"I'd never said no to her. Until now."
The hospital examination room still reverberated with the aftermath of Leona's devastating pronouncement, her words—"You're wasting your life"—hanging in the sterile air with the persistence of smoke that refused to dissipate despite the clinical ventilation system designed to maintain optimal air quality for patient recovery. The fluorescent lights continued their mechanical humming overhead, casting harsh illumination that made every surface appear bleached and unforgiving, while the antiseptic smell that permeated medical facilities seemed to grow stronger rather than fade, as if the confrontation between mother and daughter had somehow intensified the chemical traces that clung to everything.
