Chapter 4

In an instant a shrill alarm ripped through the operating room, and every monitor flared red at once.

Ten years ago, the sight of my parents dying together right in front of me came flooding back. That feeling of watching a person die with your own eyes was more than I could stand. I ducked into a corner and called the police.

But I'd barely pressed the first 1, then the second, when I heard Marina cry out behind me.

"Gordon, Harper's calling the cops!"

In the space of a blink, Gordon had already rushed at me. His big hands tore the phone out of mine, and with a crack it slammed to the floor. Then his fist drove straight into my face. Pain shot through the bridge of my nose, and warm, crimson blood streamed out of my nostrils, but Gordon acted as if he didn't see it at all.

"Harper, you help outsiders hurt Marina. You think you've lived too long, is that it?"

He was like a rabid dog, his bloodshot eyes fixed on me as he screamed for all he was worth.

"From the day Marina got diagnosed, you've had it in for her!"

"Tell me, have you been out to get her killed this whole time?"

The more he said, the more worked up he got, until he just brought the knife in his hand up to my throat. The cold blade settled against my neck, and every tiny move Gordon made sent a sharp sting through it.

"Harper, I'm asking you a question. Answer me!"

Maybe Gordon was too worked up. This time the blade cut clean into the skin of my throat.

The scene from my past life, my body crushed under a truck, flashed through my mind. I couldn't help a bitter smile. After living again, after being so careful about everything, was there still no escaping the fate of dying...

In the space of a blink, a tall figure appeared in front of me, and a blood-stained hand clamped down hard on Gordon's wrist.

It was that expert. He looked at Gordon with cold eyes and spoke coldly.

"Let go, you animal."

Gordon tried to struggle, but he couldn't move an inch. However much he didn't want to, the hand gripping the knife loosened all the same.

With a clang, the knife fell.

Watching that cold-gleaming blade hit the floor, the expert turned to leave. But the moment he turned, Marina cried out behind him.

"Gordon, you can't let him go! Then who'll do my surgery?"

The relief I'd just felt shot straight back up to my throat. I moved at once to stop it, but it was already too late. Gordon had snatched the knife off the floor, sprung up, and lunged at the expert.

"Don't move!"

He roared it as he grabbed the doctor by the collar, the knife going straight to the doctor's neck. His bloodshot eyes locked on the expert, and he ground the words out.

"Back into that operating room, now, and get my friend ready for surgery!"

The commotion had drawn a thick crowd around them. Officers had come up too, but they didn't dare move any closer with the knife in Gordon's hand.

The hospital director came running up from the far end of the corridor, out of breath, forcing down his own alarm as he tried to reason with him.

"Son, let him go. Because of your interference just now, Dr. Roman's own mother has slipped into a coma, and even so, he didn't cancel your friend's surgery!"

"That's right, let go, quick. Dr. Roman is on his way to do the pre-op prep for your friend. You're only wasting time!"

Panic and unease tangled in Gordon's eyes. He turned his gaze to Marina again.

I let out a silent sigh. Marina was going to get herself killed.

Sure enough, Marina shook her head at Gordon, signaling him not to release Dr. Roman. Gordon clearly got the message. He pressed the knife in deeper, his voice harsher.

"Go! Get in that operating room now, or I'll kill you!"

The place fell dead silent in an instant, every eye on Dr. Roman and Gordon.

Dr. Roman glanced at Marina, who had just shaken her head, then turned his face to Gordon beside him, his eyes going suddenly cold.

Dr. Roman was a man of hard, absolute resolve. I knew then that Marina's life might truly be nearing its end...

If I stepped in to stop this now, there'd surely be a chance. But the pain of my flesh and bone being crushed under a truck last life forced down the urge to go over and try to talk him down.

In that moment of distraction, Dr. Roman suddenly raised his right hand. He seized the blade at his own throat and pressed down hard...

Watching the blood spurt out, he looked at Marina and spoke coldly.

"I'm sorry. Your surgery, I can't do it anymore."