Because you were finally winning.
I inhaled, shoved down the panic, and pulled my laptop toward me.
Work.
I needed to work.
My phone buzzed on the table, but the sound slipped past me, swallowed by the roar building behind my eyes.
Numbers blurred across my screen.
Cells. Charts. Projections.
Click. Scroll. Recalculate.
Panic ticking up with every motion.
Buzz.
I lifted a hand and waved it absently, like brushing away a gnat.
Buzz.
My eyes flicked up, searching for the source before dropping back to the page.
Keep working.
Buzz.
Buzz.
Buzz.
The vibrations sharpened, drilling through the thin veneer of focus I was clinging to.
Buzz.
“Jesus,” I hissed, forcing myself to look away from the screen.
The room lurched—edges bending like heat rising off asphalt. I blinked hard, waiting for reality to settle back into place.
When it did… everything was dark.
The hallway.
Sarah’s desk.
The office beyond the glass.
Even the sky outside had dropped fully into night.
My heartbeat faltered.
Slowly, my eyes climbed to the clock on the wall.
8:30 p.m.
My lips parted.
