𝟑𝟓. 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

The operation had been dragging on for over an hour, and every tick of the clock felt like a knife twisting deeper into my gut. I was pacing, trapped in a hell where time stood still, and the only thing that mattered was beyond those cold, sterile doors. Then, without warning, the door to the operating room swung open, and a nurse rushed out, her face pale and frantic.