OLIVIA’S POV
I woke up before my alarm for the first time since I could remember.
Not jolted awake by anxiety or a phone call carrying bad news. Just awake. My opened naturally into the quiet of the room with the particular lightness that came from knowing the worst was not happening today.
My father was stable. He was in good hands. The surgery was scheduled and the team at Millbrook was excellent and for the first time in weeks I had gone to bed without running numbers in my head or rehearsing conversations with doctors or lying in the dark calculating how many days were left on a deadline.
I stretched slowly and looked at the ceiling.
It was remarkable what good news did to a body.
My phone vibrated on the nightstand. I reached for it expecting a hospital notification and felt m
