I expected her to tell strangers that I was cruel, dramatic, selfish, ungrateful, or confused from medication.
I expected her to turn my boundary into another injury I had supposedly caused her.
But the hallway stayed quiet.
Ten minutes passed.
Then twenty.
Kevin checked the corridor and returned.
“No sign of her.”
That should have relieved me.
Instead, the silence felt wrong.
My mother did not accept being told no.
She argued, recruited allies, changed the subject, or found another door.
She did not simply leave.
Around midnight, Brooklyn’s breathing slowed.
Kevin sat in a chair near the wall, his head tilted back and his arms folded.
I stayed beside Rosalie with one hand resting near the incubator.
The monitor kept its rhythm.
The ventilator kept breathing.
Every few minutes, I looked toward the door.
Nothing moved.
At some point after 2 a.m., exhaustion overpowered fear.
I did not decide to sleep.
