ra

ew open, slamming against the wall with a for

cold fury. Rain slicked his dark hair and soaked the shoulders of his thousand-dol

n?" he demanded, hi

ong strides and his hand clamped around my arm, his

ed, the truth sounding lik

had a reaction. A severe one. The doctors needed a direct transfusion

his. The same as hers. What

out that," I pleaded, stumbling t

go wandering off." He shoved me into the back of his waiting town car, the leather c

dicrous, so venomous, it stole my bre

way you look at her." He ran a hand through his wet hair, a gesture of pure frustration. "I know this is hard for

partner. I was an inconvenience. A problem t

tal wing he' d reserved for her. The nurses averted their eyes, a

he head nurse, his voice leaving no

nsfusion-" the nurse began

s blazing. "Or I will buy this hospital and fire

ed, her professionalism cru

th a needle. I didn't resist. What was the point?

n blood, dark and rich, began to flow through a clear tube

phone pressed to his ear. He wasn't watching my

n my chest was no longer a metaphor. It was a physical, crushing weight, an agony so profound it made th

dark, another doctor hurried int

urgent. "We've got the toxicolo

rom the window, his att

ces of it on the flowers delivered to her room this afternoon." The doctor paused, flippi

He remembered. The flowers he' d distractedly asked me to order for her yesterday. I had

across his face. He took a hes

st time, held a note o

was t

e from down the

nd

. The guilt vanished, replaced instantly by that all-consuming

g me in the sterile white room with a hole in

last flicker of hope i

ound. I stood up on shaky legs and walked out of the room, out of t

oes. Every beautiful, expensive thing he had ever given me. Each one a rem

ck it all up whistled. "Lady, you sure you want to

d, my voice hollow. "They we

the life I' d been living, my burner phone buzzed. It

Albr

ere's been a complication. We have t