The evening did not arrive all at once.It gathered gradually, the light outside thinning into a softer grey that settled against the windows, dimming the sharpness of the day and replacing it with something quieter, more reflective. Inside the room, the shift was subtle but unmistakable, the overhead lights taking on a warmer tone, shadows stretching gently along the walls, the steady rhythm of the monitor sounding louder in the absence of daylight.Tricia lay back against the pillows, not asleep, not fully resting, but no longer carrying the same alert tension that had followed her from the consultation room. Her body had begun to settle into its own rhythm again, slower, heavier, demanding less from her mind and more from her awareness of small things, breath, movement, the quiet reassurance of life beneath her hands.Raymond had not left.He sat in the same chair beside her bed, though his posture had changed, less forward now, less braced, his shoulders lowered slightly as the ho
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