The door slammed against the wall as I burst into the med unit. I bent over with my hands on my thighs as I tried to catch my breath. “Audrey?” I said when I had enough air.

“I’m in here!” She poked her head out of an exam room, and I hurried down the hall to her.

“You okay? I heard that your suit…” She paused as I entered the room and closed the door behind me, taking in the way I was breathing and the grin across my face. “Your skin is a little red, but you look fine, aside from that crazy grin. It’s kind of freaking me out.”

“I did it.” I wanted to yell the words but held back. Instead, I held out the paper to her. “I took the test.”

She snatched the test results from my hand, scanning it from top to bottom. “I can’t… From the way you’re practically dancing with joy and that grin, I know you passed, but I have no idea what this says. My medical degree isn’t helping me at all right now.” She leaned back against the exam table and held the paper out. “Explain.”

“That makes me feel better. I couldn’t figure it out either.” I grabbed it back and explained the scoring system.

“Wait. Are you telling me that you only missed three?”

I nodded, still trying to catch my breath. “Yes.” I knew that I could pass the test, but I didn’t think I could score this well on it, especially once I was taking the test. That part when I had to pick out the right tone was impossible. The tones played so fast with no option to repeat them. And some of the questions didn’t even made sense to me.

She huffed. “Now I’m a little disappointed that you got three wrong. I mean, why not the full hundred percent?”

A surprised laugh slipped past my lips. The giddy was fully bubbling over. “I don’t care. All I know is that this is a real shot at me not putting on one of those suits again.” This was honestly the best thing that had happened to me in a really long time. Years. I couldn’t even remember being this excited about something. Even Declan showing up had been a wash of mixed emotions. Hope that maybe we would get away without ever being caught, disappointment that my father wasn’t there, and the anxiety of waiting until we left…

Passing this test was something that I’d achieved on my own. I earned this result. The pride grew inside of me, making me feel like I was about to explode.

Being saved by someone was nice, but being able to save myself, that was a rush.