Seraphina's Point Of View
The antiseptic smell struck me the moment I stepped into the hospital corridor… sharp, clean, suffocating.
I hated it.
God, how I despised hospitals.
Everything about this place felt suspended. Too quiet. As if time moved differently within these walls… slower, heavier, each second dragging itself forward just to remind you that you were waiting. For something. Recovery. News. Or worse.
"Ms. Vale?"
I blinked, realizing I'd stopped walking halfway down the corridor like someone who had forgotten her destination. My feet had simply ceased moving, as though my body was staging its own small rebellion.
"Right… yes," I muttered, forcing myself forward again.
The nurse offered me a small smile, the kind people wore when they knew something you didn't want to hear. Or perhaps I was imagining it. Everything felt that way lately… loaded. Suspicious.
Even a smile carried weight.
She gestured toward the door. "The doctor is ready for you."
Of course she is.
