HENRY POV
We had been sitting in the waiting room for what felt like an eternity, though I knew it had only been a few hours. The clock on the wall ticked loudly, marking each second we spent without knowing whether Vanessa would make it through. The antiseptic smell of the hospital clung to my clothes, and the beeping of the machines in the distance made my skin crawl. My fingers tapped nervously on the armrest of the chair, a poor attempt to release some of the tension building inside me.
Across from me, Maria sat beside Dad, her face pale and her hands trembling in her lap. She was doing her best to keep it together, but I could see the strain in her eyes, the way her lower lip quivered when she thought no one was looking. Dax sat next to her, leaning forward with his elbows on his kn
