Amara closed the door behind her with a soft click. The familiar silence of her apartment wrapped around her like an old cloak.
She had only come back for a little while. She needed to grab her writing materials, a few fresh clothes, and then return to the hospital. Celeste still needed her. And Amara wasn't going to be anywhere else but by her side.
She set her bag down on the console and exhaled, her shoulders dropping ever so slightly. But before the quiet could settle into her, a voice came from the living room.
"Welcome back," Elias's voice said. His voice came out calm, deep, and threaded with something that immediately put her spine on alert.
Amara froze, her hand still resting on the strap of her bag. Her heartbeat leapt into her throat. She turned, slowly, and deliberately, schooling her face into something steady even though she felt nothing steady in her when she heard him speak.
