The hospital where Naime had been taken was kept off every official record that might reach the press. No name was spoken aloud in front of strangers. No details were written where curious eyes could see. The Walton family believed she had been admitted to the same facility as Drake and Zhinkee, and none of them knew that she had been behind the wheel of the other vehicle that night. Their grief was too large to allow room for another story. All their thoughts circled back to Drake’s shattered body and Zhinkee’s fading pulse.
Outside the operating room, time lost its shape.
One hour passed. Then another. Then a third.
The red light above the door remained on, unwavering and merciless.
Ricardo sat hunched forward, his hands locked together so tightly that his knuckles had gone white. He
