Chapter 2

2

Zachary's hand moved gently over Lana's face. He looked at her as if she were a piece of priceless, fragile porcelain.

"Thank God... you're alive. Thank God."

His voice broke, and his eyes were webbed with red veins. It was obvious he hadn't slept a wink because he was so worried about her.

While he was losing sleep over her, did he ever consider that I was already cold?

Lana forced a weak smile onto her pale lips.

"Zach, I'm so sorry I worried you. Where is Lexie? Is she still angry with me? I need to go and apologize to her right now."

She made a show of trying to sit up, but it was so obviously fake. Anyone with eyes could see she was putting on a performance, but Zachary was blinded by his own devotion.

As expected, he gently pressed her back into the pillows and stroked her hair.

"Don't be silly. Lexie is the one who needs to apologize, not you. You're too kind for your own good, Lana. That's why people like her think they can walk all over you."

A nurse walked in and watched them for a moment. She couldn't help but comment.

"You two are truly devoted to each other."

She looked at Lana with a small smile.

"While you were in surgery, your husband waited in the hallway all night. He didn't move an inch."

Lana's face flushed a deep pink. Zachary stiffened for a second, but he didn't bother to correct the nurse's mistake. He let her believe he was the devoted husband of the woman in the bed.

Then, the nurse's tone shifted. She let out a heavy, somber sigh.

"It's nothing like the woman in the next theater. She was all alone from the moment she arrived. She died without a single family member there to claim her. It's heartbreaking."

Zachary's expression wavered. A tiny spark of hope lit up in my ghost-chest. If he realized that poor woman was me, would he have the grace to at least claim my body?

I waited, but he only sighed.

"That is indeed a tragedy."

My hope died instantly. I let out a mocking laugh at my own expense. Zachary's heart was so full of Lana that there was no room for me, living or dead.

He didn't pursue the topic. He followed the nurse as they wheeled Lana back to her private suite.

As they passed the operating room where my corpse was still lying, Zachary paused. He glanced through the small window in the door. My cold body was there, covered by a sheet, but my feet were pointed toward the door, hiding my face.

If he had looked closer, he would have seen the scar on my ankle. It was a scar I got years ago while saving his life from a car wreck.