Leah
The elevator opened into the lobby, and I stepped out before I could change my mind and go back upstairs.
Liam walked beside me.
Not too close. Not too far.
Close enough that Ruth would see he was with me.
Far enough that I still looked like I was walking on my own.
The hospital lobby was busy in that awful afternoon way. People at the desk. Visitors with flowers. A man arguing with the parking machine like it had personally insulted him. Someone’s toddler crying near the vending machines while a woman in scrubs searched her bag for crackers.
Real life did not pause for family disasters.
I stopped near the windows.
Liam stopped too.
For a minute, neither of us spoke.
Then I said, “Ruth recognized you.”
“Yes,” Liam said.
“Not just from today.”
“No.”
“You said she saw you
