e Bennett dining table remained as stiff as the lace curtains in the window. Wearing a

strong builder's tea

blue silk dress," her mother instructed. "Stop d

paused on the

Besides, Preston doesn't care what I wear. He

d over the top of

e's usual clothes look

id Preston values first impressions. Running out last t

down on the plate an

emergency call-out," she said evenly. "It

planted both hands on the tabl

this picky? Eighteen dates! Do you

r back and stood up,

, Mum! It's nothing

r word, she grabbed her tren

ft at the hospital. I will show up

oled her hot cheeks as she walked toward the station, pulling out he

Saint Anne's nurses' station. Hattie handed he

th your m

ong sip of the

rick again tomorrow. I said yes just to

idened h

ly wage and told you to quit?

Rosie said, rubbing her temples. "

der sympathetically, th

Guess who I just sa

ome fil

ed excitedly. "He came to check on the lieutenant who lost his spleen.

gh Rosie's head, making her heart skip an odd beat. S

to do the I

steady beeps of monitors and her own soft footsteps. Reaching Lieutenant Julian Whitaker's ro

his back to the door, fiddling with t

nsultant, Dr. Simon Adler, had finished his rounds thirty m

te coat hung too loose on his shoulders, and the ID badge on his pocket was flipped ba

stead of the blue label used for standard ICU anti

ught in her throat. Injected straight into a central lin

door wide ope

re you

hipped his head around, revealing an unfamiliar f

and lunged toward the bed, driving the needle straigh

he man's wrists with both hands, shoving

r lungs, using her body weight to ram against h

med against the steel casing, sending a blinding bolt of pain through her back. As she fell to the floor, her fingers

ut as heavy footsteps came running. Glaring down at Rosie on the floor, the scarred man turned and