CHAPTER SIX: THE LONGEST MILE

Chapter 6: The Longest Mile

For three agonizing weeks, Dr. Dominic Reid treated me like a ghost.

If he walked into a ward where I was checking a patient’s vitals, he turned around and walked out.

If our paths crossed in the crowded hospital corridors, his piercing grey eyes swept right past me.

Cold.

Indifferent.

As though I were nothing more than another piece of medical equipment.

He didn’t single me out in cardiothoracic lectures anymore.

He didn’t call my name.

He didn’t challenge me.

The suffocating office visits were gone.

Replaced by something far worse.

Silence.

A freezing, deafening silence that left me feeling more unraveled than his anger ever had.

He was running from what happened in the dark during the storm.

The untouchable Chief of Surgery had built a fortress of ice around himself.

And I was left standing outside it.

Shivering.

⸻

“You’re doing it again.”

Cassie’s voice shattered my thoughts.

She dropped her heavy textbook onto the library table with a loud bang.

A few junior students shot us annoyed looks.

“Alora, you’re staring at that blank page like it owes you money.”

I rolled my eyes.

“I’m trying to memorize the branches of the internal iliac artery.”

“Please.”

Cassie snorted.

“You haven’t turned a page in twenty minutes.”

She pointed her pen directly at me.

“Ever since Dr. Arrogant stopped tormenting you with those assignments, you’ve been acting like a widow.”

“I am not.”

The denial came automatically.

Too quickly.

Too defensively.

“You should be celebrating,” Cassie continued.

“The predator finally let you out of his cage.”

“He didn’t torment me.”

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

Immediately, Cassie’s eyes widened.

“Oh, wow.”

She leaned back dramatically.

“You’re defending him now.”

I groaned.

“Cassie…”

“No. Listen to me.”

She jabbed her finger toward the library entrance.

“Daniel is waiting for you in the clinical skills annex.

He spent all afternoon preparing a mock pharmacology exam for you.”

Her voice softened.

“Daniel buys you meat pies.

Daniel shares his notes.

Daniel protects you from bullies.”

A pause.

“And Daniel doesn’t look at you like he wants to perform an unanesthetized autopsy on your soul.”

Despite myself, I laughed.

A tiny laugh.

But a real one.

“Focus on the good guy for once.”

⸻

Ten minutes later, I walked into the quiet annex at the back of the hospital library.

The room smelled of old paper.

Dust.

Forgotten journals.

Daniel was already there.

Waiting.

The moment he saw me, his face lit up.

And guilt twisted painfully inside my chest.

“You made it.”

His smile was warm.

Familiar.

Safe.

“I was starting to think Dr. Reid found another excuse to keep you trapped in his office.”

“No.”

I sat down across from him.

“Dr. Reid is busy with private consultations these days.”

The lie tasted bitter.

“He doesn’t have time for troublesome students.”

Daniel’s smile faded.

Something serious entered his expression.

Something nervous.

Something determined.

He didn’t reach for the pharmacology textbook.

Instead, he reached for my hands.

⸻

“Alora.”

His fingers wrapped around mine.

Warm.

Steady.

Kind.

“Stop for a second.”

My stomach tightened.

“Daniel…”

“I didn’t ask you here just to study.”

The room suddenly felt much too small.

Much too quiet.

“It’s about us.”

My pulse stumbled.

“Daniel, if this is about the notes—”

“Please.”

His voice trembled.

“Just let me finish.”

I fell silent.

Daniel took a shaky breath.

Then looked directly into my eyes.

“I’ve been holding this in for over a year.”

Another breath.

“I see how hard you work.

I see how much you’re carrying.

And every single day…”

His voice cracked.

“I fall more in love with you.”

The word landed like a stone in still water.

Love.

⸻

“Daniel…”

Panic tightened my throat.

“Please don’t.”

“I want to help you carry everything.”

His eyes searched mine desperately.

“I want to protect you.”

Another pause.

“I don’t want to watch men like Dr. Reid threaten your future.”

His grip tightened.

Not possessive.

Just hopeful.

“I want to date you, Alora.”

My heart sank.

“I want to be your boyfriend.”

His voice broke slightly.

“I want to give you the safe life you deserve.”

Then finally—

“Just give me a chance.”

⸻

He was offering me everything.

Safety.

Peace.

Stability.

The future every sensible scholarship student should want.

I stared at him.

Waiting.

Waiting for my heart to flutter.

Waiting for excitement.

For attraction.

For something.

Anything.

But there was nothing.

No spark.

No fire.

No chaos.

No impossible pull.

Just silence.

And then the truth hit me.

Hard.

Brutal.

Unavoidable.

I didn’t want safety.

I didn’t want predictable.

I didn’t want comfortable.

Somewhere along the way, my heart had already betrayed me.

It belonged to a cold, ruthless surgeon who terrified me.

And that realization terrified me even more.

⸻

“Daniel…”

My voice cracked.

I slowly pulled my hands free.

“I can’t.”

His face fell.

“Alora—”

I stood abruptly.

Tears blurred my vision.

“I’m sorry.”

“Alora, wait.”

But I was already backing away.

Already running.

⸻

I burst out of the library.

Past Cassie’s desk.

Past the shocked expressions of students.

Past every warning my common sense tried to give me.

Outside, rain hammered the campus.

A tropical storm.

Violent.

Relentless.

Within seconds I was soaked.

My blouse clung to my skin.

My shoes filled with water.

But I didn’t stop.

I didn’t run toward my dormitory.

I didn’t run toward safety.

I ran toward him.

⸻

The taxi ride blurred together.

Windshield wipers.

Brake lights.

Thunder.

Rain.

And one reckless thought repeating itself over and over again.

Dominic.

By the time the taxi stopped outside the gates of his private estate, night had already fallen.

The mansion rose from the darkness like something unreal.

Glass.

White stone.

Towering walls.

Complete isolation.

A world away from crowded dormitories and scholarship forms.

I pushed through the gates.

Walked the long driveway.

Climbed the marble steps.

And stood trembling beneath the shelter of the porch.

Rainwater dripped from my hair.

My clothes.

My fingertips.

My pride.

Gone.

Completely gone.

I raised my hand.

And knocked.

⸻

Ten seconds.

Nothing.

I knocked again.

Harder.

The lock clicked.

The door opened.

And there he was.

Dominic Reid.

Standing beneath warm foyer lights.

Dressed in a black cashmere sweater and dark trousers.

Relaxed.

Calm.

Until he saw me.

⸻

Everything changed.

His eyes widened.

The calm vanished.

His body went rigid.

Completely rigid.

As though someone had struck him.

“Alora?”

His voice was rough.

Disbelieving.

Almost panicked.

I couldn’t speak.

Couldn’t explain.

Couldn’t justify why I was standing on his doorstep soaked by rain and heartbreak.

I just looked at him.

And for one terrible second, neither of us moved.

Then Dominic crossed the distance instantly.

Both hands gripped my waist.

Strong.

Certain.

Possessive.

He pulled me across the threshold.

The door slammed shut behind us.

Locking out the storm.

Locking out the city.

Locking out every sensible decision either of us should have made.

And suddenly—

It was just the two of us.