said he would fix it.
That he would remove the problem.
And the way he said it—
Calm. Certain.
It hadn’t sounded like paperwork.
It hadn’t sounded like a phone call.
It had sounded like something else entirely.
