Chapter 81. Hospital Visit (1)

Vanessa's POV

There’s something about hospitals that always made my skin crawl.

Not because of the needles or the smell of antiseptic always filling the air. It was the silence. The kind that sat heavy in your chest and reminded you how fragile everything could be. Life. Health. Time.

And today, as I pushed open the tall glass doors of the private hospital with my mom by my side, every breath I took felt loaded with fear, hope, and something else I couldn’t quite name.

Maybe it was the way Mom’s fingers were clutching mine like I was the only thing holding her to the earth. Or maybe it was the guilt pressing down on me like bricks in my chest—that it had taken me this long to get her here. To give her the care she deserved. I couldn't help but think about the upcoming results. What if things had gotten worse with her system because we couldn't afford the treatment all this while? What if there was a countdown to her days—

No, I shouldn'