Jordan’s POVThe HospitalI hate hospitals.I always have.It’s not just the smell — that sharp, sterile mix of antiseptic and something faintly metallic. It’s the silence. The kind that isn’t really silence. Machines humming. Shoes squeaking against polished floors. Voices kept too low, like everyone’s afraid to say the wrong thing out loud.Like if you speak too loudly, something might break.Or someone might.I grip the steering wheel tighter than I need to as I pull into the parking lot, the engine idling longer than it should.I don’t move.I can’t.Miley sits beside me, quiet. She hasn’t said much since we left her house, and I’m not sure if I’m grateful for that or not. Probably both.Because if she starts talking, I might actually feel this.And I’m barely holding it together as it is.“You don’t have to go in right away,” she says softly.I let out a breath through my nose, staring straight ahead. “If I don’t go now, I won’t go at all.”That’s the truth.I know myself.I open
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