CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY NINE – HE MADE IT TO THE OTHER SIDE

His brow furrowed, confusion clouding those beloved features as his gaze skated around the dimness of his surroundings. "What...happened?" Drawing a shuddering breath, Kayla somehow found the strength to explain, rehashing every horrifying detail from the code being called to the multiple procedures, the touch-and-go uncertainty of whether he would pull through at all. Despite the tenuous hold she clung to on her composure, her voice remained steady and measured throughout the lengthy recitation. Because Lance needed her to be his rock now more than ever before, her solid ground when everything else had crumbled to dust around them. By the time she finished, his eyelids were heavy again, dark smudges of sheer exhaustion stamped beneath them like bruises. Yet he managed to focus on her with laser-sharp precision, mouth curving in the ghost of that trademark lopsided smile she adored. "Knew..." His words emerged in a rasping whisper. "Knew you'd...save me." White-hot tears sprang t