If Clark is to blame for this, all is not well.

– Dr. Moss," Melissa, who had been silent until then, spoke up. – "The thing is, the staff call button in Thirteen didn't work…

– I don't want to hear anything! – cuts off the neurologist. – You didn't even act with your own hands, you asked the nurse to do it! – He slams his hand on the table. – This is worse than if you had just stood there and watched!

Seven minutes. If she manages to escape from here now, she'll make it to the academic building in time for the service stairs. The hell with her clothes. She could borrow them from the people who had already handed them in. The main thing is to check in…

– I'm suspending you from work for a month. You'll be working at the clinic at their rate of pay.

That's not so bad, Emily thinks. What's the clinic rate, less than a thousand pounds? That's all right, she lives on a quarter of that; after all, it's not such a big price to pay for a near-fatal mistake.

And Clark does not calm down: turns the embers around so that the flames hit almost in the face; with a sharp movement he gets up from the chair, pulls on the impeccably ironed fabric of his blouse and, almost shaking with anger, in an icy voice states:

– Look for a great replacement for me, Andrew. You did it once. What was that show for, would you tell me? Self-assertion? – She raises an eyebrow. – You're nothing but drama. – Clark neatly unhooks his nametag and puts it on his desk. – The play is over. Everyone is dismissed.

Five minutes. Gotta run, all the more reason to let go; only five minutes…

There'll be more Clarks like this in life, won't there?

They won't.

– Wait! Emily steps forward. – Wait a minute. Wait! That's not her. It's me. I got confused.

Melissa, who was leaving the office first, turns around.

– Emily…

– Johnson," Clark hisses warningly.

– I mixed up the meds," Emily says in a curt voice, and her own knees are shaking so badly she can barely stand up. – I've had an overtime week, and I've been taking classes and working with patients, and I got them mixed up. Dr. Clark said it right. I wasn't paying enough attention to hear it. It's so loud in there…

Melissa looks at her like she's crazy.

– Miss Johnson. – Moss sits back in her chair and leans back. – Clarify for us, please. Did you mix up the drugs on purpose?

It's three minutes to three minutes.

– No, I just didn't hear it," said Emily, as if she'd been wound up, tuned to one wave. – I didn't hear the name. I put the wrong one in the chart. Dr. Clark called the team and fixed it. It was my own fault. I thought I could handle it.

– You didn't know what you were doing, so… – Moss looks at her. – And you didn't confess right away because…

– I was scared. I didn't think it would get this far.

She's scared. She's scared as hell – the ground is falling out from under her feet, the sky outside the window is going black and collapsing on her head. Emily realizes that something is now breaking, grinding, shredding. Something inside her explodes and sweeps away everything in its path, including her hopes. The clock reads ten; there is no way she can be late, but maybe she will at least be allowed to retake it…?

May a miracle happen, she prays. Let anything happen. She would believe anything, do anything, just let it happen, let a miracle happen.

But the paper airplane mentally falls down, never making it to the glass.

– You are fired.

Too predictable, Emily thinks. Let him say that with tomorrow, let him, let him.

– Yesterday.

Not the courses, not the courses…

– And, of course, all scores at the learning center will be canceled. The hospital cannot allow anyone whose competence we question.

Emily burns in the jaws of fire that engulf her body; it's like trying to appear grown up and stronger, taking the weight of the earth on her shoulders, but failing to endure and sinking to the very core of the earth.

She cannot take a breath.

Inexplicable ways, she thinks, leaving the office, somewhere two more lines will cross – her and Clark, all will be rewarded, or maybe it has already been rewarded and the neurosurgeon will save someone's life tonight. And the vanguard doesn't hurt that much; it's scary as hell, but it doesn't hurt. That's why there's only black, molasses-stretching fear inside her.