Price of Survival

Vivienne’s POV

The door shut softly behind me as Father and I stepped into my mother’s hospital room, sealing out the distant hum of footsteps and muffled conversation from the corridor.

My mother lay motionless on the bed, her skin nearly the same color as the sheets that covered her. Only the slow rise and fall of her chest confirmed she was still here, tethered to this world.

I stood near the d