wrong in my han

're ready.

um beneath the sterile buzz of the operating room lights. He placed a hand on

er, Eleanor, watched with

y own father. The moment that, in ano

ed the

a sound that seemed to echo through the

Mark hissed, his voice

said, my voice su

from across the room. "Dr. Miller, your father is prepped on that table. H

the most important

elf in a courtroom, wearing an orange jumpsuit. I saw the flash of c

aw his eyes. They were cold, triumphant. I remembered the insurance payout, the promotion he received, the new life he

d her own father on

ous life. This wa

epeated, looking Dr. Ev

sharp, a surgeon's command. "You're the best.

ace was a mask. Behind it, I saw the man who had conspired with my mother to fra

d, his smile tight. "Now pick

" I

ay, my movements deliberate. I looked at my own hand, the hand that had perfor

n hard on the sharp

te, shot up my arm. A colle

from the observation gallery, he

ace a mask of shock and fury.

hite floor. I looked at the chaos I had created. The

oken the

her voice filled with a malicious sort of pi

ut maybe they could still use it. The brilliant surgeon who cracked under pressure

hem thi

ee a woman f

s real. It was a sacrifice I was choosing

ded. "Get another surgical team prepped

as confusion, anger, but also a flicker of somet

ather, my dear, kind father, lay on the table, oblivious. I had to save

on moved quickly. An emer

patient, your own father! And then you engaged in self-mutilation in a sterile envi

d hand throbbing in my

are suspended from all surgical and medical duties, effective immediately, pend

didn't argue

e room with a stra

. They thought they had c

I was awake. And the