Taya was quickly settled into a room, given an IV and oxygen, and monitors were set up to keep an eye on her.

It wasn’t until midnight that Taya’s high fever slowly subsided.

Harper sighed in relief, picked up her phone, and took two days off. Then she leaned against the bed and silently waited for Taya to wake.

They’d both been dropped off at the orphanage when they were about a year old, within days of each other. They had become each other’s everything, and the only other person they’d had any relationship with growing up had been the orphanage director.

Harper raised her hand, touched Taya’s pale face,...