Page 31 of Saved By the CEO

“She fucking died.”

“But I thought—” My grip tightens around the phone. “I thought it took weeks.”

“So did I.” Annie sniffles. “I talked to Dr. Shaw. Your Dr. Shaw. She said this is how the disease progresses.” Her voice sharpens, anger cutting through the tears. “Apparently, they’ve known for a while how deadly it is.”

A chill crawls down my spine. I lean back in my chair. “Fuck.”

“I’ve been making jokes about this virus,” Annie says, her voice breaking again. “While people were dying from it.”

“Annie—”

“You could die.”

The words settle heavily between us.

My mouth goes dry.

“I’m not going to die,” I finally say, forcing confidence into my voice. “I know who my match is.”

Annie is quiet for a moment.

“What if he’s not there when it happens?” she asks. “What if he’s on a business trip, or in a meeting, or—or what if he just can’t get to you in time?”

“That’s not going to happen,” I say, but the words don’t come out as solid as I want them to. “We have it under control.”

After we hang up, I stare at the blank monitor in front of me.What the fuck.I run a hand through my hair, not even caring if I mess it up. A movement to my right pulls me out of my spiral. Mr. Bennett is standing in the doorway, watching me.

“What was that about?”

My first instinct is to wave it off, to spare him the information I was just given. But then I meet his eyes, and it hits me. He’s also trapped in this damn mess. He deserves to know.

“My roommate called. She’s an RN at the hospital. They just lost a patient to the virus.”

He drags a hand over his face. “Fuck.”

“Yeah, you can say that.”

“How long was she sick for?”

“She—” I start, nausea rolling through my stomach. “She came in yesterday.”

Mr. Bennett stares at me. For the first time since I’ve known him, he looks rattled. Well and truly rattled. When he finally speaks, the words come out strained. “We can’t wait for the fever anymore. We can’t risk it.”

I blink at him. He continues. “How long was it before the fever came back last time? Four days? Five?”

“Four.”

We look at each other. No one says a word. We both know what this means. It’s Thursday today, and the last time we were at the hospital was Friday.

“Should I call Dr. Shaw?”

I shudder as flashbacks of her sitting outside the door, listening to me moan, wash over me. “Do we have to go there? I can’t… focus with her right outside.”

Mr. Bennett bites the inside of his cheek. After a moment, he lets out a long exhale, steps back into his office, and gestures for me to come inside.

Yeah, this is not going to end well.

“So, how do we do this?”