Dr Meera Saravana has been on the run for the last ten years due to a fatal misunderstanding. She ends up in New York, hoping that maybe this time everything will work out. But that's turning out to be impossible the more she gets involved with the...
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When I woke up, I expected to see Ivan by my side. Instead, I saw a familiar head full of bouncy red curls of Dr Franz. Her concerned face came into view slowly, it was hard to see since I had lost my glasses in the ocean.
"Hey," she greeted me with a smile. It was tight on her face like she was forcing it. "How are you feeling?"
I didn't know how to answer that question truthfully. It was hard to describe. I felt like I'd been crushed by a steamroller and light as a feather at the same time. But most of all...I just felt tired. I was just existing.
I tried to find my voice but it was scratchy with disuse. She poured me a glass of water and brought it to my lips. I took a few sips, enough to wet my throat so I could say something. Haley held my hand as I struggled to speak through the drugs and the pain, careful to avoid the iv drip inserted into my hand.
"It's okay," she said, soothingly. Haley's hand stroked my back, rubbing in small circles. "I know you're tired right now. I'll be keeping an eye on you, okay?"
Stupidly all I could think about was work. Who was going to take over my shifts? Dr Carlson had been pestering me to take a break but I hadn't listened. He knew I was overworking myself, he'd tried everything to make me stop. I should've listened to him. Maybe I wouldn't have ended up like this if I had taken care of myself properly.
Haley must've seen the look on my face. "Don't you dare think about work," she chided me gently, her lower chin wobbling. "You need to rest. Leave it to us. We can take over till you recover."
I nod slowly, not sure what to say to her. Everything was still a bit foggy and I couldn't string a thought together, just thinking of talking made my head hurt. She picked the blanket up and started to tuck it around me, making sure the cold of the room didn't get to me.
I turned my head to hide my face away. There was something warm and wet running down my face, dripping onto the blankets.
I felt so cold, it seeped into my bones like water into wood. I knew that I was crying, I just didn't want Haley to see me like that. She sat back down on the stool, holding my hand gently between hers. If she said anything I think I might end up sobbing. Pushing my emotions down was the hardest part, I imagined it like a dial on a radio. I just had to turn it down and drown out everything else. All I had to focus on what the sound of my heartbeat.
She stayed with me for the whole morning, telling me bits of gossip she heard or trying to arrange the flowers in my room. I went between being awake and sleeping for the next week, each time I woke up was agonising. Nik came in with chocolates and Nat in tow, I had spent most of the day trying to keep them from squabbling. Anya had come with a bouquet of hyacinths and yellow daisies with a card, her apology so sincere that it nearly brought me to tears. Many people came and went, including Uncle Vin who had flown in as soon as he heard the news.
Not once did I see Ivan there.
Not even the smallest hint that he was watching from the shadows.
I didn't know what hurt worse? The fact that my ribs were broken or Ivan had abandoned me after saving me.
