I didn’t want to leave.

Even though I had barely slept for days, even though Terrence had repeatedly told me to get some rest, there was still a part of me that stubbornly refused to leave. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong, as if some terrible thing was simply waiting for the exact moment I stepped out of Mom’s room to happen.

She was sleeping peacefully at that hour, her face calm and relaxed, so different from the fear and panic I had seen in her just a few days ...