Valentina's POV
The hospital was thirty minutes away, and the drive was silent as usual.
I walked through the lobby, the smell of antiseptic hitting me the moment the doors slid open. An old man sat in a wheelchair near the entrance, staring at nothing, as a child cried somewhere down the hall.
I took the elevator to the fourth floor and walked to room 412.
My mother lay in the bed, her eyes closed, her chest rising and falling with the rhythm of the machines. Tubes were connected to her arms, as the monitor beeped softly beside her.
I pulled the chair closer and sat down, taking her hand in mine.
"Hi, Mama," I said but only the monitor beeped.
“I know I haven't visited in a while and I'm sorry,” I said, as I stroked her fingers, which was warm and soft beneath mine.
"A lot has h
