CHAPTER SEVEN

The loud knock on the car window startled Mr. Claude. He jolted upright with his tear-streaked face snapping back to alertness. Blinking against the sudden intrusion of reality, he turned to see a nurse standing outside, her face engraved with urgency but softened by concern.

“Mr. Claude, you need to come with me. There’s been an update on your son,” she said hastily.

Without hesitation, he wiped his face and rushed out of the car. The cool hospital air brushed against his skin as he followed the nurse down the corridor. The polished floors echoed with their footsteps, and the distant hum of hospital activity filled the background. He braced himself, heart pounding for whatever news awaited. Mr Claude didn't know what to expect, he was unsure of the kind of update the doctor has, whether good or bad.

Meanwhile, a few doors down, Tammy was sitting quietly in the hospital’s small visitors’ lounge. The weight of everything she had endured pressed on her shoulders — the looming marriage