Chapter 6

Collis stood by the hospital bed, his large hand gripping the edge of the CT scan folder so tightly the thick cardboard began to crease. The veins on the back of his hand stood out like thick cords.

His dark, predatory eyes flicked rapidly between the steady green line of the heart monitor and Alivia's perfectly composed face.

Alivia stood her ground. She crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing her bruised wrist subtly beneath the fabric of her sleeve. She looked at him with the exasperated, slightly pitying expression a doctor reserves for a hysterical family member.

Before Collis could utter another threat, Alivia stepped right into his space, utilizing her absolute authority in this room. She reached past him, her finger jabbing aggressively at the glowing screen of the EEG monitor beside the bed.

"Look at the temporal lobe activity spikes, Mr. Duncan," Alivia commanded, her voice cutting through his rage with pure, clinical ice. "These jagged waves indicate severe neurological misfires. When a brain emerges from a deep comatose state, the language centers-specifically Broca's area-often spasm. It produces auditory hallucinations and involuntary vocal tics. He isn't calling for anyone. He is expelling random, meaningless syllables because his swollen frontal lobe is misfiring signals to his vocal cords. It is basic neurobiology, not a ghost story."

Collis's jaw clenched. The muscle ticked violently beneath his skin.

He stared at the jagged green lines on the monitor, unable to penetrate the absolute wall of medical science she had just slammed in his face. He looked back at Alivia, his eyes searching for a crack in her armor, but finding nothing except the exasperated disdain of a professional.

He threw the folder onto the foot of the bed.

"Make sure he survives the surgery," Collis said to Alivia. His voice was a low, dangerous threat. "Or I will end your career."

He turned and walked out of the room, the residents parting like the Red Sea to let him pass.

The second the door closed, the adrenaline holding Alivia upright vanished.

"I need to prep the surgical schematics," Alivia said to Eleanor, her voice tight. She leaned in closer, dropping her voice to a barely audible whisper. "I need to see the Clays. Are they in the usual spot in Administrative Wing 3?"

Eleanor gave a microscopic, affirming nod. "Room 304. It's off the books. Go."

She practically ran out of the room. She navigated the maze of hospital corridors, her pace getting faster and faster until she was almost sprinting. She ducked into Room 304, a secluded, unmarked private office at the end of the administrative wing.

She slammed the door shut and threw the deadbolt.

Alivia pressed her back against the solid wood of the door and slid down until she hit the floor. She pulled her knees to her chest and gasped for air, her lungs burning.

Sitting on the small leather sofa in the corner of the office were two older people. Robert and Marianne Clay.

They were the real Alivia's biological parents. And on paper, they were Asha's parents now.

The moment Marianne saw Alivia slide to the floor, she gasped. She rushed across the room and dropped to her knees. She threw her arms around Alivia, pulling her into a tight, desperate hug.

The smell of Marianne's lavender perfume-the smell of a mother's comfort-shattered the last of Alivia's defenses.

A violent sob ripped out of Alivia's throat. The tears she had been fighting back since the airport finally spilled over, hot and fast, soaking into the shoulder of Marianne's blouse.

Marianne stroked Alivia's hair, her own tears falling freely as she looked at the face that belonged to her dead daughter. "Oh, my sweet girl. It's okay. You're safe."

Robert walked over. He handed Alivia a paper cup filled with warm water. His hands were shaking slightly. "We saw the Duncan motorcade pull up downstairs. We knew he was here."

Alivia took the cup with trembling hands. She took a sip, the warm water soothing her raw throat.

She looked up at them, her eyes red and swollen. "He got a call. From Syria. They found my necklace in the ashes of the medical tent."

Marianne covered her mouth with her hand, stifling a sob.

Alivia's chest heaved. The memory of the blast hit her again. "Alivia threw herself over me," she whispered, her voice breaking. "She took the shrapnel. She gave me her face. She gave me her life."

Alivia squeezed her eyes shut. The darkest, most agonizing pain clawed at her heart. "And my baby... my little boy. He was in the nursery tent. The fire took him before I could even hear him cry."

Marianne pulled her tighter, rocking her back and forth. "It wasn't your fault, Asha. The war took him. Fate is cruel."

Robert crouched down. His face was stern, lined with grief but resolute.

"Asha, listen to me," Robert said firmly. "When you agreed to the surgeries, when you took Alivia's name, you made a choice to survive. You cannot look back. If Duncan finds out who you are, he will destroy you."

Robert reached into his briefcase and pulled out a thick, leather-bound file. He dropped it on the coffee table.

"This is your life now," Robert said, tapping the file. "It is flawless. You have a husband, a structural engineer currently working on a dam in Switzerland. You had a son who tragically passed away from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome-SIDS-at six months old. There are no underlying genetic markers, no rare blood diseases to draw suspicion. Just a sudden, devastating accident. That tragedy perfectly explains your emotional distance and clinical coldness. It cuts all ties to your past."

Marianne glanced at the small bottle of perfume peeking out of Alivia's coat pocket-a cheap drugstore brand, vanilla and orange blossom. "Asha, that scent," she said softly. "It's the same one you've worn for years. If he remembers..."

Alivia looked down at the bottle. Her fingers brushed the label. "It's mass‑produced," she said, her voice hollow. "Millions of women wear it. It's not proof of anything. And... I can't give up everything, Marianne. Not this. It's the only piece of my mother I have left."

Marianne nodded slowly, squeezing her hand. "Then be careful. Very careful."

Alivia stared at the file. The fake husband. The fake dead child. It was a fortress built of lies to keep the monster out.

She slowly let go of Marianne. She stood up. Her legs were steady now.

She walked over to the small mirror hanging on the wall. She stared at the reflection. The high cheekbones, the sharp nose, the cool blue eyes. It wasn't her. But it was her armor.

She reached up and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She took a deep, shuddering breath.

"Asha Lowery burned to death in Syria," she said to the mirror. Her voice was cold, hard, and absolute. "I am Dr. Alivia Clay."

She turned to Robert and Marianne. "I will do this surgery. I will pay back Theodore's debt. And I will take care of you both for the rest of your lives. I swear it."

Robert nodded, his eyes shining. "Once the surgery is done, we leave New York. We never come back."

Alivia adjusted the collar of her white coat. She locked the grief, the terror, and the memory of her dead baby into a steel box in the back of her mind.

She unlocked the door. She stepped out of the office, leaving the broken girl behind, and walked back into the war zone.