YELENA

I dropped into my chair the moment I stepped into my office, the door closing behind me with a dull thud.

My whole body ached.

The smell of antiseptic still clung to my skin, sharp and cold, mixing with the faint metallic scent of blood that never truly left a hospital, no matter how clean it looked.

My fingers twitched slightly as I rested them on the armrest, like they still remembered every cut, every stitch, every second of the surgery.

It had been a long one but it worked.

I ...