No pretending I don’t already know the answer matters.
Russ stops at the side of the bed.
Close enough.
Not touching.
Not yet.
“He’s fighting,” he says.
Not good.
Not bad.
Fighting.
My chest tightens.
“That’s not the same as stable,” I say quietly.
His gaze meets mine.
And there it is.
That flicker.
That moment where the truth almost breaks through the control.
“No,” he says. “It’s not.”
Silence settles between us.
Heavy.
Honest.
I swallow.
“Will he make it?”
The question feels too big.
Too sharp.
Too real.
Russ doesn’t answer right away.
And that—
That scares me more than anything.
Then—
“He’s got the best person in there with him.”
I blink slightly.
