Leah
"Careful," a paramedic warned as they rolled Aiden down, the stretcher rattling beneath his weight.
I stumbled after them, my heart pounding so loudly that it drowned out everything else.
"Male, early forties. Collapsed after severe head pain," someone said.
"Is he going to be okay?" I asked for what felt like the hundredth time.
I wiped at my face with the back of my palm, but the tears kept coming, hot and relentless, blurring the bright hospital lights into streaks.
"Ma'am." A nurse stepped in front of me, holding me back. "You can't go any further."
"I— I need to follow him," I choked, reaching for the stretcher as it disappeared through the swinging doors. "Please."
"Calm down, ma'am." Then more firmly, "What's your relationship to the patient?"
I froze, the question ech
