For several long seconds, nobody moved. The silence inside the house settled over them with an almost physical weight, making even the faint ticking of the wall clock seem unusually loud. Herik stood quietly near the bedroom doorway, wearing the same clothes he had worn the previous night, their creases untouched as though he had never truly rested. His small figure looked strangely still beneath the pale morning light filtering through the hallway, and the emptiness in his expression disturbed Juson far more than any visible sign of illness could have. There was no fear in the boy's face, no curiosity, no confusion. He simply stood there, gazing toward them with distant eyes that seemed disconnected from everything happening around him. Yokina reacted before Juson could speak. She hurried across the hallway and reached Herik almost immediately, kneeling before him with trembling hands that instinctively searched his face for reassurance. Juson followed more slowly, his own exhaustion weighing heavily upon every step.
When he finally reached them, Herik offered no resistance as he was gently lifted into his father's arms. The child neither clung to him nor pulled away. He remained silent, resting quietly against Juson's shoulder while Yokina turned and walked toward the bedroom ahead of them.
The room welcomed them with a subdued stillness. Sunlight slipped weakly through the curtains, spreading thin bands of pale gold across the floor without ever fully brightening the space. Yokina walked directly toward the window and stopped there, her back turned toward both Juson and Herik as she stared through the narrow gap between the curtains. She remained motionless for several moments, gathering enough courage to ask the question that had clearly been waiting inside her ever since Juson returned home. The silence stretched naturally between them before she finally spoke, her voice carrying none of its usual certainty.
"What happened there?"
The question emerged quietly, almost cautiously, as though she already feared the answer. Juson avoided looking directly at her. Instead, he lowered Herik carefully onto the floor beside the bed, making certain the boy remained steady before straightening once more. Only then did he answer, choosing his words with visible care.
"I saw an ambulance."
Yokina turned immediately, her expression tightening before he had even finished speaking.
"And a police car."
The room became silent again. This time the silence carried understanding rather than uncertainty. The single mention of an ambulance was enough to erase whatever fragile hope had remained inside Yokina's expression. She did not ask what either vehicle had been doing there because she already understood what such a combination could only mean. Something terrible had happened inside Hakiten's house after Juson left. Neither of them knew exactly what, but neither believed it was a coincidence anymore. Questions gathered behind Yokina's eyes, waiting to be spoken, yet before either of them could continue the conversation, a sudden ringing echoed sharply through the corridor outside. The shrill sound of the telephone cut cleanly across the heavy silence, startling both of them and pulling them abruptly back into the present.
Yokina reacted first. She hurried out into the hallway almost instinctively, her footsteps quick against the wooden floor, while Juson followed behind at a slower pace, watching her carefully as she reached the telephone resting upon the small table in the corridor. Before lifting the receiver, she glanced briefly toward him, searching his face as though hoping he already knew who would be calling. Finding no answer there, she picked up the phone and held it to her ear. At first, only silence answered her greeting. Several uncomfortable seconds passed before a woman's voice finally emerged from the other side of the line. Yokina listened without interruption, her expression changing little by little as each sentence reached her. Juson remained close enough to catch only fragments drifting through the quiet hallway. Certain words stood out clearly while the rest dissolved into indistinct murmurs.
Hakiten.
Wanna.
Hospital.
Condition stable.
Police questioning.
Each phrase settled heavily inside the room before another replaced it. Yokina responded softly every time the woman paused, her own voice barely rising above a whisper as though speaking any louder might somehow make the situation more real than it already was. The conversation lasted only a few minutes before the line fell silent once more. A brief electronic tone echoed through the receiver, and Yokina slowly lowered it back onto its cradle without saying another word. For a long moment she remained standing exactly where she was, her hand resting lightly upon the telephone as though reluctant to let go.
Finally, she turned toward Juson.
"We need to go."
Juson answered with nothing more than a single nod. No explanation seemed necessary anymore. Whatever had happened during the night had already begun pulling every one of them toward the same place. Within only a few minutes, Yokina emerged once again from the bedroom carrying Herik gently in her arms, a small shoulder bag hanging beside her with only the bare necessities hastily packed inside. Juson was already waiting near the car, the engine idling quietly in the driveway. Neither of them wasted time searching for conversation as they stepped outside. The urgency hanging over the morning had already replaced every unanswered question. Explanations could wait. For now, the hospital mattered more than anything else.