Chapter 3

"I think you're confusing me with someone else."

Kristine jumped down from the examination table, her legs shaky. She grabbed her underwear from where she had left it and shoved it into her bag, not even bothering to put it back on. The paper gown rustled as she moved, but she did not care. She needed to get out of this room. Away from him. Away from those eyes that saw too much.

"Long time no see, Kristine."

His voice followed her to the door but she did not turn around. She could not. If she looked at him again, she might fall apart completely. Her hand fumbled with the door handle and then she was out, rushing past the nurse's station, past the waiting room, out into the bright afternoon sun.

Her chest heaved as she leaned against the building wall. I can't believe that just happened. Her hands were shaking so badly she could barely hold her purse. I'm never going to see him again. Never. She would find another doctor, another hospital, another city if she had to.

Her phone buzzed in her bag and she pulled it out with trembling fingers.

"Hey Kris," Lucy's voice came through bright and urgent. "There's this mandatory guest lecture I absolutely cannot miss. Can you scan me in? Please?"

Kristine pressed her palm against her forehead. "What if I get caught?"

"You won't get caught. Nobody would ever find out. It's a huge auditorium and the professor doesn't even know what half the students look like. Please? I'm begging you. This is twenty percent of my grade."

"Fine. Text me the details."

"You're the best! I owe you big time."

Kristine hung up and stared at her phone. Maybe this was good. A distraction. Something normal and boring to take her mind off the disaster that had just happened. She could sit in the back of a lecture hall for an hour, scan Lucy's student ID, and pretend her world had not just tilted completely sideways.

The university campus was only fifteen minutes away. Kristine found the building easily enough, a massive brick structure with students streaming in and out. She slipped inside, found the lecture hall, and scanned Lucy's ID at the door. The room was already half full, students chatting and pulling out laptops. She chose a seat near the back and sank into it gratefully.

At least here, she was anonymous. Just another face in the crowd.

"Alright, everyone settle down." A teaching assistant stood at the front, clipboard in hand. "Dr. Mitchell will be starting in just a moment. Please have your student IDs ready for attendance."

Kristine's stomach dropped. No. It could not be. Dr. Mitchell was a common name. There were probably dozens of Dr. Mitchells at this university. It did not mean anything.

The TA started calling names from the roster.

"Lucy Langston?"

"Here!" A girl near the front raised her hand.

"Miranda Cooper?"

Silence.

"Miranda Cooper?"

Kristine's heart pounded. That was Lucy's name. The ID she had scanned. She needed to answer or Lucy would get marked absent and lose the participation points.

"Here! Here!" Kristine shot up from her seat in the back. "Sorry, I'm... I'm Miranda Cooper."

The last word died in her throat as the door opened and the guest lecturer walked in.

George.

Her ex-boyfriend. The man whose fingers had just been inside her twenty minutes ago. Standing at the front of the lecture hall in a crisp white shirt and dark slacks, a tablet in his hand, looking every bit the distinguished medical professional he had become.

Their eyes met across the crowded room and the air seemed to evaporate. His expression flickered with surprise, then something darker. Recognition. Frustration. Maybe even anger.

Not again. The thought screamed through Kristine's head. This cannot be happening again.

George recovered first. His face smoothed into professional neutrality and he set his tablet down on the podium with deliberate calm.

"You're Miranda Cooper?" His voice carried across the lecture hall, measured and cool.

Every student in the room turned to look at her. Kristine felt heat crawl up her neck.

"Yeah." Her voice came out thin. "That's me."

"Well, Miss Cooper, you're late." He did not break eye contact. "That's minus ten percent on your participation grade."

Panic shot through her. Lucy was going to kill her. She had come here specifically to save Lucy's grade and now she had made it worse. Ten percent was huge. She opened her mouth before her brain could catch up.

"Professor, can you make an exception? Just this once?"

Something shifted in George's expression. For half a second, she thought she saw the ghost of the boy she used to know. Then it was gone, replaced by cool professionalism.

"Fine. Come in."

Relief flooded through her. "Thank you, Professor."

She started moving toward an empty seat near the middle of the room, already planning how she would explain this disaster to Miranda later.

"I didn't say sit."

Kristine froze mid-step. George's voice cut through the lecture hall like a blade. Every eye in the room was on her now, and whispers rippled through the students. His face remained perfectly neutral, but there was something sharp in his eyes. Something that made her stomach twist.

"But you can earn those points back if you assist me today." He paused, letting the words hang in the air. "Or take the hit. Your call."