"I was in a terrible state of mind that day. I went to find your father to discuss the treatment plan, and when I pushed open his office door, you were sitting at his desk, reading." lan offered a faint smile. "You looked so startled. I must have scared you with my temper."

Eleanor turned away, but the memory was sharp and clear. She had brought her father dinner, and since he wasn't there, she had started reading one of his books. A loud bang from the door had made her jump, and she had looked up to see lan, his face like a mask of ice, glaring at her with cold fury.

"That's not what I want to hear," she said, turning back to him, refusing to let him draw her into the past. "I told you to stick to the point. Tell me what happened between you and my father."

lan's gaze held hers, his voice low and firm. "That *is* the point. Everything that came after happened because I met you. You were the link between me and your father. You were the only light in what was the darkest time of my life."

Eleanor's frown deepened. She hadn't come here to reminisce or listen to his sentimental recollections.

"If this is all you're going to talk about, then we have nothing left to discuss." She stood up, ready to leave.

"Fine, I'll tell you," lan said quickly, changing his tone. "I'll tell you what you want to know about your father."

Eleanor bit her lip and sat back down, her eyes fixed on him.

lan sighed. "My father's condition worsened six months later. The exact cause of death was never determined. Your father asked me to donate his body for research."

Eleanor's breath caught in her throat. *Cause of death undetermined?* What did that mean? Had there been a mistake? A delay in treatment?

As if sensing her thoughts, lan looked up. "Your father did everything he could. I don't blame him in the slightest."

Eleanor blinked. She knew her father would have done his best; she remembered his exhaustion during that period.

"After my father passed away, I signed the donation agreement," lan continued, looking at Eleanor. "I

know it was a cold net

disrespectful to my father and family, but... I signed it anyway. Do you think I'm a cruel, heartless person?"

Eleanor didn't want to pass judgment on him, but an opinion formed nonetheless.

"I don't know. But from a medical standpoint, your decision was incredibly significant."

A flicker of something-relief, maybe understanding passed through lan's eyes.

Eleanor looked down. If her father had received his body for research, what kind of research was it? Deep pathological analysis might required destructive sampling. An autopsy. The thought made her

fingers clench. For a young man

who had just lost his father, that would have been an almost

unbearable cruelty.

For a moment, she couldn't bring herself to ask the next question. If that was the kind of research her father needed to do, lan must have signed a mountain of paperwork.

"Later, I had the car accident and was brought to your father for treatment. Regardless of anything else, before we were married, your father was the only doctor my family and I trusted."

Eleanor swallowed hard. His story

after the accident was her story. Her

father had told her, and she had

immediately taken a leave of

for

absence from college to care him. Now she understood why her

father, who had initially opposed her

decision, had eventually agreed.