The living room was quiet, except for the soft hum of the television that had been left on, almost forgotten in the background. Henry sat at the edge of the couch, absently scrolling through his phone, his mind too cluttered with work emails and unfinished business to pay attention to anything else. He barely noticed Chantel move from her place beside him, inching closer to the screen, her body going rigid with sudden tension.
She was staring at the TV, unmoving, eyes wide as if frozen in time.
Henry didn't immediately grasp what had caught her attention. His mind was still foggy from a long day, and he hadn't followed the news segment that had just started. All he had heard was a news anchor's voice, calm but urgent, reporting something about an accident and an unidentified man in critical condition at a Washington hospital.
