"Where's Dominic?" Alia demanded the moment I stepped onto the playground. She peered around me like she expected him to pop out from behind a bush with a bouquet of balloons.
I jesu stayed. "He's…not coming today."
"Awww." She groaned and poured dramatically. "Nooo. I miss him too. He said my unicorn drawing was better than his," she scoffed.
I blinked, trying not to smile. "Of course he did."
"It's true." She shrugged, as if this was a universally accepted fact.
The taxi ride was mostly silent. Alia pressed her cheek to the window, tracing shapes on the fogged glass with her fingertip, her other hand laced into mine.
But the closer we got to the hospital, the tighter my chest pulled. As if invisible fingers were clawing at my lungs.
If we don't perform the surgery soon, the damage may become irreversible.
I forced my breathing steady and guided Alia into the inpatient facility. The fluorescent lights above us hummed. I counted each floor tick by in dread.
