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God, after all these years …

She sat perfectly erect, her upper body caed by a lab coat, with only the barest hint of a forest-green sweater visible beneath the hite lapels Her face was reen eyes utterly blank No ses of her full, unpainted lips

For a second, an ih hisat a barred , her pale, slilass, her cheeks streaked with tears,his name

He’d fallen in love with a candy striper with long brown hair and laughing, irl in the wo, in the well-styled precision of her short, honey-brown hair, in the classical perfection of her face The perfect physician in complete control

Strangely, it pissed hiht to have been happy—hell, he ought to have been proud of her—but all he felt was cheated and angry As if all his memories of her were an invention This woman couldn’t have been broken by his betrayal, couldn’t have cared for long And obviously Daddy’s money had financed the best possible education

“Angel,” she said in that baret “How … interesting to see you again”

“You’ve done all right for yourself, Mad,” he said bitterly More bitterly than he intended

“Don’t call ave him a completely professional smile and flipped open his charts “They tell me you need a new heart”

“It shouldn’t surprise you”

“It doesn’t”

He could feel the judg fro eyes, another person judging hi “Look, Mad, I think we’d both agree, I should have another doc”

“Yes, I do Unfortunately, Allenford wants you to have the best”

“So do I, but—”

“I’htened “But if you don’t want me, I’ll have you transferred to someone else”

He felt a twinge of irritation “You don’t want me as your patient?”