STELLA

“James… oh my god.”

I rushed through the hallway of the hospital until I found him. He was standing unmoving in front of the door, his broad frame stiff, his shoulders trembling in a way I’d never seen before.

He didn’t even acknowledge my presence. He just kept staring into the room, caught somewhere between walking in and running far away from this place.

I followed his gaze and my heart stopped. It was his mother.

She lay on the hospital bed, tubes connected to her ...