The hospital room was too quiet. Only the steady beep of monitors and the whisper of the oxygen machine broke the silence. Camille sat beside Victoria's bed, her hand gently holding the older woman's fragile fingers. Three days had passed since the bombing. Three days of watching Victoria struggle, hour by hour.

The doctors had explained it in simple terms at first: Victoria's body, already fighting cancer, couldn't handle the additional strain of smoke inhalation and ...