Chapter 34
The ICU never truly slept.
Even at three in the morning, it breathed.
Quiet machinery. Filtered air.
Pale blue light washed the walls.
Monitors blinked in a steady, rhythmic pulse.
A ventilator hissed softly somewhere down the corridor.
Rubber soles whispered against polished floors.
Inside Room 12, Ion lay motionless beneath white sheets.
An IV line ran into the vein on the back of his hand, secured with clear tape.
A pulse oximeter clipped to his finger cast a faint red glow against his skin.
Thin wires trailed from his chest to the monitor beside him.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
His breathing was shallow.
But steady.
Outside the glass panel, a nurse glanced briefly at his chart before continuing down the hall.
She didn't see his eyelids twitch.
She didn't s
