Ayala wavered for a moment as her brain vacillated between two a.m.! and Just do it and make her happy

Ayala sat up in bed with a start, squinting in the dark. Had Ma just called her name?
She yawned, listening. Yes, Ma was calling from her bedroom. Ayala quickly stood up; it was for good reason that she’d been sleeping in her robe ever since her mother had come home from the hospital.
“Ma, what happened?” she whispered, glancing at her sleeping father. How was it that Ta slept through her mother’s calls, while she heard it from the next room? “Is everything okay?”
Ma blinked as the light from the hallway beamed into the room. Wide-eyed, she clutched Ayala’s arm. “My medications. I didn’t take them tonight.”
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