My phone buzzed as the car drove past HQ, heading toward my apartment. I dug through my purse, pulling it out to find a flood of unread messages—both from last night and new ones from Olivia, repeatedly asking if I was still at work.
Then my stomach clenched.
Olivia's final message.
'Mom's surgery is scheduled for today. A few hours from now.' She was already there.
The exhaustion pressing into my bones didn't matter anymore. I immediately instructed the driver to change course, my heartbeat picking up as the city blurred past the window.
By the time I reached the hospital, I was running on fumes, but I pushed through, weaving past sterile hallways until I reached her room.
"Aria?"
Olivia's shocked voice snapped me out of my haze. She was seated across from Mom, folding sheets. Mom lay still, asleep, her frail body covered in tubes and wires.
Relief flickered across Olivia's face as she shot up from her seat and scurried over to me.
