My Body, Your Empire

g I remembered was the blinding glare of headlights, Ethan's sh

, no

il

ing. The sharp, steril

ad th

ight glare

d swift, tight

asn't

heard

first, th

e, sharp wit

eeper, calmer,

lony. She was in a car crash you orchestr

Ben Carte

han's old friend f

od ran

l. "I have her medical power of attorney. I am her fiancé. As far as this hospital is

iend, Ben. Pract

h you caused? Ethan, you're asking me to commit murder on the oper

t just... disappeared? The one I made go away? Chloe needs this kidn

silence that followed was mor

lo

cou

oul, the piece I could never reach. Chloe, who had abandoned him when he was bro

ed with a fury I'd rarely heard from him. "Her ki

entire care

erself to get you walking again when C

void of emotion. "Chloe wa

is st

She's always wanted that.

is more. Her li

lessness had led her to thi

e I still mourned, the one I blamed on my own stress, never suspecting the "her

my eyes, hot

d it stole my breath

felt l

ream, but only a faint

led again, pu

e, a tugging sen

earing li

scal

y biotech research-research that had once promised a brilliant future for me-into

th

, a resource to be plundered f

swirled aga

e, I wel

dull echo of the tormen

life, sacrificed on the

I was in a different room. A hospital room, sterile and

ssion carefully arranged into one of concern. H

d. You gave us

him, my vi

iced. "From the car crash. We had to perform an emergency nephrect

All

t was a fresh stab to m

eam, to rage, t

bitter tears that tracked d

t now felt like a violation. "Hey,

never been

is feigned concern vanishing, replace

Worried about you, of course. But she's desperate for that artisanal

ed a kiss on my foreh

back late

ike that,

. Again.

icked shut

en only by the distant wail of a siren

heir hushed conversation, not m

Ms. Vahn, isn't he? Rushi

barely left her side afte

Chloe's kidney tr

ed together with

ified into a col

s it. T

nces. No mo

rs trembled as I scrolled through my contacts. My heart pou

h H

business ri

is integrity, his

listened intently as I spoke, his gaze thoughtful. I

a shaky

ne rang

His voice wa

, my voice raspy.

t enough for me to fe

a hint of surprise, perhaps conce

erve. "Are you still looking for a COO who knows Reed Innovate's

tching for what felt like an eternity. I closed

oice, low a

even days.

ar him choosing his words carefully, "with

ansing this time,

sure,

said. "Se

ine c

my phone,

en

A new life

irline apps, my finger

n. On