Chapter 2067

Eventually, the wail of a siren carved through the snow-choked silence. Magnus scooped Denise into his arms and raced outside, boots crunching through powder until he placed her inside the ambulance. Not until the hospital doors swallowed them did he dare draw a steady breath.

Doctors ushered her onto a gurney, ran tests, hung fluids, prescribed antivirals, and then admitted her to an isolation ward.

“High fever and influenza. Why bring her this late?” the attending physician chided, pen scratching angrily across a chart.

Magnus blinked, thunderstruck. “Influenza? I-I didn’t know.”

“It’s been two, maybe three days. Haven’t you noticed?” the doctor pressed, brow furrowed in reprimand.

“I swear I didn’t.” Magnus’ voice shrank to a rasp. “If I’d realized, I’d have brought her sooner.”

Nothing but truth rang in the admission. Had he known, nothing would have kept him away from the ER.