Chapter 7 · He Didn't Get Her Out

Nina's staring at the monitor like it might bite her.

I can't look away from it either. Sara's face, three years gone, mouth moving around a name I'd never heard her say. The black door behind the surgical team, cracked open just enough to show nothing but dark on the other side.

"Mara." Nina's voice is flat. "What the hell is that?"

"I don't know."

"Don't lie to me."

I rewind the footage. Watch Sara's lips again. Elias. Elias. The name comes out wrong, like she's choking on it. The doctors don't react. They're not even looking at her. One of them checks a chart. Another adjusts an IV line. Sara's awake and screaming a name and nobody in that room acts like they hear her.

"She was awake," I say. "They said she was under. They said it was fast."

Nina leans closer to the screen. "That door wasn't in the report."

"No."

"Doors don't just appear in operating rooms."

"I know."

"So what is it?"

I don't answer. I'm watching the timestamp. 11:47 PM. Sara died at 11:52.