The unit was a graveyard. Only the soft glow of the nurses’ station monitors and the distant, rhythmic beep of a single IV pump broke the silence. 2:51 a.m. Claire had already finished every chart, restocked every drawer, and pretended to check the same vital-signs report three times. She was stalling and she knew it. Dr. Marcus Hale appeared at the end of the hall like he had been waiting for the floor to empty. White coat open, dark scrubs underneath, the shadow of stubble on his jaw. Forty-one. The kind of man who never looked fully off-duty. He stopped a few feet from her, close enough that she caught the faint scent of antiseptic and the coffee he always drank black. “Supply closet,” he said, voice low. “Now.” It wasn’t a request. Claire followed. The closet was narrow, lined with shelves of gauze and saline bags, lit by a single bare bulb. Marcus stepped in after her, shut the door, and turned the lock. The click sounded final in the small space. For three heartbeats they
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