Emily Zorich blinked her eyes several times while she swallowed past the driest throat she’d ever felt in her life.

Two seconds later a man leaned over her, smiling. He set a hand on her forehead soothingly. “Emily, can you hear me?”

She furrowed her brow. Why wouldn’t she be able to hear him? She had no idea where she was, but God had been on her side if this man was her doctor. She licked her lips and cleared her throat.

“You don’t have to try to speak yet. Just blink for me.”

She did as instructed, batting her eyes several times.

“Good.” He beamed, extremely pleased with her ability to blink. What the hell? Had she been in an accident? She searched through her mind and came up blank.

“Relax,” he crooned. “You’re going to be okay.”

She attempted to lift a hand and found she didn’t have the strength. Only managing to wiggle her fingers, she at least assessed she wasn’t paralyzed.

The gorgeous doctor was joined by several other doctors and nurses, but Emily couldn’t keep her eyes open. As soon as someone adjusted the IV bag near her head, she drifted off.

* * *

The next time Emily awakened, she was startled to find the same doctor in her room. He’d been sitting in a chair near her side and jumped to his feet as she turned her head his direction. His infectious smile was huge.

He also set a hand on her forehead once again, stroking her skin soothingly with his thumb. “How do you feel?”

She parted her lips, swallowed, and found her voice. “Like I’ve been in a coma.”

He chuckled. “That would make sense. Do you remember what happened?”

She closed her eyes, focusing. She knew this room. In fact, she too was a doctor. She worked here. She was a hematologist. She was working on a cure for anemia AP12.

And then she’d gotten sick… Had she somehow lived?

No… She’d been cryonically preserved.

Her eyes popped wide. “What is today’s date?”

He smiled again. “You remember. That’s great.”

Her hand felt leaden, but she managed to lift it enough to grab onto the doctor’s wrist. He seemed vaguely familiar. His smile. Those dimples. Did she know him? “You brought me back?” She hadn’t really believed it was possible. A long shot.

“Yes. Well, my team did.”

She glanced around, still holding his wrist, the contact grounding her as if she might otherwise float away. The room looked normal. She was still in the bunker. At least she wasn’t on a spaceship or another planet. If she’d had the energy, she would have laughed at her rambling thoughts.

There were two other people in the room. They looked…relieved? Pleased? She didn’t know them.

He flipped his hand over and clasped hers, gripping it tightly. He was real. “You’re going to sleep a lot for several weeks. Your body needs the rest as we pump you with nourishment and fluids.”

She met his gaze again. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I know.” He cocked his head to one side. “I want to make sure you’re stable before I answer too many questions. This is all going to be a shock to you.”

“How long?” she demanded as someone else came in the room and then checked her pulse. Everyone’s faces dropped as their brows furrowed. What were they keeping from her? “How long?” Her voice was louder that time, and she squeezed his fingers tighter. Or perhaps it simply seemed like it.

He twisted his body to halfway sit on the edge of her bed, bringing his other arm across her and propping himself over her, his face closer to hers, his expression serious. “Ten years.”

She gasped. “My God.” She jerked her gaze around the room again. There was new equipment, some machines she didn’t recognize. A few more people were in the doorway. And then she yanked her attention back to the doctor’s unwavering presence. “The others?”

“You’re the first. We thought you might want to look at the data before we injected you with the AP12 cure.”

Her eyes widened. “So, I’m still sick?”

“Yes, but the fact that we filled your body with clean blood will buy you time.”

“You developed a cure?”

“Yes.”

“Has it been tested?”

“Yes. It has worked to cure thousands of people in the last several months.”

“Then what are you waiting for? Why do you need me to look at it?” Her mouth was so dry.

He must have realized this because he sat up straighter, released her hand, and picked up a cup from the bedside table. A moment later, he offered her an ice chip. As he watched her lips, he spoke again. “We have no way to be sure the disease hasn’t mutated enough to render the cure ineffective on you.”

“Who developed it?”

“I did. Me and my team.”

“How long have you been working on it?”

“From the moment you were preserved. It was my entire life’s work until a few months ago.” His voice dipped, and he lowered his gaze to the cup in his hand before taking a deep breath and meeting her eyes again. “I’ve done all the research I can. Everyone in this bunker has spent years of their lives developing the cure. I have every confidence it will work, but there’s time. So, as a professional courtesy, I waited for you to look at the data first.”

She relaxed her shoulders slightly. He was right. With a fresh blood transfusion that would have completely replaced her own blood from before being preserved, she would have time. Weeks perhaps.

“We also developed an immunization that will eventually eradicate the disease. Everyone working here is immune. And we have drugs that drastically slow down the effects. I’ve already administered them to you. You shouldn’t even notice the symptoms. Although it will take several days for you to have the strength to sit up, and then weeks of physical therapy to get your muscles to respond properly to instructions from your brain.”

“How do you know so much if I’m the first one you’ve brought back?”

“There have been others. Several people have been reanimated at the cryonics facility in Arizona. Two of them survived the process. They only lived a few weeks, but I’ve studied what little information was released concerning their progress. None of them had been preserved before clinical death, however, so your situation is different. Your body was still functional when you were vitrified. That makes your case unique.”

She concentrated on every breath. I’m first. The others are still in suspension. “Why did you choose me?”

“You were the most knowledgeable about the cure. Your research is the most advanced. I’ve read all your notes. I’ve memorized them. I could recite them in my sleep.”

She searched his eyes. Deep brown. Beautiful eyes. Mesmerizing. Sleep was tugging at her, but she powered on, wanting to keep talking. “Your entire adult life has been dedicated to AP12?”

“Yeah.”

“What will you do now?”

He smiled. “There are seven other diseases currently being researched in this bunker. I’ve already shifted some of my time to those other projects.”

She returned his smile wanly, her eyes too heavy to continue, but for some reason she was relieved to know he wasn’t going to leave Project DEEP anytime soon. Even though she felt like she’d only been asleep for a few days, she still craved human connection. Particularly from this kind doctor who proved to be such a calming presence.

He squeezed her hand. “You need to sleep more. The next time you’re awake, I’ll bring you some of your research and something to eat. You’ll need to start slow and give your digestive system a chance to wake up, but I think you can handle something small. What’s your favorite food?”

“Do you still have McDonald’s?” She grinned without opening her eyes. “Seems like it’s been a decade since I had fresh, hot fries.” She slid into slumber again before she could hear his response.