“Good. Turn around and get to the hospital. A medevac’s inbound from San Diego. Seven-year-old boy, massive astrocytoma tangled with the cervical spine.

It’s complex, and the board is nervous.” He paused. “They want to know whether Dr. Lin is truly ready to hold a scalpel again, or whether we transfer your cases for good.

I need an answer now. Are you ready?”

Chapter 6 — The Golden Thread

The halogen lights reflected off my loupes. The operating room was silent except for the steady beep of the pediatric heart monitor and the soft hiss of the ventilator.

Eighteen months had passed since that Thanksgiving.

The legal end had been thorough. Barbara took a plea to avoid trial, accepting seven years in a state penitentiary. David, having defaulted on the civil suit by failing to appear, was bound by a court order: if he ever held a paycheck again, seventy percent of his wages would be garnished into a fund I’d set up for pediatric trauma patients.