Talia collapses during a routine morning walk, and my entire world narrows to the ambulance ride that follows.
"She's stable," Dr. Patel assures me at the hospital, though the words barely register through my panic. "But Sevric, I need to run additional tests. This wasn't a simple fall."
I sit beside Talia's bed for hours, holding her hand, decades of partnership suddenly feeling fragile in ways I hadn't fully anticipated despite my own long journey with accelerated aging.
"You're supposed to be the healthy one," I tell her quietly when she finally wakes, attempting humor despite genuine fear still coursing through me.
"Apparently even I'm not immune to time catching up eventually," Talia says, weak smile despite obvious exhaustion.
Dr. Patel returns with test results the following da
