Biting her nails was a bad habit Cassidy had picked up from watching her sister, but right now, she was sitting in a room listening to Tara’s heart monitor beep every twenty or thirty seconds, waiting to see if each blip might be the last, the noise only offset slightly by Jamie’s even breathing on the bed next to her; Cassidy wasn’t willing to give up the vice.

It’d only been about five minute since Dax had left to go find a snack, but it seemed like an eternity. It was amazing just how many independent, disturbing thoughts could flicker through her mind’s eye in just those few minutes. The...