Mona’s POV
I called her name again, desperate, my voice breaking as I leaned against the edge of the bed. "Mom?" It felt like a dream—like I was still trapped in a haze that I couldn’t shake off. The silence in the room was oppressive, the air thick with the weight of uncertainty. I waited, but the only sound was the faint hum of the machines, the quiet rustle of my own breath.
My eyes scanned the room, searching. I couldn’t make sense of what had just happened, why her footsteps had disappeared so quickly. What was going on? Was she coming back? Had I imagined it all?
And then, the door creaked open.
I froze, my heart skipping a beat in my chest, as if the very sound of the door opening had the power to snap me from the fog I had been lost in. I turned my head just as a figure stepped
