No Longer His Walking Blood Bank

of her phone sliced throug

. On the easel before her, a canvas bloomed with nascent light, a study of hope breaking

a name she hadn't seen

alling her. She carefully placed her brush down, her fingers smudged with paint. She wiped th

el

clinic in Greenwich Villag

e line-cold, clear, and devoid of any emotio

art tightened. "What's

nd. "It's not me. It's Ava. There was an accid

red her rare, so-called 'golden blood,' not out of concern for her, but because it could be of use to Ava. The thought

the word of refusal

edge. "Don't make me repeat myself." A beat of silence, then the final, crushing

as the foundation of their marriage. A transaction. A safety net for her f

argain rose from the de

voice barely audible, "will yo

picture him perfectly-standing somewhere sterile and expensive,

ped, dismissive

line we

now looking garish and false. She moved with a mechanical slowness, stripping off her paint-splattered apron and j

stoplight, each traffic jam, felt like a personal torment. Her mind was a mael

g at the end of a long, sterile corridor, speaking urgently with a doctor. Julian was i

he was summoning a subordinate. There was no warmth in his eye

. Ava Hayes. Car accident. Severe blood loss. Her blood was

still figure on the bed, hooked up to a web of tubes and monitors. Ava. His childhood friend. The woman he'd l

ned to Julian, her voice trembling with a

walking blood

away to the door of Ava's room. "Don't be dramatic, Chloe.

ways came down to a price. She gave up. She turned to

's d

blood, dark and rich, flow through the clear tube. 400cc. A standard donation, t

room, his back to her, his entire focus on the

her a cup of lukewarm water and a packet of cookies, which she couldn't bring h

hrough the glass as he rushed to Ava's bedside, his face softening with a tenderness and concern she had never, not once in two yea

She wasn't just a tool.

the tender scene. She simply turned and walked away, h

out, lost. She pulled out her phone and stared at Julian's name.

cab, the moti

ast Side," she told the driver, her vo