Reidar didn't wait and went through the door that would lead him to where his mother was.
He stepped into a wall of cold air. The ward smelled of rubbing alcohol and silence. Healers patrolled the lines of beds, administering potions and changing dressings for the comatose.
Reidar moved through the hushed ward; his feet felt heavy, and each step gave him a sense of urgency. It was as if the silence itself could swallow him whole.
Every step felt like a countdown, and he couldn't avoid dreading what he was going to find.
The silence of the room, the rows of lifeless figures, and the scent of antiseptic and herbs all heightened his anxiety.
He had been searching for his mother for months, and the thought of finally seeing her, while knowing her condition, gave him a mix of powerful emotions that almost made his head spin.
Hope, fear, and a deep-seated need to reconnect. They were all there.
