DAWSO

soriented, and realized I'd fallen asleep on t

on the bed was as still as ever, as if my emotiona

to a comatose man. I wasn't actually that fragile of a person, but after exp

shed the thoughts awa

d to spend a few hours in the same bed with Braxton, supposedly to stimula

the far edge of the king-sized bed,

cedar that clung to him, mixed with the sterile smell of medici

technically my husband felt deeply strange. It

ered and changed into my work clothes-a crisp blouse and slacks, cove

o the Pack's medical center to arrange for a long-term leave of abse

e "Dr. Dawson" he might have heard of at the clinic

tate felt like stepping out of a

a. I'd spent the last two years here as a resident, working under my birth name, Dawson. I ha

s director, Dr. Sullivan,

us. "I never realized you were that K

to request an indefin

ke a vacation for a while, and explained the r

politics. You're the most gifted Healer I've ever seen." His praise was a small comfort. I

, a warmth spreading in my

ake you abandon your career?"

I said, my voice quiet but firm, "I a

his hand clattered onto the desk. He st

his nose. "You... you're

ss smile. "A Lun

finally sighed. He picked up my leave request form and signed it. "The leave

y cases. My colleagues stared at me with a new kind

t of the medical center,

reason I had agreed to this

ad, I headed toward the other side of the city, t

on I had no one, because to the Pack, my mother and brother didn't exist. The

her and a sick brother weren't a 'family' who c