Three days passed like an eternity. The world outside continued as usual — the sun rose, the sun set, footsteps echoed in the corridors, machines hummed — but Stefan's world had narrowed to the four walls of Ruby's ward.
He never left her side. Every hour, he held her hand. Every minute, he searched her face for some flicker of life. Every second, he whispered prayers and pleas to a God he wasn't even sure existed.
He was there again now, sitting hunched in the chair beside her bed, his shoulders rounded with exhaustion, his hair unkempt, his eyes shadowed with sleeplessness. His bandaged hand rested on the edge of her blanket, his uninjured one wrapped around Ruby's fingers.
The door opened softly behind him. Stefan looked up, expecting Rayna or Ethan — but instead, his breath caught when he saw who it was.
"Mom?"
