A nurse with tired eyes and a clipboard passes by, her footsteps echoing down the polished hallway. She pauses when she notices you standing there, still in the clothes you were wearing when the message came.

Wife.

The nurse is still talking—something about visiting hours, about how you can go in if you'd like—but the sound has gone distant, muffled, like hearing it from underwater.

She blinks, noticing your expression shift.