After spending what seemed like an eternity outside the ER, a nurse eventually ushered Reine to an upstairs waiting area. Once there, she sat alone for another hour and twenty-three minutes before the adjacent back door to the operating rooms opened.

"How is he? Is he going to be okay?" she asked as she jumped up to meet the approaching doctor.

The man in blue scrubs took off his disposable surgical cap. "Are you family?"

"No, his parents are abroad, and I don't know of any other relatives he may have," Reine said, biting her lip.

"Well, then all I'm legally allowed to tell you is the surgery went well, and Mr. Moran will be good as new in a few weeks. But I'm sure that's all you wanted to hear, anyway," he added with a smile.

Reine smiled and took a deep breath. "Oh, thank you so much. Can I see him?"

"He's still in recovery, but he should be awake from the anesthesia in about an hour. I'll let the nurse know to tell his sister what room he's in once they move him."

"But he doesn't have . . .," she began, before realizing his meaning. "Ah, thank you again, doctor."

The next three-quarters of an hour passed by quickly now that he was going to make it. The promised nurse even got her early.

Walking into Gabe's room, a lump unexpectedly formed in her throat from seeing all of the tubes and wires still attached to him. She quietly stood at his bedside, not sure if he was fully awake. "Hey there."

Rolling his head to face her, he slowly opened his eyes and smiled. "Hi."

His voice was hoarse, but she was just happy to see him conscious. Taking his hand between hers, she lifted it to her lips. "I thought I had lost you. Don't scare me like that again."

He closed his eyes and swallowed. Looking up at her again, his face was serious, but his voice was full of mischief. "I do have some bad news. I'm not sure if you can continue to date me once I tell you."

Reine cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? What's that?"

"I was still pretty drugged up, but I think the doctor told me he had to take out my spleen. I'm not even sure what that is, but I hope it wasn't too important."

"No spleen, huh?" She pouted theatrically. "I don't know. That was one of my favorite things about you. You had quite a sexy spleen."

He laughed along with her, and Reine was now positive she'd made the right decision regarding him. She briefly let go of his hand while she pulled up a chair next to the bed.

"I've been thinking. We should go away. Take a bit of a break from all of this. What do you say?" She caressed his arm.

He slowly nodded. "All right. Where to?"

"I was thinking London. No language barrier, lots of people to get lost among, and I have an apartment there. We can go as soon as you're discharged."

"That sounds perfect. I'd kiss you right now, but I can't seem to be able to lift my head," he said.

Reine leaned over him and gently touched her lips to his. He contently closed his eyes, and she watched him fall asleep. She also dozed off because some time later, a pair of hands gently touching her shoulders startled her awake.

"Reine," Max whispered from behind.

His unexpected appearance made her jump. "How did you know where to find us?"

He smirked. "It's what I do, remember?"

Hopefully he was there to deliver some reassuring news. "Did you catch her?" she asked.

"No. Sylvana's gone." He scratched his nose. "We'll find her again, but until then, you'll need to come back with us. Both of you. For now, I'll give you a ride back to your hotel. He'll be out until the morning, anyway."

Not wanting to wake Gabe, she considered just leaving quietly. At the last moment, however, she bent down and kissed him on the cheek.

"Sleep well. I'll see you tomorrow," she whispered before returning to the hotel for the night.

* * *

The next morning, she momentarily didn't recognize her unfamiliar surroundings. Examining the generic hotel room interior, the events of the last day flooded her memory and made Reine eager to return to Gabe's side. Grabbing a to-go cup of coffee from the lobby and hopping in a waiting cab, she headed straight to the hospital. On the way, she was surprisingly optimistic. Having spent the better part of the night thinking about the future, the possibilities now brought her unexpected happiness.

As soon as he was well enough to travel, she would take Gabe away. There were significant assets in her savings, so neither of them would need to work. They could spend their time at their leisure. Naturally, she would have to disappear from the art history community, but that was the only thing which disappointed her about the change.

Reine cheerfully stepped out of the elevator on the third floor surgical unit. Max was already there, chatting with a nurse at the reception desk. He had his back to her, and being far enough away to be out of regular earshot, she was able to catch the tail-end of their conversation.

He was pointing to something on a form in front of the woman. "I'll be making all of the arrangements then. You've got my number, so we'll be in touch."

"Absolutely, Mr. Baldovini. We'll take care of everything," the nurse said with a solemn nod.

Witnessing the exchange, but not knowing what to make of the words, Reine walked up to him. "I wasn't expecting to see you here this early, Max."

"Ah, amore mio. I need to talk to you." He steered her in front of the closed door to Gabe's room.

"You know, you should probably stop calling me that. It's a bit inappropriate now, isn't-"

Max cut her off. "He's gone, Reine," he said.

"Gone where? He wouldn't leave without me." She tried to get past him, but Max put his hands on her shoulders and blocked her from entering the room.

"No, you don't understand, darling. He didn't leave. The internal bleeding resumed overnight and his heart couldn't take it. He went into cardiac arrest," he said.

Her vision blurred, and her head began to spin. "But he's okay now, right? The doctors were able to save him. Please don't tell me they didn't, Max."

Looking directly into her eyes for the first time, he shook his head slowly.

Her heart sank. "His parents . . . they're abroad. I don't even know how . . ." She instinctively began to think about practical matters.

He put a hand on her shoulder. "I know. I'll take care of everything."

She drew in a deep breath before burying her face in his chest. The momentary comfort it gave her was enough for her to collect her thoughts.

"I have to see him." She wriggled out of Max's grasp and pushed the door open.

The room was empty. The freshly made bed and the dormant medical equipment sat ready for the next patient. She ran back into the hallway to check the nameplate next to the door, but even that was empty. There were no traces of Gabe being there just a few hours earlier.

Not even bothering with Max anymore, she turned to the nurse's station. "Where's the man who was in that room last night? Gabriel Moran?"

The woman in the floral-patterned scrubs looked past her for guidance on how to answer the question. Apparently satisfied with the response, she finally answered.

"The, ahem, Pathology department is on the lower level," she said.

"Thank you." She turned toward the elevator behind her and frantically pushed the down button.

"Come on, come on," she urged the machine when it didn't immediately change its position from a floor above.

Max waited with her. When the door eventually opened, they got on and started their descent in silence. It wasn't just the slowest elevator she'd ever been on, but it stopped on every floor on the way down, allowing visitors and staff to get on and off.

The sluggish pace allowed Reine to finally start to process everything and make sense of the unexpected news she received just minutes earlier. She was thankful Max didn't tell her how she should feel or act. However, as soon as the elevator came to a bumpy stop on the bottom floor and the doors opened, she needed some reassurance.

"I've changed my mind. I can't do this." She panicked, looking at the sign on the wall pointing to the right for Pathology. Everyone knew this was just a fancy name for the morgue.

Max placed his hand in the way of the sliding doors so they wouldn't close before the two of them had a chance to get off. "Are you sure?"

The elevator began to beep impatiently at being manually stopped.

She wrung her hands. "No. What do you think I should do?" she asked in desperation.

"I can't decide for you, Reine. If it was me, I wouldn't want to remember him like this, but either way, it'll be okay. Trust me."

She thought about the choice she faced, but she was too overwhelmed with emotion to come to any rational conclusion. After a few more seconds of the incessant beeping, she took a decisive step backwards. "Get me out of here."