The late afternoon sun hung low over the London skyline, painting the city in molten gold and shadow. The hospital's glass windows caught the light, glimmering like fragments of fading hope, while the steady hum of traffic filled the air. Eliana Bennett walked beside her father, her arm looped gently through his as they made their way across the parking lot toward the waiting taxi.
The air was cool and damp—the kind that carried the promise of rain. A breeze brushed through Eliana's loose curls, carrying with it the familiar scent of London after a long day: metal, pavement, and the faint sweetness of wet grass. She'd grown used to this unpredictable weather, just as she'd learned to adapt to the new life it represented—one built from the quiet ruins of the old.
