Sinclair?” she said gently.

“She’s awake.

She keeps asking for you.”

I followed her through a maze of pale hallways that smelled of bleach and stale coffee.

Every step felt heavier than the last.

When I entered Maya’s room, my chest nearly collapsed.

She looked impossibly small in that hospital bed.

The right side of her face was badly swollen, dark bruises spreading beneath her skin like storm clouds.