26
A SHARP ANTISEPTIC smell assaulted Verena’s nose and she shivered in the frigid air conditioning. She paced the length of the waiting room, her chest riddled with anxiety, her rubber-soled flip-flops squeaking on the polished linoleum floor. Anika and Bella were curled up asleep in bright-orange chairs. They’d refused to stay at home.
Mia had been whisked from the ambulance and taken directly in for evaluation and stabilization. At one point, the doctor had come out to discuss bypass surgery, as long as Mia was strong enough to survive it. Verena learned that Mia had been assigned to one of the best cardiac doctors in the world, Dr. Omondi, who’d trained at Harvard Medical School.
Verena had called Mia’s closest friend, Camille, and alerted Mia’s sister in Switzerland, their great au
