We arrived at the hospital, the parking lot already half-full with desperate families clinging to hope. As we walked briskly toward the entrance, a nurse met John halfway.
“She is awake,” the nurse announced, breathless. “But she asks for the woman with you to leave.”
I stiffened. “How did she even know I was here?”
“She saw you from the window.”
John looked at me, torn— the way people were when they knew what they had to do but still wished they didn’t have to.
“I’m not leaving,” I said quietly.
The nurse glanced nervously between us.
John took a deep breath. “Kim...”
“No,” I said, louder now. “I’m not the enemy. I’m the reason your family is still breathing.”
He opened his mouth, but before he could respond, Anna’s voice floated down the hall, hoarse and furious. She was in a wh
