504: THE INTENSITY

LUKE'S POV My hands moved down my face as I exhaled deeply. "So you're really following through with this?" I asked the doctor inaudibly. My tone was low and calm because, at the moment, I was completely broken. The doctor's face softened, his features etched with pity. "I am," he said, his voice low and sincere. "I know this is hard for you, but I have to do what's best for your wife. And right now, that means keeping you out of the operating room." My legs buckled beneath me, and I sank to the floor. The cold tile bit into my knees, but I didn't feel it. All I could feel was the weight of despair, crushing me beneath its leaden bulk. "If he wants to stay here, then let him," one of the doctors said. My eyes went straight to him, and he continued, "His presence isn't going to affect any of us around here." I raised my head, hope flaring in my chest as the other doctor spoke up in my defense. The first doctor frowned, clearly torn between following protocol and