Avery arrived at the sanatorium half an hour early.
She needed that extra time-not just to review the records, but to steady herself before facing Julian. The corridors smelled of antiseptic and old wood, and her footsteps echoed too loudly against the polished floor.
She went straight to the nurses' station to pull up Julian's nursing records and medication logs from the past week.
Temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, sleep duration, nutritional intake, frequency and response of rehabilitation training-every metric was better than the week before. She ran her finger down the column of numbers, a small, involuntary smile tugging at her lips.
He was getting stronger. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, but he was getting there.
"His night sleep is still unstable. He wakes up around two or
