Four months had passed since the accident. Time felt as though it was moving slowly, as if it, too, was waiting alongside Sheena. Her pregnancy had now entered its eleventh week. Her belly had not grown noticeably yet, but her body was beginning to tire more easily. Every morning, she still woke up with the same routine: getting herself ready, making sure the children went to school, then heading to the hospital.

Julio was still lying in the ICU. There had been no significant change. The monitor continued to beep in the same rhythm, his breathing was assisted by machines, and his eyes remained tightly closed.

Sheena sat on a...