Chapter 19

Chapter 19. Adrian was still standing beside Nolan's bed. It was early morning, and the pale sunlight had just touched the hospital window. There was nothing special about the view. There were no dramatic moments. Just a man waiting, his hands folded in front of his chest, his eyes fixed on the monitor displaying a child's heartbeat. Liora watched him from a distance. She saw how Adrian sighed every time the numbers on the monitor changed. How his eyebrows furrowed, then relaxed again. How he refrained from touching, as if he knew that not all closeness had to be expressed through touch. And that was when something changed. It didn't collapse. It didn't shatter. It just shifted slightly, enough to make Liora lose the balance she had been desperately fighting for. She didn't like that feeling. She approached, standing on the other side of Nolan's bed. Her hand touched the boy's hair gently, more to calm herself than Nolan. "You don't have to come every hour," she said without turn