I collapsed backward onto the bed, the mattress sinking beneath me as if it, too, had given up trying to support me properly.
I curled into myself, pulling the pillow against my face, pressing it over my head like I could physically shut out the world that had suddenly become too loud inside my own mind.
But even that didn’t help.
Rafael’s voice replayed again.
And each repetition cut a little deeper than the last, as if my mind refused to let me numb it.
My fingers gripped the fabric of the pillowcase tightly, knuckles aching from the force.
Seconds stretched.
Then minutes.
Time stopped feeling linear in that room. It became something sticky and unbearable.
Every passing moment without a message from him felt heavier than the last.
My breathing turned uneven.
Disappointment and nausea tangled together in my chest until I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began.
My vision blurred at the edges.
I think I was on the edge of sleep.
Or something like it.
That thin place between awareness and collapse.
Then—
The phone rang.
The sound hit the silence like a gunshot.
I shot upright so fast my head spun.
For a moment, I couldn’t even breathe properly.
My heart slammed against my ribs as hope surged through me so quickly it almost hurt.
It had to be Rafael.
He must have found out I’m missing. He must be calling.
The screen lit up.
Incoming call.
My hands shook so badly I nearly dropped it.
I didn’t even check the name.
It had to be him.
My thumb slid across the screen too quickly, almost clumsily.
