ack seat; the agony was so sharp and relentless that she instinctivel

rged past, its engine letting out a low roar a

Callum was already focused

this decision together. I'm heading your way now, a

er fading strength to dial a familiar number, but the da

n wandering through an endless, s

struggled through rising currents; the metallic,

amed for rest, a flicker of raw survival instinct ke

s reached her, accompanied by the sterile, clinical sti

uette began to take shape

nct, she breathed a single na

oser, and a soothingly cool p

features of the man standing o

ead, it was Michael Scott,

medical school, a brilliant mind who had half

e hospital, his handsome features framed by rimless gl

back, and a trace of bitter irony touc

ill echoed in Michael's mind, sending a shar

hat Callum held a permanent, untouchable lease on her heart. Letting o

mer than we anticipated-you're at risk of burning i

nts slow but determined. She gave a faint shake of her hea

nt complet

Kaylee," she

to the mattress. The revelation hit him l

yes with a faint

a year left. Her final request was to have Callum

ling into tight fists. "You're on the same clock! How

n tracking Callum do

I won't die under the delusion that he ever actually loved me. Imagine how pat

entary warmth that reminded him of the woman she u

ent in time hadn't s

a professional mask into place. "I'

ending my final year in a sterile room. I have work to do. Just keep this

. He insisted on a twenty-four-hour observation period and

out to Peter Ford, the director at the Oasis Research In

had poured everything into before their lives were cut sh

team couldn't sustain the initiative, an

he work her parents left behind or the crushing realization th

r inaction felt

Peter said, his voice thick with worry. "You have my full backing, but that drug trial you just finished was brutal on your system

lips. Time was the one luxu

en the most brilliant medical minds co

no time for that. Let's get things going as so

t of hesitation, Pet

ion to seize her throat. She yanked the IV from her vein and stumbled to the

ing with the fear that Michael would find the eviden

mon a nurse for the IV. Her footsteps stopped cold when a

rs outside the Jackson Group's R&D f

powerful silhouette commanding the