the hospital morgue, his body numb, his

manded, his voice devoid of all warmth. He pointed the tip of his cane at the heavy, s

n't. He couldn't see her like that. He wanted to remember her alive, even

, his voice gentle. "It's a

ather's unyielding glare, he moved as if in a tra

urney stood in the center of the room, a stark white sheet draped ov

his heart pounding in his throat, a desperate, panicked rhythm. He remembered her warmth, th

asp, he ripped

. All the life, the fire, the quiet hope that had once anim

old, tiled wall. The image was burned onto the inside of his eyelids, a permanent scar

ily's private cemetery. A persistent, dreary rain fell from a

a hollow man in a black suit. The grave was emp

n his arm. He flinched away from her touch as if burned, a look of profound disgus

e from a distance, his expr

an unmarked black van with tinted windows rolled s

quiet, professional efficiency. They met a morgue attendant who had

he gurney was

hidden medical compartment into a sophisticated life-support pod. Wires and

his is Nightingale. Asset is secure. Vitals are weak but holding. We have c

g streets, a ghost in the night, heading for

Years

d through the floor-to-ceiling window

phantom sensations of cold marble and sticky blood st

away. She was no longer that helpless, broken woman. Tha

d two small boys, a whirlwind of ener

is dark eyes wide with concern. This was Nico. He pushed

dings on the medical monitor. He looked like a miniature doctor. "Your heart rate is el

r soft hair. They smelled of sunshine and childhood. They were her w

ur schedule for today. The video conference with Aegis Holdings is at ten. Maestro Dubois has requested to move your viol

eady shifting through the co

The Surgeon"-a title earned by saving herself and her children against all odds, and now sought by the most powerful for impossible medical feats. She was the ph

he face was the same, but the eyes were different. The vul

later. Li

oming