"She treated the doctor's words like suggestions."
The moment Dr. Carter had excused himself from the examination room with promises to check on Silver's discharge paperwork, the sterile medical space had transformed from a place of healing into something that felt more like a battlefield preparing for inevitable conflict. The antiseptic smell that permeated every surface—medical equipment, rubber gloves, industrial cleaning solutions—seemed to intensify in the artificial silence that followed his departure, creating an atmosphere that made Silver's throat constrict with anticipation of the confrontation she'd been dreading since her mother's dramatic entrance.
