Elena’s POV

The day they tell me I can go home does not feel like a victory. It does not feel like a happy ending or some big moment where everything suddenly becomes okay. It feels heavy, like someone has set a weight on my chest and told me to carry it carefully, like one wrong step might make everything collapse again.

The doctor stands at the foot of my bed with his clipboard, talking in that calm, practiced voice that people use when they are trying not to scare you. He talks about rest ...