92. He’s Safer Without Me

Rima’s POV

The hours roll on, morphing into a timeless void with only the periodic updates from the medical staff providing any sense of progression. Each report echoes the same sentiment – Jacob is stable, but not yet out of the woods.

I ignore the pleas from Diana, Alex, Jenny, and Lucas to take a break, to eat something, to rest. Every fiber of my being is focused on Jacob, on willing him to wake up, to fight, to live.

Jacob was granted only a single visitor, a harsh rule that felt particularly cruel in these circumstances. To my utter surprise, Diana offered her spot to me.

"Diana" I began, my voice choked with emotion "you should be the one to go in there. You're his mother, the closest person to his heart"

Her suggestion had left me reeling. Of course, I cared deeply for Jacob, but Diana... she bore a bond with him that was irreplaceable, a bond born of a lifetime of shared memories, of joys and sorrows, triumphs and failures. She had nurtured him, loved him, stood by him throug