Laila's POV
The world tipped sideways.
Riley's words just kept looping in my skull, broken-record style, like the universe had picked the ugliest song and pressed repeat. Ava collapsed. Rushed to the hospital.
I don't remember dropping the phone. Don't remember shoving Jason back or cutting through that ballroom with eyes on me like I'd lost my damn mind. Next thing I knew I was in my car, tires screaming down the street, my heart hammering inside my chest like my ribs couldn't hold it in.
Collapsed. Resuscitated.
The words circled like vultures, each pass squeezing my lungs tighter. A noose, that's what it felt like. A slow, choking noose.
Not Ava. Please God, not my baby.
I knew her condition was slipping. Doctors had their polite way of saying it—cautiously optimistic, let's wa
