Alina’s POV
I did not want to go to the hospital that morning. I knew my body, and I knew hospitals. One always led to the other telling me something I was not ready to hear. But Lila had hovered over me for four straight days, watching the fever come and go, watching me drag myself to work like pride alone could keep me standing.
“You look like you are going to collapse,” she said that morning, arms crossed, eyes worried. “You are going. No arguments.”
I hated that she was right.
The fever had been relentless. It would break for a few hours, just enough for me to convince myself I was fine, then come crashing back harder. My head throbbed constantly, my body felt heavy, and even breathing sometimes felt like work. Still, I had gone to the bar every night, smiled through it, poured dri
