But he also understood now that running didn’t fix anything and it definitely didn’t save you from pain.
It just guaranteed you’d face it alone.
And he wasn’t letting Meg face this alone.Not if he could help it.
Meg taped up the last box of personal items from her office, the sound of the packing-tape gun echoing in the empty clinic.
Two days since she’d walked out of Noah’s hospital room.
Two days of barely sleeping.Of her mother’s words circling in her head like a prayer she wasn’t sure she deserved to say.We’re all broken, baby.But when we let the Lord shine His light on our broken edges, that’s when we get a beautiful kaleidoscope of life.
Sarah appeared in the doorway, her eyes red-rimmed.Puffy.“That’s the last of the paperwork.You are officially free for Pennsylvania.”
The wordfreelanded wrong.
“Thank you.”Meg forced a smile.“You’ve been amazing through all of this.”
Sarah crossed the room and pulled Meg into a hug.Tight.Desperate.“It’s not too late, you know.To change your mind.”
Meg hugged her back, blinking against the burn of tears.“I know.”
Did she though?
Did she really know that?Or was she just going through the motions, following a path she’d set because turning back felt impossible?
They pulled apart, and Sarah grabbed her purse from the desk.“I’m heading out.Are you sure you don’t want help loading your car?”
“I’m sure.You go on home.”Meg walked her to the door.“Thank you, Sarah.For everything.”
“Take care of yourself, Dr.Meg.”Sarah squeezed her hand once more.“I’m going to miss you.We all are.”
Sarah walked out the door as the words settled over Meg like a weight.
We all are.
Not just Sarah, but the whole community she’d somehow become part of without realizing it.The rangers who stopped by with their various injuries.The tourists she’d patched up.Eden with her quiet wisdom and technical knowledge.Nimue with her infectious enthusiasm and quick smile.
Noah.
Her heart clenched at the thought of him.
Two days, and the ache hadn’t lessened at all.If anything, it had grown stronger—a constant throb beneath her ribs that reminded her with every breath what she was walking away from.
She’d picked up her phone so many times to call him, but the memory of his face shuttering just before she’d walked out stopped her every time.That moment when hope died in his eyes.
She’d broken his heart.
The heart that had just started to heal after Mary.After three years of grief and loss and learning to live again.
She’d broken it in her fear, and she wasn’t sure he could forgive her.Wasn’t sure she could forgive herself for being the one to do it.
Her mom’s words echoed back.Love isn’t about being perfect for someone.It’s about being broken together and choosing each other anyway.It’s about forgiveness—forgiving yourself, forgiving others, accepting grace when you fall short.
Meg focused back on the task.Boxes stacked against the wall.Bare shelves where her medical texts had been.The examination rooms stripped of the personal touches she’d added.The watercolor canyon print.The succulent in the clay pot.TheStar Warsposter that made kids smile.
It looked like a place she’d never been.
And it all felt wrong.
