A small voice broke the silence: “Dad… my little sister won’t wake up. We’re so hungry.” Without a second thought, he grabbed them and rushed to the hospital. But what he learned there about their mother would change everything…

I pressed my palm to her forehead and jerked it back instinctively. The heat radiating off her skin was terrifying. It felt like touching a radiator. I scooped her up immediately. Her head lolled back against my shoulder with zero resistance, her limbs heavy and entirely limp.w

“We’re leaving. Right now,” I said, forcing a terrifyingly false calm into my voice. “Shoes on, Micah. No questions. You stick right by my leg.”

He scrambled to his feet, almost tripping over his own sneakers. “Is she just sleeping, Dad?”