"Mr. Vale, your wife…" She paused, choosing her words the way people chose words when they needed them to land gently. "She's being attended to. The doctors are with her now. She lost more blood than we would have liked during the delivery, and she's very weak. She needs—"
Julian was already moving past her through the door.
He found her the way he always found her in rooms immediately, instinctively, before his eyes had even fully adjusted to the light. She was on the bed, reclined almost flat now, the fight completely gone from her body.
She looked smaller than she had before. Lighter, in the way that was not peaceful but depleted like something had been poured out of her and not yet replaced.
Her eyes were closed.
Her face was pale. Not the pale of sleep but the pale of a body that had given everything it had and was now simply asking to rest.
