ry. The faces of David' s family blurred into a meaningless coll

he said, her voice tight. "

rant and into the cool night. She didn' t know where she was going,

pulled up beside her. He leaned

rah. What ar

an who had just dismantled her entire world. The sight of h

e car and sla

me," she said, h

knuckles white on the steering w

. "You' re worried about a scene? You had me s

from the road to her and bac

s your grand plan? Ship your wife off to another contin

he started, but his v

ound tearing from her throat. "Just tell me the

hts smearing past the window

an inconvenience you needed to m

is face a mask of anger and p

dlights first, a blinding white light growing bigger

vi

ering glass, and a violent, wrenching impact that threw

.

a machine. A dull ache throbbed in her head. She blinked, her visio

a wave of nausea and pa

," a gentle

nd. Her face was etched wit

ce was a rough whisp

hand. "You have a concussion and a few broken ribs,

felt like ash in her

n hardening. "He' s in another room. Mor

rness warring within her. He was alive.

She was kind, efficient. As she was a

e said, looking at her chart. "When we tried to list you as his emergency conta

nt. Emily squeezed

ntinued, oblivious to the bomb she had just dropped. "So we were still abl

Not just from his future, but from his present, from the very systems designed to connect them

her open door. They didn' t even glance in her direction. Eleanor' s face was a s

ed, her hand resting protectively on her stomach. She walked with an air of

e was the wife, but she was the outsider. The woman in the other ro

artway, shielding her fr

," she said softly. "They'

rrounded by his loving family and his new partner, while she lay h