Chapter 12
Ethan woke up with a gasp.
A sterile smell.
Beeping sounds.
A hospital room.
Olivia was by his side, her face etched with concern.
Real concern? Or just another performance?
“Ethan, darling, you fainted,” she said, her voice soft. “You gave us all
such a scare. Are you okay?”
He stared at her, his mind struggling to catch up.
Fainted?
The truck … the impact …
He looked at his phone, lying on the bedside table.
The date.
He stared at it, his heart pounding in his chest.
It was the day before Sarah was scheduled to start the fatal medical
trial.
The day before Lily’s planned bone marrow transplant.
The day before Sarah died.
He was back.
He had been given a second chance.
Simultaneously, miles away, in her small, cramped staff room at Ethan’s
penthouse, Sarah jolted awake.
Her heart hammered against her ribs.
She remembered.
The cold room. The drugs. The monitor flatlining.
Dying.
She remembered dying.
But she was alive.
Her hands trembled as she reached for her cheap alarm clock.
The date.
She stared at it, disbelief warring with a surge of desperate hope.
She was back.
Back before the trial.
Back before she left Lily.
Her first thought: Lily.
I cannot let her lose me again.
I won’t do the trial.
I have to get Lily and run.
Run far away from Ethan, from Olivia, from this whole nightmare.
She scrambled out of bed, her mind racing.
She threw a few meager belongings into a worn duffel bag.
Ethan’ s first thought: Sarah.
I have to stop her.
I have to stop her from doing the trial.
I have to save her.
He threw back the hospital covers, ignoring Olivia’ s protests.
“Ethan, where are you going? The doctor said you need to rest!”
“Urgent business matter,” he grunted, his mind already miles away. “I
have to go. Now.”
He rushed out of the hospital room, leaving a bewildered and annoyed
Olivia behind.
He had one chance.
One chance to undo the horror.
One chance to save Sarah.
And this time, to save himself.