The word dropped into the room like a stone into still water.
Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. Even the background noise of the hospital corridor seemed to cut out completely, leaving behind a silence so complete and so sudden that it had weight to it.
Seraphine's file slipped from her fingers, but she didn't move, didn't speak. Her eyes stayed locked on the little girl's face, and she stood there, going through every detail the way she did when she was looking at a scan that wasn't adding up. Slowly, carefully, refusing to jump to the conclusion that was sitting right in front of her.
The girl looked like Voren. Not in the vague, generous way people described resemblances to be polite. In the specific, undeniable way where you could line up the features one by one and find them. The jaw. The shape of the nose. The way her brows sat, slightly heavier than you expected on such a small face.
But those eyes.
