Beyond the Silence

~VALERIE’S POV~

The quietness in the hospital room was deafening.

I lay there, staring at the ceiling, letting the steady beep of the monitor fill the empty space. For days I had pushed everyone away.

Even Leo. My own son.

The guilt of that alone should’ve drowned me, but I couldn’t bear to let him see me like this…fragile, broken, unable to smile. And Donovan… I hadn’t let him close either.

But t