INDIANAPOLIS — Every second right now feels like an eternity to Megan Maurer.
"I haven't slept. I haven't eaten," said Maurer, a mother of three.
That's because every time the phone rings, Maurer doesn't know what she'll hear.
"I was hearing the sirens today," Maurer said.
On the other end of the phone was Maurer's daughter, Sophie, who goes to high school in Israel and is still there – but she's trying to get out.
"She needs to be able to speak to us, and she needs to be able to hear us being calm and confident," Maurer said. "And we need to hide our fears and be strong for her."
Maurer just saw Sophie on Friday when she hugged her goodbye.
The family had been visiting in Israel and stayed with family friends near a border town near Gaza.
Maurer and her husband left Israel Friday night and got word while on the plane home of the attacks.
That's when they also found out their friend, who they spent Friday with, had been killed by Hamas.
"He went out to help his neighbors – and he had a handgun – and he was killed in a firefight," Maurer said.
Maurer said, before she left, she had encouraged Sophie to stay with those friends an extra night – instead of going back to school right away.
Had Sophie listened, Maurer doesn't know what might have happened.
"Thank God she's a teenager and she said, 'I miss my friends. I want to go back to school and see my friends,'" Maurer said.
Now, Sophie is sheltering with some of those friends, while sirens signaling missile attacks go off. Maurer is left listening on the other end, helpless to do anything except pray and tell her daughter to stay strong.