Jade
Althea tied a tourniquet gently around my arm, her fingers pressing just firmly enough to make my vein stand out. I watched in silence as she prepared the needle, my heart thudding in my chest. She caught me staring and gave a brief, reassuring smile—one that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“This won’t take long,” she murmured, more to herself than to me, as she slid the needle into my arm, drawing blood. I barely felt it; my mind was already racing, tangled in a hundred thoughts I couldn’t seem to sort.
After filling a small vial, she removed the needle and pressed a cotton ball against my skin, motioning for me to hold it in place. She sealed the vial, then looked back up at me with the slightest hint of amusement.
"Just ten minutes," she said, tucking the vial into her lab coat p
