DAWSO
soriented, and realized I'd fallen asleep on t
on the bed was as still as ever, as if my emotiona
to a comatose man. I wasn't actually that fragile of a person, but after exp
shed the thoughts awa
d to spend a few hours in the same bed with Braxton, supposedly to stimula
the far edge of the king-sized bed,
cedar that clung to him, mixed with the sterile smell of medici
technically my husband felt deeply strange. It
ered and changed into my work clothes-a crisp blouse and slacks, cove
o the Pack's medical center to arrange for a long-term leave of abse
e "Dr. Dawson" he might have heard of at the clinic
tate felt like stepping out of a
a. I'd spent the last two years here as a resident, working under my birth name, Dawson. I ha
s director, Dr. Sullivan,
us. "I never realized you were that K
to request an indefin
ke a vacation for a while, and explained the r
politics. You're the most gifted Healer I've ever seen." His praise was a small comfort. I
, a warmth spreading in my
ake you abandon your career?"
I said, my voice quiet but firm, "I a
his hand clattered onto the desk. He st
his nose. "You... you're
ss smile. "A Lun
finally sighed. He picked up my leave request form and signed it. "The leave
y cases. My colleagues stared at me with a new kind
t of the medical center,
reason I had agreed to this
ad, I headed toward the other side of the city, t
on I had no one, because to the Pack, my mother and brother didn't exist. The
her and a sick brother weren't a 'family' who c
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