Chapter 24: Richard

The air hung heavy with tension as Emma dialed Richard’s number, her trembling fingers betraying the turmoil within. The soft hum of the phone seemed like a distant echo against the backdrop of the hospital room, where her son lay in peaceful repose, the subtle rise and fall of his chest a testament to the fragile state of his health. “Hello, Richard?” Her voice, a whisper laden with desperation, reverberated through the phone. The connection seemed to carry the weight of unspoken fears; the gap between words was filled with the unrelenting anxiety that had woven itself into the fabric of Emma’s existence. Richard’s steady voice, a beacon of assurance in the tempest of uncertainty, responded on the other end. “Emma, what’s wrong? I can hear it in your voice.” A shuddering breath escaped Emma as she grappled with the words that sought refuge within the confines of her throat. “It’s my son, Richard. He’s in the hospital. I found him locked in a dark room at home, and he has a fe