Chapter 21

This phone number was only known to Oliver’s teacher, so Lila's first thought was that something had happened to her son. In a panic, she quickly took out her phone while making sure her boss wasn't around. But the moment she heard the voice on the other end, her whole body went stiff. The plate in her other hand slipped and shattered on the floor, the sharp crash hitting her like a ton of bricks. Her brain just went blank. For a second, she couldn’t think at all. She had to pinch herself hard just to pull her thoughts back together. Something happened to Oliver! Lila didn’t have time to think. She dashed outside as fast as she could. By the time she arrived at the hospital, she was visibly shaking and couldn’t stop crying. She tried wiping away her tears, but they just kept falling. Her hands and feet were ice-cold. Walking on the hospital’s sterile tile floors, the strong smell of disinfectant and blood made it feel like she was stuck in some horrible nightmare she couldn’t wake from