I watch the buttons light up for each floor I go down, time slows as I watch the numbers tick down. I’m nervous, impatient, and try to hold all my pieces together. Sally’s voice echoes through my mind, repeating the words that I feel will stop my heart from beating. Only, it’s still thumping painfully in my chest.
When the elevator doors ping on the bottom floor, I take off running, my shoulder smashes into the elevator door having not had enough time to open completely. I can't feel anything but the dread building inside of me. The hospital isn’t far, and I make it there in under five minutes. My heels slide on the floor outside my mother’s ward door as I grip the door handle, take a breath, and walk in.
The ward is full of doctors moving other patients out. Sally stands amongst them, h
