I welcomed fair competition from anyone, but I absolutely refused to accept them assassinating my character.
And that included Ferris.
Perhaps my resolute attitude caught them off guard, because for a moment, the three people opposite me remained dead silent.
I had no desire to waste another breath on them. Slowly retracting my gaze, I turned on my heel to leave.
But I hadn't taken more than a few steps before my vision went entirely black, and my body collapsed uncontrollably toward the floor.
I didn't know if it was just my imagination, but right before my eyes slipped shut, I swore I heard Ferris frantically calling my name.
"So before you even knew the truth, what right did you have to publicly crucify her?" A warm, gentle voice echoed intermittently by my ear. "Those two interns might not know any better, but don't you, Ferris?"
It sounded like Leon.
But why would Leon be in my dreams?
"Aren't you getting a little too worked up, Dr. Lennox?" A sarcastic, icy voice drifted in. "In what capacity are you lecturing me?"
"I..." Leon seemed to choke on his words, stammering, "I just think that as someone who prides himself on objectivity, you were far too reckless this time. It was incredibly unfair to Dr. Hayes."
"Dr. Lennox is right. It was my and Zelda's fault. If it weren't for us, Selena wouldn't have fainted. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."
The young woman's guilt-ridden voice filtered through. From the sound of it, it was definitely Zoey.
"Stop apologizing, Zoey. It's not like we physically made her pass out..."
The overlapping chatter rose and fell, giving me a splitting headache.
It was so loud. Too loud.
I let out an irritated sigh and slowly fluttered my eyes open, immediately catching sight of the familiar ceiling lights above. Looking closer, it was exactly the style used in our inpatient ward.
"Dr. Hayes, you're awake?"

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