Selene slept soundly through the night.
When she opened her eyes and stared up at the pristine white ceiling, her mind lagged for a few seconds before she reached up and peeled the oxygen mask from her face.
She sat up, taking in the unfamiliar room. Her gaze landed on the oxygen machine by her bedside. The bed was a single, zero-pressure model—luxurious, but hardly the kind you’d find in a hotel. Judging by the medical equipment and the understated, tasteful decor, she guessed she’d been brought to a private hospital after she lost consciousness.
Probably a VIP suite. Leo must have arranged it for her after she and Altair were rescued.
She couldn’t help but wonder how Altair was doing now.
Reaching over, she picked up her phone from the nightstand.
Just then, the door swung open and a doctor strode in.
He wore a white coat and a surgical cap that covered his hair, a face mask pulled over his mouth and nose, and a pair of tinted glasses perched on his nose. He moved with a confident, almost dramatic air, the hem of his coat fluttering as he approached.
Something about him struck Selene as oddly familiar.
“When did you wake up?” he asked, his voice muffled by the mask. It was a voice that made her ears tingle—strangely familiar, but somehow off.
Would it be weird to keep staring at his face, trying to place him?
“I just woke up,” she replied, feigning composure. “Are you my attending physician?”
She had a thousand questions—probably more than he did.
Professional and businesslike, the man replied, “Let me check your heart rate.”
He slipped a stethoscope around his neck and leaned in.
Selene tipped her chin up obligingly, but noticed that the cold disk of the stethoscope hadn’t actually touched her skin.
She frowned and looked down, only to catch a glimpse of his ears, burning bright red.
Tilting her head, she tried to get a better look at the shape of his ears.
At last, the stethoscope landed just below her collarbone.
She heard it—the distinct sound of him swallowing hard.
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