Rene raised an eyebrow when she said that.

"...all right, fair enough..." he said.

"No mentioning her to Kalin." he parroted.

"And just say your name, eh? All right then, Emelie." he commented further with a smirk.

"You came at JUST the right time." he told her.

"But... as you have just all but straight out told me... that is not a coincidence at all."

"......this world continues to amaze me." Rene muttered.

He then sighed, and left his office, making his way to the room Kalin was in.

He knocked on the door and poked his head in.

"Kalin?" he asked.

"We need to discuss something." he said.

"Something serious, I'm afraid."

Rene shut the door behind him, and made his way over towards her.

"It's about your schooling." he said.

"More specifically, your presence there." he told her.

"It seems that you'll be a magnet for trouble if you go back... possibly to the point where... you won't be as lucky as when you knocked on my door." he commented.

"That being said, I realize giving up is NOT an option." he said further.

"Do you have anywhere else to stay?" he asked her.

"Well, your statement about dorms and nothing else is... well... it's not technically true." Rene responded.

"See... well... I live in a townhouse." he told her. "I used to live in a suite apartment, but when the building was involved in a major legal fiasco, I decided it would be bad for my image as a doctor to remain there." he went on.

"But there were no other suites available in the city, and it wouldn't look good for me to be in a smaller apartment either. So I got a townhouse." he explained.

"And there's a LOT of unused space, there." he said further.

"Space that... well... I'd consider renting out." he told her.

"And I can be very flexible on a payment plan, even agreeing to waive rent for however long you're in school." he added, coughing into his hand.

"Oh, a while still." Rene responded.

"Odds are at least another couple of weeks before they'll consider you in good enough shape to release." he said.

"Of course, it might be a little longer or shorter, depending on your recovery, but 2 weeks is a safe estimate." he went on.

"And I know it's sudden and a heavy thing to just hear." he then said further.

"Truth be told, I'm surprised I'm offering, as I normally don't get THIS involved in my patient's lives." he admitted.

"But... what can I say? Life's trying to beat you down, you're trying your hardest to succeed and rise above it, and I want to make sure you do that, no matter what."

"I know." Rene responded.

"But I'm just saying that the option is on the table for you." he told her.

"I want you to know that you DO have some choices in this manner." he went on.

"However desirable they may or may not be is entirely up to you." he continued.

"At any rate, now that that is out of the way, I will take my leave." he told her.

"Let you work, and ponder the offer I've given."

Rene nodded in response, and left the room to let her think. As he walked down the hallway, he thought further to himself, mostly thinking about the future.

"Hmmm." he mumbled.

"Might need to try and think of other options for her." he told himself.

"It'd be good for her to have more options." he reasoned... even though his mind was a blank.

Kalin needed a safe and secure place for her studies... and he couldn't think of many places that she could do that, not with the dorm being the exact opposite of that for her.

The one she was talking to just smirked.

"Oh, I'm not saying they don't." they replied.

"They weren't able to finish the job, so they deserve what's coming to them." they told her.

"However, it seems that YOU cannot take a hint." they went on.

"That's why I'M here."

Sure enough, as soon as she reached for the button, she felt his hand on her wrist, his grip so tight, it was painful.

"See, that's where things will be different." he told her.

"I know how to get rid of you, and make it seem like I was never involved." he said further.

He then dug into his pocket, and produced a small glass container, with a greyish liquid in it.

"It'll be just like you had a mysterious heart attack."

"GAH!" the man yelled, as the needle was jammed into his wrist. He then grabbed the tube and ripped it out, but seeing as Kalin had undone the clasp, it was a bit late.

As the medication leaked onto the floor, he growled at her, before getting in close.

"Why you..." he growled, as he tried to force the liquid close to her mouth.

"Just disappear already!" he exclaimed.

"Just... just... why won't..." he then mumbled, his speech starting to be noticeably slurred now.