Ethan stared at the tiny metal fragment inside the evidence bag.
It was barely larger than a grain of rice.
Yet somehow, that tiny piece of metal had suddenly become more frightening than the accident at the factory.
He looked at the surgeon.
“How could something like that get inside her?”
“We do not know.”
“You said it was old.”
“Yes.”
“How old?”
The surgeon shook his head.
“We need laboratory testing.”
“Could it have been there for years?”
“It is possible.”
Ethan looked through the operating room window.
Claire was still unconscious.
Machines surrounded her.
A nurse adjusted the monitor beside her bed.
She looked so small.
So fragile.
Ethan had spent the past year believing that he knew exactly how Claire was going to die.
Now he realized he might have been wrong about everything.
“When can I see her?”
“As soon as she is stable.”
“Is the surgery complete?”
“Yes.”
“Did you remove the mass?”
“We removed what we could.”
Ethan stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
The surgeon hesitated.
“It means part...