1
Riley
Staringat the red blood cells under the microscope, Riley waited for her watch to buzz at her. She’d set it for every five seconds.
Five. Ten. Fifteen.
“Come on, baby.” She’d never hit thirty before.
Twenty. Twenty-five.
“Shit.” The cells, which had been perfectly round and healthy were now…dead. At twenty-eight seconds.
“No luck?” Her mentor, Dr. Gregory, touched her shoulder, and Riley flinched. He was one of the most brilliant hematologists in the country. But she hated his overly handsy nature. “You’ll get it next time, kid.”
I’m not a kid. I’m twenty-nine. And you really need to step back.
Anger prickled over Riley’s skin, and her entire body warmed as she tensed. A wave of dizziness swamped her, and she braced her hands against the lab bench for a moment and released a slow, controlled breath.
As if he’d been pushed, Dr. Gregory stumbled over his own feet and returned to his station.
“This batch had such promise,” she said as she started cleaning up her equipment. “It neutralized the contaminants almost immediately—or appeared to. But then it’s like they came right back ten-fold. That shouldn’t even be possible.”
“Some time away will do you good,” Gregory said as he eased a slide from under his scope and dropped it in the bio-waste bin. “Your research will be here when you get back. You’re an asset to the team, Riley. I know it doesn’t feel like you’ve been successful, but, in six months, you’ve made more progress than anyone else in the past three years. Be patient. There’s time.”
No, there isn’t.
Riley couldn’t tell Gregory she had a vested interest in this project. That if she couldn’t stop the cell degradation, she might not be able to work on this project much longer—because she’d be dead.
“You’re right, of course,” she said brightly. “And Ireland isn’t going to tour itself. I’ll see you in ten days.”
As soon as she was done putting all of her equipment away, she ran out of the University of San Francisco Medical Center’s Research Lab and let her tears fall.
Ever since the accident, she’d known she was on borrowed time. The semiconductor manufacturing facility had numerous safety violations, and Riley had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. All because she decided to take the bus to school that day.
Heavy metal poisoning was usually treatable, but Riley’s body had refused every attempt. Her skin was so pale it was almost gray under her makeup, and her green eyes had developed flecks of silver in them. But the worst part…her red blood cells had gone haywire—multiplying like crazy. She had to draw off a pint of her blood every other week to keep her blood pressure in the normal range and her cardiologist had warned her only a week ago that she’d be lucky to make it another two months. Her heart was simply too worn out.
As she sank down into a chair in her small kitchen, she used her teeth to tie the rubber around her arm. One pint now just might get her through her Ireland trip. And after that…well…she’d let go.
* * *
Riley stretchedunder the hotel sheets, trying to shake off the last vestiges of the mental and physical fog that had overwhelmed her after more than twenty-four hours of travel. Her room didn’t have a coffee maker, but she remembered something about a full Irish breakfast being included with her stay, so she slipped into a pair of yoga pants and a sweatshirt and padded down two flights of stairs in search of the delicious smells wafting up from the hotel restaurant.
When the plate slid in front of her, she wrinkled her nose. Apparently the Irish didn’t believe in tofu. For the past six months, she’d eaten as cleanly as possible. No alcohol, no fried foods. All vegetables and vegetarian sources of protein. And now… Eggs, black sausage, bacon, toast, and butter.
“When in Rome…?” Riley murmured to herself. She needed food, and well…it didsmellgood.
Pulling out herDublin on a Budgetguidebook, she flipped it open before she cut into the sausage. If she didn’tlookat the meat, it’d be better, right?Get over yourself. You used to eat bacon all the time.
Her first bite almost made her moan.So good.She was likely going to die soon anyway. Maybe she could break her “clean eating” rules for a while.
As she ate, she made little notes in the margins of the guidebook. The library was a must. As was the oldest bar in Dublin. She wanted an authentic pint of Guinness. And a whiskey tasting.
“Can I get ya’ anything else, luv?”
Riley sloshed coffee over the rim of her mug as she peered up at the young server standing at her elbow. “You startled me,” she said as he whipped out a bar towel and cleaned up the spilled coffee. “I wasn’t paying attention to anything. I’m so sorry.”
“No need to apologize, miss. I take it ya’ liked the breakfast?” He smiled, nodding down at her plate.
