Chapter 266


    Chapter 266


    Waking up with a headache that felt like a marching band was ying in her skull, Leanne dragged


    herself out of bed, took a shower, and got dressed for work.


    While sitting in her clinic, she asionally massaged her temples and swallowed a painkiller, which


    only slightly eased the difort.


    By noon, after a morning of back-to-back patients, she stepped out of her office just in time to hear the


    receptionist, buzzing with excitement about some snow. Leanne paid it no mind.


    Heading to the cafeteria to grab lunch, she bumped into Selina, who seemed to have just snapped out


    of a daze.


    Both she and Joy had partied too hard the previous night. Joy was so exhausted she couldn’t stop


    yawning.


    “Surviving a night out and then working the next day. What a curse!” shemented.


    “Why don’t you sneak in a nap?” Leanne suggested.


    Ms. Turner didn’t quite grasp the survival tactics of the working dead. Joy, unabashed, retorted, “With


    my stunning looks, the boss keeps an eye on me all the time. No chance for naps.”


    Then, turning to Leanne, she asked, “When did you leavest night?”


    “I’m drawing a nk.”


    Leanne genuinely had no recollection of how she got home. That bottle of whiskey wa small, but


    mighty.


    “Weren’t you the ones who brought me home?”


    “Nope,” Selina said. “We were both out cold and woke up at Devin’s ce this morning.”


    “Tell me about it! We were sprawled out on the floor, and that idiot didn’t even bother to cover us with a


    nket. I almost caught a cold” Joy grumbled.


    “That must’ve been Devin who took you home,” Selina chimed in with a hint of jealousy in her voice.


    “Special treatment, huh? I’m not getting him a birthday present next time.”


    “Must’ve been because I passed out early,” Leanne guessed.


    Devin was notorious for ousting them all. By the end of the night, he probably didn’t even know his


    name, let alone be in any state to take anyone home.


    After the brief chat, Leanne excused herself, only to be intercepted by Amy, bursting with excitement.


    “Did you see the snowman outside the clinic?”


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    The sweet and sour pork she had picked up was overly rich, almost making her


    gag. After


    having her soup, Leanne replied nonchntly, “You’re finally hallucinating from overwork. There’s been


    no snow. How could there be a snowman?”


    Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    snow!


    “It’s real!” Amy insisted, grabbing her arm and dragging her outside.


    The recent warm spell had coaxed the young and fashionable back into their light, vibrant outfits.


    Yellow forsythias were blooming along the walls, and the rose bushes were unting their first buds.


    In such a season, the sight of arge snowman in the hospital courtyard was utterly incongruous.


    Passersby gave it curious nces. Initially, Leanne thought it might be a fake, part of some


    atmospheric decor, but their hospital wasn’t known for such whimsy.


    Besides, winter had passed. What was the point of a snowman now?


    Upon touching it, she was surprised to find it was made of real snow.


    “I told you,” Amy said with all curiosity. “Who in the world put it here? Where did they find snow this


    time of year? It’ll melt before long. What’s the point?”


    “I have no idea.”


    Leanne was as puzzled as Amy about who would go to the trouble of cing a snowman there,


    offering a fleeting touch of whimsy to the spring.


    Amy joked, “The carrot nose is real, too. Let’s take it back for our soupter, haha.”


    Leanne stooped to get a closer look, noticing its eyes were made of round and ck grapes.


    It reminded her of the snowmen she used to build with Curtis. But he had been keeping his promise to


    stay away from hertely. There were many people who could use grapes for snowman eyes. It


    couldn’t necessarily be him.


    The snowman became the talk of the day among the hospital staff and patients, drawing a small crowd


    throughout the afternoon.


    Snowmen were nothing new in Stonebridge, a town ustomed to heavy winter snows. But a


    snowman appearing in springtime like a traveler lost in time was warmly weed.


    No one knew who had ced it there.


    Undeniably, its unexpected appearance added a sprinkle of surprise and delight to Leanne’s workday.


    Whenever she had a moment, she found herself drawn to the window, looking down at the melting


    traveler. Despite the warm Stonebridge, it was losing its form, fading away in


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