Serena Hines
Chapter 1
A week before my wedding, my fiancé's sister-in-law—the one with downpour syndrome—ran my car into a bridge guardrail.
She slammed into me sideways at 75 miles per hour. Eighteen times.
By the time Owen Coleman arrived with the ambulance, they were pulling me from a heap of twisted metal.
But he walked right past me to the modified Hummer that only had a busted bumper.
He pulled a trembling Wendy Brooks into his arms.
"Director Coleman, your fiancée's in bad shape! We need to get her to the hospital now!"
Owen blocked my stretcher, giving me a quick once-over. "She's not even bleeding. It's just superficial injuries. Wendy has downpour syndrome. The rain's getting heavier, and her condition is more critical. Take her to the hospital first."
As they left me behind, I curled into a ball, my hand finding just enough strength to grab onto Owen.
He frowned and pried my hand away. "Wendy didn't mean to hit you. She was just having an episode. You're a doctor—you should have some compassion for a patient."
With that, he pulled a waiver from his pocket and forced my limp hand to sign it.
"The next ambulance will be here soon. Just hang in there."
...
I didn't make it to the next ambulance.
When I opened my eyes again, I was floating in mid-air.
The cold rain poured over my abandoned body. I wanted to hug myself for warmth.
But my arms passed right through.
A bitter laugh escaped me.
So, I was dead.
Owen was right. I'm a doctor. I know exactly what it means to be hit at 75 miles per hour, with the car backing up and ramming you again and again. Eighteen times.
It means Wendy never intended for me to live.
But him—the top surgeon in all of Rivercity—could determine with a single glance that my injuries were merely "superficial."
I should have stopped hoping long ago.
When it came to Wendy Brooks, nothing else ever mattered.
Not even my life.
In the distance, an ambulance siren grew louder.
Doctors and nurses jumped out, rushing toward me in the downpour.
I watched as they lifted my body, limp as a noodle, onto a stretcher.
The doctor’s frantic shouts, the constant injections of adrenaline, and the rise and fall of the defibrillator paddles did nothing to stop my EKG from flatlining.
The doctor roared, "Tell dispatch to clear a path and speed us up! Get the hospital prepped for surgery, stat! The patient's condition is not optimistic!"
But the nurse's three calls to the hospital were all rejected. Her eyes turned red with fury. "On what grounds? Isn't Dr. Stevens Director Coleman's fiancée? How could he divert all medical resources to a woman who doesn't even have a scratch on her?"
She choked back a sob, unable to continue. "Dr. Stevens is dying."
The entire ambulance crew fell silent.
They all knew. In the hospital owned by the Coleman family, a private, high-end suite was permanently reserved for Wendy Brooks.
She was Owen's late wife's sister.
She had watched her sister get brutally murdered on a stormy night while trying to save her, and had suffered from a severe case of downpour syndrome ever since.
Whenever it stormed, she would lose control, and only Owen's presence could calm her down.
And me? His fiancée? After Wendy's constant interference led to him bailing on getting our marriage license ten different times, I finally blew up.
"She has an 'episode' when it drizzles, she has an 'episode' when it thunders. Are you sure she only sees you as a brother-in-law?"
The slap came so fast that even Owen himself seemed stunned.
He looked away, his face rigid. "If you can't accept Wendy, then maybe we don't have to get married."
I stared at him, a sharp pain lancing through my heart.
I tilted my head back, fighting it, but the tears streamed down my face anyway.
After three days of the silent treatment from Owen, I was the one who caved. I had a surprise planned for him, but on my way to the hospital to find him, Wendy ran me off the road and killed me.
My memories as a spirit were fragmented. I felt like I was forgetting something important.
But my soul was already drifting uncontrollably toward Owen.
Inside the premium suite, the room was so packed with doctors in white coats there was barely room to stand.
"Director Coleman, the test results show Ms. Brooks is perfectly fine. You can relax."
Even with every expert in the room reassuring him, Wendy just burrowed deeper into Owen's arms, her eyes red and her body trembling. "Owen, the rain is so heavy... There are bad men... I'm scared..."
Owen was about to say something when his phone rang. It was my colleague from my department. The moment Wendy saw the caller ID, she shrieked, snatched the phone, and smashed it on the floor.
"She's evil! Luna is evil! She wants to kill me! Help, Owen, save me!"
Owen couldn't care less about the phone. He just pulled the hysterical Wendy into a tight embrace, comforting her. "Shh, Wendy, it's okay. Luna isn't coming. I won't let anyone bad hurt you..."
Wendy clung to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, a strange mix of sobs and laughter in her voice. "You can't leave, Owen. You have to stay with me forever. You're mine, only mine! Luna is trying to steal you from me, she's evil, she should just die..."
"Fine," Owen murmured, patting her back over and over until she finally cried herself to sleep. "She's evil. She can go die."
Back in his office, he pulled out his phone. The screen was cracked and it wouldn't turn on. He wearily pinched the bridge of his nose.
He was about to use his desk phone to ask about my condition.
A nurse burst through the door. "Director Coleman, an emergency surgery just came in! A car accident patient with multiple organ ruptures. They need you in the OR immediately."
Owen started to stand, then froze.
He asked, "What's the weather forecast?"
The nurse glanced at her phone. "Rain all day. It's expected to last for two full days."
He nodded and sat back down.
"Get Director Price to handle it. Tell them I'm with a patient and can't get away. And cancel all my appointments for the next two days."