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She stepped out into chaos two floors down. The total opposite of where she had just been. Empty halls were replaced by bustling personnel and shouts of medical terms she didn’t understand. This was more like the hospitals Cass saw on TV. Spotting a familiar face, she made her way to the nurses’ station.

“Patty?”

“Cass! What a surprise.” Patty immediately lost the smile she gave her new friend. “Is Rebecca all right?”

“Yeah! Yeah, she’s good. Annoyed with me at the moment, but good.”

“Ooh, you better get that straightened out, sugar. I’ve never seen her happier than she is with you. Don’t blow this.”

“That’s why I’m here. Is Hunter available?”

Patty pursed her lips and studied the fine specimen in front of her. She had told the truth about never having seen Rebecca so happy before. If she could have a hand in keeping it that way, Patty was glad to help. She picked up the phone.

“Dr. Vale, please come to the nurses’ station.” She looked up at Cass. “I don’t see her scheduled for a surgery, so unless she was pulled into an emergency, she’ll be here.”

“I appreciate it.”

“My pleasure. Now, you do something for me.”

“Name it.”

“Get that girl of yours to forgive you and let’s get together again for dinner soon.”

“Workin’ on it,” Cass grinned. “And, deal!”

“You rang, Patty?”

Cass turned at the sound of Hunter’s smooth voice. “That was for me.”

“Hey! Wait, is Rebecca okay?”

Cass chuckled. “Yeah. She’s lucky to have people who care so much about her.”

“Enough to hurt anyone who ever caused her harm again,” Hunter warned.

Cass lifted her arms in surrender. Or defense. Either could work at the moment. “You never have to worry about that with me. But I am here about the person who did hurt her. Do you have a minute?”

Hunter nodded and led Cass to the doctors’ lounge. “What’s up?”

Cass took a piece of paper out of her back pocket and unfolded it. “I need your advice. And I need your professional opinion, not the opinion of my girlfriend’s best friend. Got me?” She handed over the paper and waited for Hunter to read it.

“How did you get this?”

“Does it matter?” Cass sighed. “I have friends, or rather Rebecca has friends in high places that would like to see her stop suffering as much as I would. Look, Rebecca doesn’t know I have this, and she won’t know if your answer is any different from what I think it is. But, I need to know.”

“What do you need to know exactly, Cass? Is it important enough to bring all of this back up for Rebecca?”

“Yeah, Hunter, I think it is. She’s been carrying this weight for far too long. So, looking at that,” she gestured to the paper, “you tell me. Was there anything that Rebecca could have done to save Samantha’s life?”

Hunter studied Samantha’s autopsy report carefully. She went over it three times before she shook her head. “No. According to these findings, Samantha died the moment she took that last hit of heroin.” She turned the document to Cass and pointed out the cause of death.

“Dude, I have no clue what any of that means. That’s why I brought it to you.”

Hunter gave her a small smile. “Basically, her heart exploded. That’s overdramatizing it a bit, but with the buildup in her heart and lungs from prolonged drug abuse, the blood vessels can rupture. Samantha had a heart attack, Cass. A severe one. There was nothing Rebecca could have done to save her. The paramedics would not have made it on time whether Rebecca had called the moment Samantha started experiencing pain or not. Even if they did, Samantha was too far gone to save.”

Cass let out a whoosh of air. “You’re sure? This is from Dr. Hunter?”

“Yes, Cass. That is my professional opinion. I’d stake my reputation on it.”