Valentina's POV
The car moved through the evening traffic while I sat in the passenger seat with my hands pressed on my laps staring at the red light ahead.
Leonardo drove without speaking, his jaw tight, his eyes fixed on the road. Every few seconds his hand left the gear shift and rested on my knee, warm and steady, before he pulled it back again.
The hospital call kept repeating in my head; Oxygen levels dropped, new infection, come quickly. I had heard those words before, but tonight they felt heavier maybe because I had spent the last few hours reading strangers tear apart with the man sitting beside me.
"You don’t have to come inside," I said quietly.
"I know,” he said, as he glanced at me.
We reached Mercy General in thirty minutes and he parked near the entrance and turne
