The hospital rose out of the morning like a structure built to absorb fear.
Willow noticed that first. The way the building seemed to lean inward, as if everything that entered was expected to bring something heavy with it. The car slowed in the drop off lane, and for a moment she stayed still, one hand resting on the carrier handle, the other pressed lightly against Zana's blanket.
Zana slept through it all.
That felt wrong too.
Lorrlyne was already waiting near the curb when the car stopped, coat buttoned, posture straight, eyes fixed on the windshield as if she had been holding that position for some time. Elisabeth stood a few steps back with Jordan, both of them alert without being intrusive, ready in the quiet, competent way people became when they knew their job was to hold the edges.
The door opened.
