The Year I Stopped Being His novel Chapter 575

Lawrence Sterling did not bow his head.

He straightened his spine, holding his short, silver hair impeccably high, looking as though he were merely running late for an academic conference.

The police cruiser sat parked at the bottom of the steps. The red and blue strobe lights spun silently, casting alternating flashes across his aged face.

At that moment, a man stood at the very front of the police line.

He was draped in a dark, long overcoat. Beneath the coat, the pale blue collar of a hospital gown peeked out. An IV cannula was still taped to the back of his left hand, the edge of the medical tape fluttering slightly in the wind.

He stood there, his gaze locked dead onto Sterling.

Watching his mentor being escorted down the stone steps, across the lawn where he used to play soccer, and toward the car with the flashing lights.

Before stepping into the cruiser, Sterling turned back to look.

Across dozens of yards of crowds and police tape, across decades of history and betrayal, he saw Garrison Foster.

The two men held each other's gaze from a distance for a fleeting moment, and then Sterling suddenly smiled.

It was a brief smile, exactly like the one he had given when Garrison first met him.

It was a brief, faint smile, exactly like the one he had given when Garrison first met him.

He had just turned eighteen back then, standing in the freshman orientation hall at Riverdale University's medical school with his suitcase, surrounded by unfamiliar faces and a chaotic din.

Sterling had stood on the podium, his gaze sweeping over hundreds of naive, wide-eyed students, before suddenly offering a faint smile. He picked up the microphone and spoke a single sentence. His voice wasn't loud, but it silenced the entire hall.

"The most important thing in medicine isn't skill, and it isn't fame—it's heart. When you become doctors, remember this: the scalpel in your hand can only be used to save lives, never to harm."

That had become the guiding faith Garrison adhered to for the rest of his life.

Sterling turned his head back, ducked, and slid into the back of the police cruiser. The door slammed shut with a heavy thud, as though an entire era had violently brought down its curtain behind him.