Her own first day at New York Presbyterian had been equally overwhelming but in a different way. Paula had assigned her to shadow Dr. Katherine Morrison, a pediatric cardiologist who ran the cardiac unit with military precision and surprising warmth.

“Tina’s our new ICU nurse,” Paula had explained during morning rounds. “Eleven years of experience, including five in pediatric intensive care.”

“Good,” Dr. Morrison had said briskly. “We need someone who won’t flinch when things get complicated.”

Things had gotten complicated around noon when a six-year-old named Miguel was rushed in with complications from a congenital heart defect. Tina had found herself in the middle of a crisis that would have rattled her back in Sacramento, but here, surrounded by cutting-edge equipment and a team that moved like a well-oiled machine, she’d felt herself rising to meet the challenge.

“Nice work,” Dr. Morrison had said quietly as Miguel’s vitals stabilized. “You didn’t hesitate.”

“In pediatric ICU, hesitation can cost lives,” Tina had replied, and she’d seen something like approval in the doctor’s eyes.

By the end of her shift, she’d been exhausted but exhilarated. The work was more demanding than anything she’d done before, but it was also more rewarding. These weren’t just sick children; they were children who needed the absolute best care available, and she was now part of the team providing it.

Somewhere out there, maybe ten or fifteen blocks away, Bette was probably working late in her office or reading in her apartment or living whatever life she’d built for herself.

Tomorrow, Tina would disrupt that life. Tomorrow, she would take the biggest risk she’d ever taken and find out if ten years had been long enough for both of them to become the people they needed to be.

Tomorrow, she would find out if love really was worth crossing a country for.

But tonight, she allowed herself to feel proud. Proud that she’d gotten them here safely, proud that Carson was being so brave, proud that for the first time in her adult life, she was choosing courage over safety.

Ten years ago, she’d been too scared to fight for what she wanted. Tomorrow, she was going to prove that some people really can change.

The city hummed outside her window, full of possibility and promise and eight million stories unfolding simultaneously. Soon, she and Bette would be writing a new chapter in theirs.