Chapter 3.

Emerald.

Tuesday. 19th January.

Two days later…

Morning.

I’m exhausted. My period is here and heavy as usual, dragging my body down with it. Everything feels swollen and slow inside me, like my blood has turned to sludge. I shuffle down the hallway toward the coffee machine, press the button, and wait. The hum and the drip from the machine, all fill me with promise of survival for the rest of my shift.

When the mug finally warms my hands, I carry it to the bench and sink down. The first sip burns just right. Heat spreads through me, settling in my chest, loosening something tight inside me. For a moment, I let myself breathe. Then last night claws its way back into me.

The dream from last night comes back in sharp fragments. I’ve had it twice now. Two nights in a row. Always the same.

In the dream, I have only half of my wolf. She stands before me in the dream, dimmer than she should be, like someone has taken a blade and carved something vital out of her. Her eyes are glossy, red rimmed. When she speaks, her voice shakes with pain.

"Find my other half, Emerald… Please.

Don’t let him get lost any further."

I woke up afterward, drenched in sweat, heart slamming so hard it hurt. My wolf stirred instantly inside me, restless and anxious.

'That dream again?' She asked through our mind link.

'Yes.' I mutterred.

My thoughts jumped immediately to the other day, when Dawn was in my home and the way my wolf had gone suddenly still. Alert. Her voice had dropped low, ominous.

'Something is coming for us.'

She never explained. Just left me with the chill crawling up my spine.

'It’s time for you to visit home,' my wolf said after the dream, cutting into my thoughts. 'Ask the oracle when you meet her.'

I shook my head, rubbing my temples.

'No. I can just call her.' I argued weakly.

'No, Emerald.' Her tone was calm but firm. 'Topics like this are too sensitive for a phone call.'

I pressed my palms into my tired eyes, trying to knead some life back into myself. I’d checked my phone on the nightstand. 2 a.m. I’d tried to sleep again.

But my body refused.

And now I’m here at the hospital, bleeding, exhausted and haunted by my dream or sleeplessness.

“When are you finally going to go on that date with me, Doctor Ford?”

Mart Carson’s voice breaks into my head.

I lift my eyes to find him dropping onto the bench beside me like he owns the place.

“This again, Mart,” I tease.

He laughs, shaking his head. That laugh, easy and warm. The kind that makes nurses stupid and patients feel safe and doctors like me weak kneed.

Tall. Broad shoulders. Blond hair neatly cropped. Eyes green as my name. Doctor Mart Carson is one eye catcher that we all silently ogle at, when no one notices.

“We’d make beautiful babies, you and I,” he says casually. “If we get married.”

I scoff. “Let’s survive a first date before we start talking about babies.”

He grins. And for half a second, I let myself imagine it. Let myself wonder what it would feel like to say yes to his date request.

His scent reaches me without warning. Cinnamon, earth, clean. Completely male heat.

God. I really need to get laid.

It’s been two years. Two long, dry years since I walked out of Arthur’s house and shut that door behind me forever.

“What are you drinking?” I ask, nodding at his cup, aiming for distraction.

“Some weird herbal tea,” he says. “Doctor Trevor’s sister keeps sending them. I think she’s trying to seduce me with herbs.”

“And because you’re such a good man.” I add, “You drink them.”

He chuckles. “Shockingly, they’re good. Just strange at first sip. Want some?”

He holds it out.

I lift my coffee between us instead. He laughs and lowers his cup. We sit quietly after that, sipping our beverages. The hallway hums softly with footsteps, murmured voices, machines keeping people alive.

“I really want to go out with you, Emerald,” Mart says suddenly. No teasing and no smile this time. “Jokes aside.”

I turn to him fully. He’s kind. Genuinely kind. And dangerously attractive. Every woman here wants him.

But I don’t lean in.

“Even if I wanted to,” I say carefully, “I wouldn’t.”

Hope flashes in his eyes at wanted then dims.

“The last time I dated someone from work.” I continue, “It didn’t end well. It ended bad and dramatic.”

“But it doesn’t always end that way,” he says softly.

My mind drifts to Doctor Dawn and Doctor Darcy. Four years together. Still choosing each other.

“No.” I admit. “It doesn’t always end that way.”

Arthur’s face appears uninvited in my mind. His voice. His hands. The way love turned into a sharp weapon and cut me open.

“When it goes bad.” I add quietly, “It leaves scars.”

Mart studies me, silently. Doesn’t push. Doesn’t pry.

“You had a bad experience,” he says.

I nod.

That’s all he gets.

“Alright,” he says finally. “I won’t push.” A pause follows. “But if I ever transfer out of Grenville, maybe then?”

I nod again.

His pager beeps.

Then the announcement echoes overhead.

“Doctor Mart Carson to the ER. Pediatric emergency.”

He stands, but before he leaves, his gaze drops to my mouth, slowly. Heat gathers in his eyes, unmistakable. Undeniable. He leans in. Stops and waits.

I don’t stop him. His lips brush mine, hesitant, warm, then deepen. A quiet moan slips from me before I can stop it. Coffee and herbal tea mixing between us. It's dizzying.

When he pulls back, his eyes are bright.

“That.” He murmurs, “Is what you’re saying no to.”

He’s gone before I can respond.

“Sorry, Doc,” I whisper to the empty hallway. “It's still a no.”

***

Wednesday. 20th January. Next day.

Noon…

My shift is finally over. I change out of my scrubs, tug on a yellow top and black jeans, shrug into my jacket.

When I step into the hallway, Dawn is already waiting.

“Sorry I’m late,” I say, catching up. “Period decided to wage war on my stomach.”

She grimaces. “Ew...Too much information, Eme.”

We laugh and head for the exit.

“Any news about the new doctors arriving today?” She asks.

“New doctors?” I frown. “Had no idea.”

We pass the conference room. Through the floor to ceiling glass, the chief is addressing the department heads.

Dawn slows. “Do you think that’s them?”

We stop.

I glance inside just as the chief calls one of the doctors to the podium. The world drops out from under me.

I gasp. My heart slams to a stop then explodes back to life. I stare. I blink. I shake my head.

He’s still there. The face. The body. The posture. The man I left a year ago. Everything about him is unchanged, as if time never touched him.

“Isn’t that Arthur Taylor?” Dawn whispers. “Eme?”

My throat locks. No sound comes out.

“Eme?” She presses.

I take a step back. My blood drains fast, leaving me hollow.

“What’s he doing here?” I finally whisper.

He lifts his head then and his eyes, those same eyes that once knew every part of me, find mine through the glass.

They lock. They hold.

My wolf screams inside me.

And Arthur smiles, like nothing ever happened.