KATRINA’S POV

The fluorescent lights in the hospital hallway buzzed faintly, a monotonous hum I’d long ago tuned out. Years of double shifts, midnight calls, and endless walking had trained me to ignore fatigue, to push it aside like background noise. My legs ached, my head throbbed faintly, but exhaustion wasn’t what filled me tonight.

It was satisfaction. A quiet, simmering kind that warmed me from the inside out.

Two days had passed since Xavier opened those photos. Two days ...