Regret Came Too Late

Liam was up early the next morning.

Wyatt noticed the dark shadows under his eyes the moment he stepped out of his room. It was clear that Liam hadn't slept a wink.

Wyatt started, "Liam, you..."

Before he could finish, Liam forced a small smile and quickly rubbed at his face like he was trying to stop himself from crying.

"Dr. Coleman, I'm heading out now. I'll skip breakfast. Take care of yourself, okay? I'll see you again."

He left in a hurry, as though he had something urgent weighing on his chest.

Wyatt stood there watching him disappear into the snowy path, the words he wanted to ask still stuck in his throat. He wanted to ask if he had seen the words on the wood plaque.

Back in Druville, Grace received a call from Andrea the day after Liam left.

Andrea was a mess, sobbing on the other end of the line.

"Grace! Liam's missing. I've been calling him, but I couldn't reach him. He said he was going to Bensville to get you some medicine. You're responsible for his safety. If the baby inside me is born without a father, I swear I'll never forgive you." Grace frowned and ended the call without a word. She tried dialing Liam herself. A mechanical female voice answered on the other end, cold and emotionless.

Her heart skipped a beat. She tried calling again, several times, but it was always the same.

She told herself it was probably just bad reception. After all, it had snowed heavily two nights ago, and he was up in the mountains.

called more times than she could count. She'd

shuffled through a few work obligations, and then got in her

the stairs, she froze.

moment she opened the door and saw Grace standing there,

you doing here? Weren't you going

under pressure sometimes, but most of the time,

in her eyes

"Andrea.

with Grace, she couldn't fully hide her bitterness. Her eyes

He's the only one I can count on right now. Why would I do anything to

narrowed her eyes-maybe

she turned and headed for

a smug

down the road, several dozen miles out,

on the

three cars were behind

where Ed was staying. And right now, she was strangely grateful she'd kept his location a secret. No one knew he was living somewhere that

her phone and called him. He picked

"Grace?"