Evie:Sorry.Go kick ass. I love you.
Maggie:I love you too.
Maggie set the phone down and pulled on her white coat—the same one she’d worn for five years at Oakridge, freshly cleaned and pressed.
She looked at herself in the mirror.
Doctor Maggie Laurel. Senior attending. Internal medicine.
Someone who’d made mistakes but was choosing to learn from them.
Someone who was terrified but showing up anyway.
Someone who was finally, slowly, learning that survival wasn’t the same as living.
She grabbed her bag, took one last look at the apartment—Evie’s coffee mug still on the counter, her jacket on the back of the chair, all the small signs that Maggie’s life was no longer just hers alone—and headed out the door.
Toward the hospital.
Toward uncertainty.
Toward six months of proving she could do this.
Toward a future she couldn’t control but was choosing anyway.
Here we go,she thought as she started the car.Ready or not.
And she drove toward Oakridge, carrying Evie’s words with her like a talisman.
You’re braver than you think.
I’ll be there.
This is real.
14
EVIE
Evie had been at the hospital since 6 AM, but she’d been awake since four.
She’d slipped out of bed while Maggie was still sleeping, pressing a kiss to her temple and whispering, “You’ve got this,” before heading out into the pre-dawn darkness.
Now, sitting in morning report with Dr. Patel, Evie could barely focus on the overnight admissions. Her phone was face-down on her lap, but she kept glancing at it, waiting for Maggie to text that she’d made it to the hospital.
“Doctor Brooks?”
Evie’s head snapped up. “Yes, Doctor Patel?”
“I asked if you wanted to present the Patterson case or if you’d prefer I assign it to Doctor Morrison.”
“I’ll present,” Evie said quickly. “Sorry. I’m here.”
Patel studied her for a moment, something knowing in her expression. “You seem... rather distracted this morning.”
“Just a lot on my mind,” Evie said, which wasn’t a lie.
“Understandable,” Patel said, and there was something gentle in her tone that made Evie wonder if she knew. “Well, try to focus. We’ve got a full day.”
