I Was His Wife, Then His Widow, Then No One's But My Own novel Chapter 435

Nora kept the phone pinned to her ear as she hurried up the stairs. "Send me the latest data along with yesterday's metabolic curves. Also, tell Lucas Kent to pull the original CT scans. I need to see the raw imaging, not just screenshots of the reports."

She pushed her bedroom door open and stepped inside.

Downstairs in the living room, Xander and Bonnie stood in silence, watching Nora's silhouette vanish around the corner of the staircase.

Bonnie was the first to break the quiet, her sweet, childish voice piercing straight into Xander's heart. "Dad, does this mean we can't go on the honeymoon?"

Xander looked down into the little girl's massive, wide eyes. A wave of helplessness washed over him before he managed a soft, resigned smile. He sighed. "Mom has to go save someone. A honeymoon can always be rescheduled, but some things can't wait."

Bonnie tilted her head, trying hard to process his words. She wriggled out of his arms and trotted back upstairs to her own room.

A few minutes later, Nora emerged fully dressed. She looked at Xander with deep guilt in her eyes. "I'm so sorry. There's an emergency at the Institute that I have to handle. I might be back late."

Xander walked over to her. "It's fine. I'll drive you."

Nora shook her head. "You don't need to. I can drive myself. You go take care of your work."

With that, she turned and hurried out the door. Xander stood there, watching her retreating figure, pressing his lips together. For a fleeting second, he felt like a neglected, pouting husband, and the thought actually made him chuckle at himself.

"Have we discussed the variables?" Nora asked, her brow furrowed.

Nathaniel Cross slid the preliminary data analysis across the table. "We have three working theories. After reviewing the numbers, Professor Vance leans toward the third—that she's developing a resistance to the current targeted therapy. But he insisted you make the final call."

Nora nodded, flipping through the logs rapidly. After a moment, she delivered her verdict. "Drop the dosage by ten percent to start. Add a dynamic monitoring panel—draw blood every morning and evening. We'll observe her continuously for a week. If her numbers stabilize and return to baseline, we maintain the new dosage and proceed. If the fluctuations continue, we immediately initiate Plan B."

She glanced around the room. "How is Annabel holding up emotionally? Who is communicating with her this week?"

"Dr. Kent is handling it," Nathaniel replied. "Annabel doesn't know yet. We just told her the medication might be affecting her appetite. Aside from that, she seems perfectly normal."