#Chapter 97: Home

Olivia POV It had been months since my last visit to my mother’s side, but I could tell that Iris was right. Before, she always seemed to be sleeping. Her skin glowed, and her muscles remained taut from the ‘round-the-clock care she received. Now, there was a yellow, almost jaundiced look to her skin, and she seemed to have shrunk down further into the bed. But it was more than that. She had always seemed so full of life force that even asleep there was a presence about her. Now, I could barely sense it. She was slipping away. I sat there as Iris examined her, which included taking a small sample of her blood to run through several chemical analyses—or that was what I assumed she was doing. She sorted the blood in different vials and then added little drops of different liquids into them. I was impressed with her concentration and didn’t want to disturb her. I looked back to my mother and wished for the power to wake her up, to make her better, to talk with her and see if I