Forty Eight Hours

Yvonne stared at the screen again.

Her phone felt heavy in her hand, her fingers slowly tightened around it as the message echoed again in her mind.

Doctor Carter, this is Zenith Medical Group.

Due to sudden changes, the project start date has been moved up.

Departure is in forty eight hours.

Forty eight hours.

Just two days.

Her heart beat faster, not because she was afraid, not because she was unsure but because this moment was real now.

A new life was truly waiting.

She took a slow breath and leaned back in her chair. The hospital corridor outside her office was quiet. Night shift sounds filled the air, monitor beeps, soft footsteps, distant voices calling for help.

This was her world.

This was her life again.

And now the world was calling her farther.

Her eyes softened.

This was everything she once dreamed of.

Respect, Purpose, A chance to save more lives.

A place where she was seen, Where she mattered.

So why did her chest still hurt?

Why did one name still sit somewhere inside her heart like an old scar?

Adrian.

She pressed her lips together.

Earlier, he had come to her. He stood in front of her hospital like a man finally waking from a long sleep. His voice was soft,his eyes were full of regret. He had asked for another chance.

And she had refused.

She had walked away.

She had done the right thing.

So why did it still ache?

She closed her eyes for a moment.

She still remembered the way he used to look at her with cold eyes. The nights she spent crying silently. The day he chose another woman over her. The day he gave her divorce papers and said it was for the best.

Three years of waiting, three years of pain.

Her heart had died there.

And even now, when he finally wanted her back, love was no longer enough.

She could not return to that cage.

She could not return to the woman she used to be.

Not anymore.

A gentle knock touched her door.

Her assistant nurse peeked in.

“Doctor Carter, the board wants to confirm your acceptance. They said they will call in ten minutes.”

“Tell them I will answer,” Yvonne said softly.

The nurse nodded and left.

Yvonne slowly stood up and walked toward the window. She starred at the city lights, somewhere in this same city, Adrian existed too. Somewhere, he was probably thinking, Regretting, hurting.

She exhaled deeply.

Her phone buzzed again.

A different number.

A familiar name flashed across the screen.

She froze.

Adrian.

She stared at his name for a long time and the she pressed decline.

Not this time.

Not again.

Meanwhile, miles away in Blake Corporation’s high rise office, Adrian stood in a dark meeting room. He wasn’t paying attention to the board members, his mind wasn’t at rest

He looked at the screen of the phone.

Call declined.

Again.

He sighed.

She was really cutting him off.

His board directors were speaking behind him, but their voices sounded distant.

“…the overseas project needs immediate leadership…”

“…the emergency meeting has been moved forward…”

“…departure is in forty eight hours…”

Forty eight hours.

He slowly turned toward the table.

“Where is the meeting location?” he asked coldly.

“Zenith’s international base. Global Medical Partnership Headquarters.”

Zenith.

His eyes darkened.

Of course.

Of course fate was playing with him.

He finally understood why their schedules moved so suddenly, why everything shifted at once.

They were going to the same place.

The same country.

The same project base.

The same world.

Whether she wanted it or not, their paths were not finished.

Something twisted inside him,Hope, fear, desperation, pain

For the first time, he was the one afraid of being left behind.

He dismissed the board and walked out, ignoring the assistants calling after him. His chest felt tight, his thoughts were loud.

He remembered the look on her face when she rejected him.

Calm, firm, distant.

He used to think she would always stand behind him, always wait, always forgive.

He was wrong.

Now he was the one chasing her.

He was the one begging.

Back at the hospital, the call finally came through.

“Doctor Carter, this is Zenith headquarters. We need your confirmation. Are you accepting the position as international emergency response leader?”

Her fingers trembled slightly.

This was everything she deserved, everything she worked for, everything she had lost once because of love.

There was no reason to hesitate.

Except for one lingering ache.

She straightened.

Her voice was steady.

“Yes. I accept.”

Her future finally moved.

Her life finally turned.

There was no going back now.

The call ended.

Yvonne slowly sat down, for a second, tears filled her eyes, but she did not cry out of sadness.

She cried because this was strength.

She cried because she finally chose herself.

She cried because she was no longer the woman begging to be loved.

She wiped her tears and smiled faintly.

“Goodbye, Adrian,” she whispered softly, even though he was not there.

Or so she thought.

Because at that same moment, Adrian stood outside the hospital entrance.

He had rushed here without thinking, he mind was troubled and he was breathing heavily, his eyes searched the building like it could answer questions his heart could not.

He was too late to see her decision.

Too late to stop her.

Too late again.

The sliding doors opened gently.

He stood there helplessly

Watching a world that no longer belonged to him.

Two lives were now moving.

One toward healing and the other one towards regret.

But destiny was not finished.

Not yet, because in forty eight hours

They would be in the same place.

The same international project.

The same battlefield of life but this time.

She would not be the woman chasing him.

He would be the man chasing her.

And the world would finally see the difference between a woman who waited for love

And a woman who learned to walk away.