Page 79

The plan was finalized. Everyone had their jobs. Now all that was left was to execute it.

Ruth drifted in and out of sleep, her fingers loosely curled around Noah’s hand. She was caught in that hazy space between wakefulness and unconsciousness, where thoughts were fragmented and disjointed.

Somewhere in the fog, she knew she should have answers. But the more she searched for them, the more they slipped away.

Noah.

She knew his name. Knew the deep timbre of his voice, the steady warmth of his hand in hers.

But who was he to her?

She didn’t know. Not exactly.

A friend? No—too much intensity in the way he spoke to her.

Family? No—there was something deeper, something heavier in his presence.

Was he her bodyguard? That didn’t feel quite right either, though she knew without question that he was protecting her.

Her boyfriend? Her breath caught slightly at the thought, but something about it felt wrong—or maybe just uncertain. She had no memory of kisses, no flash of whispered confessions, but he felt important.

He felt safe.

And yet… she could sense something unspoken, a thread of pain and desperation woven into the way he held on to her, the way he wouldn’t let go.

Her mind tried to connect the dots, but there were too many missing pieces.

Still, one thing remained clear.

Whatever they were, whatever they had been, she trusted him.

Even if she didn’t remember why.

* * *

Paul leaned against the counter,arms crossed, watching everything. “Are you going to sleep at all?”

Noah ignored him.

Paul sighed. “Didn’t think so.”

He pushed off the counter, rubbing the exhaustion from his face. “We’ll have to time this perfectly. If we wait too long, people are going to start waking up. The hospital gets busiest around five a.m.”

Noah knew that already. He had been watching the hospital’s movement patterns for the past two days. “Then we leave at four.”

Paul nodded. “That gives us four hours.” He glanced at Ruth.

“You think she can make it that long?” Noah looked down at her.

Her face was paler than it was earlier. She was holding on, but barely. They were running out of time.

“She has to,” Paul said.

By 3:30 a.m., everything was ready. The medical van was in place. Evan had secured the vehicle in the loading dock, away from prying eyes. Brad had patrols positioned around the hospital, making sure no one was lurking where they shouldn’t be. Alex and Tristan had doctored Ruth’s hospital records, ensuring it would take at least a day before anyone realized she was gone.

The tension in the air was electric. Charlotte and Izzy were the last to arrive. Charlotte’s gaze immediately flicked to Ruth, her jaw tight as she took in how weak she looked. “She’s not well enough for this.”

Noah expected her to argue. To fight him. Instead, she turned to Tristan. “How much time do they really have?”