Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Back at the hotel, she switched her phone to silent mode.

Tomorrow was her advisor's exhibition.

She wanted to be well-rested for it.

At noon, Timothy's eyes snapped open, and he immediately sat up in bed.

Sheila grabbed his arm, her voice urgent. "Timothy, what are you doing? You need to rest-lie down."

Timothy turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"

"I went to the hospital this morning and saw Secretary Allen with Henry. When I asked, he told me you'd arrived in the city late last night. Then the hospital called -they said you'd been found unconscious out on the street by the rescue team. Timothy, do you realize how dangerous that was? With all that flooding last night, if they'd gotten to you any later..."

The thought alone made Sheila shudder. Someone unconscious, lying in water for too long-it could have been fatal.

"Timothy, the weather was awful last night. All flights were grounded. What could possibly be so urgent that you had to travel here overnight?"

"Where's my phone?"

dug a brand-new

a new one. The doctor had to take out your SIM card and put it in someone else's phone just to reach me. Timothy, do you have any

phone, ignoring her concerns, and immediately dialed

call rang out, unanswered, and disconnected

logo on the blanket-Capital City Hospital-Timothy swung his legs off the bed and strode

are you going? The doctor said you need to take

determined strides down the hall.

the way to

of severe flooding. Timothy had waded through the floodwaters on foot just to

fallen into an open manhole-one of the covers had been

always so meticulous and clean, had marched through filthy water and collapsed

really that important to

out of her thoughts, Timothy had already disappeared into the

as it hit the first floor and

he sped off toward the elevators again, moving so fast Sheila had to jog in her heels