A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust

"No, don't!" Hudson frowned, his voice tense. "Don't look into it. Knowing won't help!"

"Not knowing doesn't help either!" Calliope shot back, just as stubborn.

"If I know, at least I can try!" she insisted.

"Look, Hudson, I'm only calling you by your name because we get along. You're a good person." she said honestly. "Maybe I can't help you, but at least give me a chance to try. How do you know I can't help if we don't even give it a shot?"

Hudson hesitated. He finally let his shoulders drop, giving in. He knew Calliope— when she set her mind to something, there was no shaking her off. If he kept resisting, she'd only dig her heels in further. And she was more than capable of pinning him down if she wanted to. If this got messy, Lance would find out, and things would just get worse.noveldrama

Better to let her check him out and keep things quiet.

Calliope grew serious, focusing as she examined him. The longer she checked, the deeper her frown became.

Just like Hudson had warned, this was bad. Really bad. The kind of situation where, medically speaking, there was no hope.

"You've had scans, right? X-rays, MRIs...where are they? I need to see them," Calliope said, searching for any sliver of possibility in the impossible.

"You didn't bring them home, did you?" she pressed. "You're afraid Lance would find out, so they're still at the hospital, right? Come on, let's go."

Her face suddenly turned icy, her voice steely. "I need to talk to your doctor."

"Don't bother. It's pointless," Hudson said, waving her off. "He's already given up on me. Told me straight-there's nothing to be done."

"At least you can buy some time!" Calliope snapped. "One more day is a victory!"

Hudson's laugh was bitter. "I know. Every day I get is borrowed time, but with my condition, every day is

it

harder than the last. Heime!

all-I don't want to waste what time I have left sitting in a sterile room, going through treatments that won't work."

He looked at her, his eyes softening. "But if you can help with the pain, make it easier... I'd be grateful. Treatment isn't worth it otherwise. It's just wasting time. You're a doctor-you know this better than I do."

Calliope did know. Deep down, she understood that in cases like his, endless treatments only dragged out the suffering, stripping away any quality of life. That wasn't what Hudson wanted. It wasn't what she wanted for him, either.

didn't

But if she didn't at least look, didn't at least try, she'd never forgive

before felt that helplessness. Everyone called her a miracle

herself. She'd lost her graness net

worker, but every time it was

someone she cared about, she was powerless. What kind of healer did that make her?

"I know," Calliope said quietly, meeting his gaze. "I won't let you suffer. And I won't

let you lose your dignity. But I have to try—just in case there's some way I can help."

Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

Hudson saw her like that, and something twisted inside him.

"You don't have to do this," he said gently. "We're not even that close, right? You can just treat me like a stranger. It'll be easier on you."

Calliope shook her head, a small, sad smile on her lips. "It doesn't work like that. Some people, you just click with-right from the first moment you meet."