(Aspen’s POV)
The hospital still smelled the same.
Clean. Sharp. Almost sweet, in a way that never fully covered what lived underneath it. The moment the sliding doors opened and Pippa and I stepped inside; the scent settled into my chest like a memory I hadn’t invited back.
I slowed without meaning to.
“You okay?” Pippa asked, adjusting the sling on her arm.
I nodded automatically. “Yeah. Just… thinking.”
She gave me a look that said she knew exactly what kind of thinking that was, but she didn’t push. Pippa was good at that. Knowing when to talk. Knowing when to wait.
We checked in at radiology, and I led us toward the waiting area without looking at the signs. My feet remembered the path. I’d walked these halls too many times for them to forget.
Pippa stretched her legs out and
