Father, don't cross the line

Chapter - 212

As Rick and the Old Matriarch entered the ICU room, a wave of sterile, antiseptic smell hit them like a brick wall. The harsh lighting overhead cast a clinical glow over the room, illuminating the rows of machines and monitors that surrounded Emily's bed.

Emily lay unmoving on the sterile hospital bed, her fragile figure barely discernible beneath a web of wires and tubes that snaked across her body like vines. The room was filled with the mechanical hum of life-support machines, their rhythmic sounds providing a haunting backdrop to the scene.

A ventilator whispered softly in the background, its gentle hiss punctuating the stillness of the room. A clear plastic tube extended from Emily's mouth, tethering her to the machine that breathed for her.