Novels by Priscillia2 Ezema

Sophia POV"Dr. Hart, you're not on the ER board anymore." The charge nurse steps into my path at the double doors, her eyes fixed on my bandaged palms instead of my face. "Your badge won't open it.""That's impossible." I swipe the card again, and the reader blinks red a second time. "I've worked this floor for six years.""Not since Monday." She slides a folded sheet across the desk, glancing over her shoulder as if someone might be watching. "You've been moved to Medical Records Review, third floor, east corridor."I unfold the page, and my own name is printed under a department I have never stepped inside. The sentence is short and cold: Reassigned, effective immediately."Who signed this?" I keep my voice level, though the paper has started to crease in my fist."Administration." She snatches her hand back from the desk, like the paper itself is hot. "I really can't say more, Dr. Hart."I walk the long way to the elevator, past the nurses' station, and the whole corridor changes

Sophia POV"No!" My eyes go wide with horror as the lamp leaves his hand, and I can only watch it fall, my fingers stretched out to catch something that is already gone; sweat breaks cold across my forehead and every drop of color drains from my face.It hits the floor with a crack that splits the room in half. Honey-colored glass bursts across the boards and skids under the bed, a cry tears out of me that I have never heard myself make, raw and high and I drop to my knees with both palms in the glass. Ethan stands over me, chest heaving, and he doesn't even flinch.My father plugged that nightlight in beside my bed when I was six and afraid of the dark. He told me it would stay on for me even when he couldn't. And I have been carrying it along with me all these years. I drop to my knees and gather the pieces with both hands, and the edges slice my palms open without my feeling a thing. Blood runs down my wrists, and I don't care."Sophia." Ethan's voice is rough, and his chest is st

Sophia POV"Okay, Sophia." I drop my bag on the bed, pull Dr. Born's envelope from my coat, and prop it against the desk lamp where I can see it. "Three months. Let's go."I signed myself out of the hospital an hour ago over a nurse's loud objections, and I don't regret it for a second. For the first time in years, my hands are shaking because I'm eager and not because I'm afraid.First, the desk has to be cleared, and the shelves, and the corners I've been ignoring for weeks. I drag a trash bag from under the sink and start sweeping things off the bookcase, a stack of old receipts, a dead planter, a pair of matching mugs from the Regis weekend that I somehow never threw out."Why are you still here?" I mutter at the mugs, and drop them into the bag. The couple's keychain goes next, then the framed photograph, then Julian's gray hoodie still hanging on the chair.I'm reaching for the hoodie when three flat, heavy knocks hit the door, and I know exactly whose knuckles they are."Sophia

Sophia POV"Dr. Born will see you now, Dr. Hart." The nurse is already steadying the wheelchair beside my bed. "He asked for the exam room. He said you'd understand.""I'm sure I will." I swing my legs over the side, and my knees wobble so badly I have to grip the rail. "I can walk.""You can barely stand, ma'am." She slides the chair under me before I can argue, and I sink into it, hating how relieved I am.The corridor is quiet, and nobody in a dark suit is waiting outside my door. I don't ask where Ethan went, and I keep my eyes off the empty chair as we pass it.The exam room smells like antiseptic and old coffee. A tall, silver-haired man stands at the window with his back to me, his gray coat draped over a chair like he never planned to stay long."Close the door, please." He doesn't turn around. "And give us the room."The nurse obeys so fast the latch clicks before I can take a breath. Then he turns, and my whole chest tightens at once."Hello, Sophie." Dr. Born's eyes crinkle

Sophia POV"That's the third notice we've had to issue, Mr. Vale." A doctor's voice drifts down to me from somewhere far above, low and careful. "Her core temperature dropped too far, and her organs are failing one by one. You need to prepare yourself."I try to move my hand, and nothing happens. I try to open my eyes, and the dark only gets heavier, so I lie there hearing every word with no way to answer."Prepare myself?" Ethan's voice is a growl I barely recognize, and a chair scrapes hard across the floor. "You will not say that to me again.""We're doing everything we can, sir." The doctor hesitates. "But I have to be honest with you. She may not last the night.""Then get me someone who can do more." He says it as though the words are being dragged out of him. "Dr. Charles Born. Call him and tell him Ethan Vale is asking."A woman laughs, short and disbelieving. "Charles Born? Sir, he wrote the hypothermia protocol we're using right now. He's turned down presidents, he hasn't le

Sophia POVI know Lily only wants me out of that room, and I drive to Miller's anyway, through a blizzard that has already swallowed half the county. Saying no has never once made anything easier for me.****The shop bell jingles behind me, and I stamp the snow off my boots, my fingers so stiff I can barely open my wallet."Honey, they closed the highway an hour ago." The woman behind the counter stares at me, flour on her forearms, like she can't believe I'm real. "What on earth are you doing out in this?""I need a dozen with pink sprinkles." I force a smile that makes my cheeks ache. "Not the white ones. The pink ones.""I'm guessing it's for your child." She is already pulling a box off the shelf, her voice gone soft and motherly."My niece." I shake my head, a little embarrassed. "She's five, and she's sick."She stops with the lid half folded and looks at me for a long second. "Then she's a lucky girl to have an aunt who'd drive through this. Stay here till the plows come thr