Chapter 2

Apparently, I'd chosen the worst possible day to leave the house.

Every person I never wanted to face had appeared in the same hospital.

Evelyn stood in front of me in a spotless white coat. Her badge read EVELYN WHITMORE, MD — ONCOLOGY.

She looked more mature than she had two years ago.

I lowered my head and tried to slip past her.

"Excuse me. I'm here to see Dr. Collins."

Evelyn planted one hand against the doorframe and blocked me.

"Dr. Collins was called away for an emergency. His patients were reassigned to me."

Her gaze settled on me, dark and unreadable.

"You disappeared without saying a word, Evan. I never agreed that we were broken up."

Guilt flooded me so quickly I could barely meet her eyes.

"It's over, Dr. Whitmore."

She ignored that completely.

Instead, she grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the office.

"You're doing a basic workup. You look terrible."

She turned to get the blood pressure cuff.

I knew Evelyn's personality better than anyone. Once she decided on something, stubborn didn't even begin to describe her.

If I refused, I probably wasn't getting out of that office at all.

So I gave up and rolled up my sleeve.

The fabric slid past my elbow, revealing clusters of old needle marks.

Beneath them were faded whip scars crossing one another in ugly lines. There were bite marks from dogs and thick calluses left from years of surviving alone in the mountains.

Evelyn froze.

Her eyes locked onto the scars.

"After you pushed your mother away... how did you survive out there?"

Her voice broke.

"Evan, you sacrificed that much for her. Was it really worth it?"

I tried to tug my sleeve back down.

"It was a long time ago."

Her eyes reddened, but she quietly wrapped the cuff around my arm.

"Do the old injuries still hurt? Is there anywhere that hasn't healed properly?"

Before I could answer, my stomach rolled violently.

A familiar cramp twisted through me.

I turned away and covered my mouth as a cough tore out of my chest.

Then another.

And another.

I couldn't stop.

Blood seeped between my fingers.

Evelyn's face changed instantly. She dropped what she was holding and rushed forward, gripping my shoulders before shoving a fistful of tissues into my hand.

"What is this? Evan, tell me the truth."

I wiped the blood from my lips and stared at the floor.

There was no hiding it anymore.

"Stomach cancer."

Her hand went rigid on my shoulder.

The office fell so quiet that all I could hear was her unsteady breathing.

A long time passed before she spoke again.

Her voice had gone hoarse.

"Is that why you vanished two years ago?"

I said nothing.

"Who gave you the right to decide for me?" she demanded, tears bright in her eyes. "Did you think I was only good enough for the easy years?"

Her anger cracked.

"I wanted you to lean on me. Just once. I wanted you to let us face it together."

My eyes burned.

When I was first diagnosed, the doctor told me I had less than a year.

Evelyn had been at the most important point in her career. I couldn't bear to drag her into a future that had already ended for me.

I couldn't even save myself. How could I ask her to fall into the dark with me?

Except apparently I was harder to kill than anyone expected.

I had somehow dragged myself through two more years.

Evelyn inhaled sharply, picked up the phone on her desk, and called the inpatient floor.

"Prepare a private room. Immediately."

I forced myself upright using the desk.

"I'm not being admitted. I can't afford it."

She turned and glared at me through clenched teeth.

"You are not worrying about money. And if you walk out that door today, I'll follow you all the way home."

Evelyn... I'm sorry.

I had dumped another hopeless mess into her hands.

But Mom was different.

I would rather let her hate me forever than leave her with even one reason to worry about me.

In the end, I surrendered and followed the nurse upstairs.

By some cruel coincidence, my room was directly across from Mom's private suite.

I changed into a hospital gown and lay down with an IV in my arm.

It wasn't long before my door opened.

Mom walked in with frost in her eyes.

She had probably heard from the nurses that Evelyn had personally arranged a room for a male patient and waived the deposit.

Mom had always been suspicious. In her mind, I must have been exploiting Evelyn's sympathy to worm my way closer to her.

"So this is your new trick?" she said. "Pretend to be sick and seduce the doctor?"

I leaned against the pillows and swallowed hard.

"I'm here because I'm sick."

She stared at me for several seconds, then lowered her voice.

"Then let me make one thing clear. Dr. Whitmore is the woman I've chosen as a match for my son in the future."