“No.

My name is Emeka.”

The woman started to apologize in a rush, but her breathing was so shallow and frantic that a knot twisted sharp in his chest, because he knew that sound.

He had heard it in himself.

It was the exact terror he had felt sitting beside Adanna through her final nights, in a sterile room just like the one this stranger was describing.

“Listen to me,” he said gently.