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𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄, 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟓
𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘. I had never been here before.
But somehow it felt like the city had been waiting for me for a long time.
The city lights flashed past me, blurred by the raindrops making their way down the taxi window.
The driver occasionally glanced at us, my mother Addison and me, through the rearview mirror, but said nothing. Maybe he was used to his passengers being lost in their own worlds.
"You're so quiet," Mom noted, her voice laced with concern. "Is everything alright, darling?"
I deliberately avoided her question, knowing I didn't have the answer she wanted to hear.
"It's beautiful here," I murmured instead, as the city lights passed me by. A hint of melancholy colored my voice.
My mother looked at me, her eyes tracing mine. "Yes, it has something. Something... mystical."
Then it was silent again.
"Did you get any sleep on the flight?"
I shrugged. "A little. But not really."
The Seattle skyline merged into the darkness and shadows of the night. I felt strangely lost but clung to the thought that this was just a brief stay in this unfamiliar city.
Soon, we would be back home in New York.
"We're almost there," Mom whispered, her eyes fixed on the twinkling city lights outside. There was something in her voice, a hidden note that I couldn't quite decipher.
A brief glance at a certain sign revealed the name of the hospital.
'𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘 𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗟'
Right here, in this prestigious hospital, my mother, a renowned fetal surgeon, was expected to perform a little miracle.
Richard Webber, a longtime friend of our family and a respected figure in the medical community, was the one who had contacted Mom.
It was remarkable that he had just undergone complex brain surgery and, despite his own challenges and recovery, was thinking of my mother.
His call had been urgent and personal, asking her to come to Seattle specifically for this particular case. It seemed that this case was something out of the ordinary, and when Richard asked my mother personally, I knew it was serious.
"Take care", the taxi driver said with a hint of concern as Mom paid him.Maybe he sensed the underlying storm brewing between us.
Forcing a smile, I nodded to the driver and stepped outside. The cool air was almost refreshing compared to the oppressive atmosphere inside the car.
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