Chapter 1
"Apologize?"
I looked up at Ethan, one hand still clenched around the blanket. The motion had tugged the IV needle on the back of my hand half an inch out of place.
"She barged into my room with a crowd, pulled open the curtain while I was changing after an accident, and held up her phone to take pictures. And you want me to apologize to her?"
Ethan frowned. "When I walked in, I saw you throw a glass at her."
"Then look at her forehead."
I pushed myself upright against the mattress. The movement pulled at the injury in my lower back, and sweat beaded along my hairline, but my voice grew steadier.
"Ask the nurse whether the glass touched her. Check the security footage. She screamed loudly enough. Surely she can produce an actual injury."
The coworkers all turned toward Tessa.
The hand covering her forehead froze. After several seconds, she cautiously felt around the spot. Her palm came away clean. The skin was not even broken.
"Ethan, I was so scared that I must have gotten confused."
She lowered her head, tears splashing onto the front of her blouse.
"I never expected Claire to attack me."
With one claim that she had "gotten confused," she brushed aside her lie while still painting me as a violent lunatic.
"If you were mistaken, apologize," I cut in coldly. "And delete every picture you and your friends took."
Tessa bit her lip. "I only took one group photo. I can't control what's on everyone else's phones."
"You brought them here, but you can't control them?"
"Claire, are you so ashamed of what you've become that you think everyone is laughing at you?"
"Tessa!"
Ethan's sharp rebuke stopped her. His expression darkened.
He made the coworkers hand over their phones and delete every photo from my room, then ordered them out. Once the door closed, however, he did not ask why Tessa had lied. He merely lowered his voice and tried to reason with me.
"She's young and doesn't always think before she speaks. The photos are gone. Let's leave it at that."
"How old does she have to be before she's responsible for her actions?" I stared at him. "Old enough to work at your company? Or old enough to humiliate a patient in front of a crowd?"
Ethan did not answer. He turned and called in the nurse.
The nurse brought warm water. Ethan closed the curtain to block the doorway, then tested the washcloth himself.
"She gets cold easily. Make the water a little warmer."
When the nurse finished cleaning me, he leaned over and wiped the grime from my hands, then tucked a warmed blanket around me. He had cared for me like this countless times before. During the hardest year of our startup, I once came down with such a high fever that I could not stand. He carried me three blocks through the rain and arrived at the hospital with red-rimmed eyes.
"Claire, every bit of pain you feel hurts me even more," he had said.
I watched the hands tucking in my blanket and was about to speak when Tessa began sobbing outside the curtain.
His hands stopped.
"What's wrong?"
Tessa choked out, "I brought those people here, and now they've all been thrown out. How am I supposed to face anyone at work?"
"I'll explain it to them."
"What if Claire decides I did it on purpose?"
"She just survived a car accident. Her emotions are unstable. Don't upset her again."
I yanked the curtain open.
"Ethan, my legs were injured, not my brain. You know she lied."
He was silent for a moment before saying, "I'll make her apologize."
"Now."
Tessa lifted her tear-streaked face but said nothing.
Ethan stepped in front of her. "Claire, stop pushing her."
I stared at the protective gesture, then slowly released the curtain.
Before he left, he bent down and kissed my forehead. "I'll be here for your standing exercises tomorrow. Whether you recover or not, I'll take care of you for the rest of my life."
Tessa stood in the doorway and gently reminded him, "Mr. Hale, you already have an important engagement tomorrow."
Ethan merely told her to be quiet. He did not deny it.
The next day, I fell three times while gripping the parallel bars. He never came.
My phone lit up with a picture from Tessa.
She stood in the surf in a white dress. Ethan was kneeling in front of her, fastening the strap of her broken sandal.
Tessa: Guess why he didn't come to you?
