The hospital room slowly settled after Margaret's arrival.
Lily reassured Magaret with the same calm smile she had given Clara, insisting—again—that she was fine, that the doctors had said she would be walking again soon.
Margaret hovered anyway, fussing with blankets and asking too many questions, her hands shaking even as she tried to stay composed.
Clara stood slightly to the side, watching them. Relief still pulsed through her, warm and overwhelming, but underneath it was something sharper. A quiet fear that had not left her chest since the moment the phone went dead.
She waited until Margaret stepped out briefly to speak to a nurse before moving closer to Lily again.
"I'm going to see Melissa," Clara said softly. "I'll be back."
Lily nodded. "She's in the next ward. They said she'll be asleep for a while."
Clara squeezed her sister's hand once more before leaving the room.
