Eleyn emerged from the room, treading silently but purposeful in her steps. Outside lay two figures in a restless motion. Alex, her husband, with furrowed brows and his face etched with worry.
Gereon, her father-in-law, his features unreadable but his silence spoke enough about what his face did not show. The tension in the hallway was almost palpable and hung in the air, like the smoke from an extinguished lantern.
"How is he?" Alex's voice burst out the moment she appeared, revealing the storm of worry he had been trying to hold in. Beside him, Gereon said nothing, his steady gaze fixed on Eleyn's face, though his eyes told of thoughts twisting inward, as if his worries were tangled and uncertain.
