Ashley stayed close, but even her face had begun to change. She paced more. Slept less. Her tone shifted from concern to frustration. “It’s like they’re building a wall around us,” she whispered one night. Tula didn’t reply. She felt it too. A tightening. A secret growing just out of reach.
In the corridors, conversations hushed when she passed. Behind half-shut doors and medical curtains, she caught phrases not meant for her ears. “Unstable biomarkers.” “Gestational confusion.” “Nothing aligns with her profile.” Words stacked like riddles. Her fear was no longer just about the pain—it was about being deliberately kept in the dark.