The morning sun slipped through the thin curtains of the hospital room, painting the pale walls in soft streaks of light. The air smelled of antiseptic and faintly of stale coffee, the kind nurses carried in cups as they hurried past.
Elena stirred awake, her head resting against her mother’s hospital bed. She had fallen asleep sitting up, her hand still gently wrapped around her mother’s frail wrist. The steady beep of the heart monitor was the only sound that had allowed her to rest at all.
In the corner, Isolde was curled in an awkward position on the chair, her head tilted, mouth slightly open as she slept.
The quiet click of the door opening pulled Elena from her drowsy state. She blinked and looked up.
Sofia stepped inside. She looked pale but was standing tall, her hair tied bac
