Conrad arrived inside the hospital. He had taken an earlier flight back, alone, to surprise Julia. None of the conferences in the afternoon were of interest to him, and he was missing her. Devon, on the other hand, had decided to stay until the end as he had come across some med school friends.

He went up to the surgical floor and looked at the board. Julia wasn't scheduled in any of them.

"Conrad? Wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."

He looked away from the board and smiled at Randolph. "I took an earlier flight. Have you seen Julia around?"

"Not recently, I've been in surgery. I saw her maybe a little less than an hour ago. She was headed to the C level basement to scout out a room for the upcoming skills and training trauma lab."

"Level C. Do you remember where?"

"C163, I think. But I'm sure she's done by now and probably on one of the floors or in the ER."

Conrad smiled. "Great thanks."

He quickly checked the other floors then headed down to the ER, but no one had seen Julia in a while. It dawned on him that she might have left the hospital already, most probably wanting to head home before coming to get him later that evening at the airport as planned.

He took his phone out as he walked out of the hospital and dialed her number.

"You've reached the voicemail of Doctor Julia Adams. I can't take your call right now. Please leave a message and I'll call you back as soon as I can."

He hung up not leaving a message, then raised his head. He narrowed his eyes as they landed on the parking lot, and he saw Julia's blue Hydro Toyota Mirai. She hadn't gone home.

He headed back inside the hospital and waited for the elevator to reach the lobby. If she was still in the C-level basement, it was probable that she didn't have network coverage, hence why her phone had gone to voicemail.

"Now turn around, slowly."

Knowing he was armed, she obeyed, slowly and reluctantly turned around until she was facing him.

"Well, if it isn't my unfavorite neurosurgeon," she said.

He smiled at her devilishly. "I knew you would be trouble. I asked Kim to keep a close eye on you, but I guess he let his guard down."

"But not you, apparently."

"Oh, Julia, if you knew how I've been keeping tabs on you. In the beginning I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt but then when you and Conrad started, whatever it is you have going on, I knew it wouldn't take long for him to win you over in his attempt to bring Red Rock Medical down."

She let out a nervous laugh. "It's almost insulting that a man as intelligent as yourself can be so wrong. Conrad never once talked to me about taking down Red Rock Medical, and I never brought it up."

He seemed confused. If Hawkins hadn't been the one to lead her to them then who had? "It doesn't matter," he said, "because this ends here."

She was scared but then she remembered how her father had told her to be strong. Even knowing he was going to die he had remained strong and dignified, and she needed to do the same, she couldn't be a coward. Everything she had done had been worth it, she only regretted not having more time with Conrad. She had the ultimate conviction that it could have become such a beautiful story.

"You're going to kill me?"

Conrad walked out of the elevator and looked around. He had no idea where the room was and so he wandered down the halls looking at the room numbers as he went by, turning in various directions in the underground maze. His ears perked up and he stopped walking as he heard Julia's voice.

"You're going to kill me?"

"It's not personal Julia, it's business, but I promise to make it quick."

His heart started racing. It was Cain's voice. He started racing down the corridor then slowed down as he saw the open door.

"I was right about you, you are the devil, Barret. Go ahead, pull the trigger, I'm not afraid to die. I'd never forgive myself if I lived and didn't bring to light your scheme."

What happened next went by in a flash. Conrad walked inside the room and called out Cain's name to get his attention away from Julia. It worked; Cain turned around.

Conrad had come inside ready for a battle, ready to save the woman he had fallen in love with, ready to die for her if he had to, but it was without knowing that someone in the room was ready to do the same.

Julia's eyes grew wide with fear. He shouldn't have been there, what was he doing here?! She looked at Barrett and saw the look of satisfaction dancing in his eyes, she knew he despised Conrad more than her. She then shifted and saw the look of war and fury in Conrad's eyes. He wouldn't back down or go down without a fight.

In slow motion, she watched as Cain smiled and raised the gun toward Conrad. She had lost so many people she had loved to tragedies, to evil people like Cain, and she needed and wanted it to stop. She hadn't kept Conrad out of all of this to have him die now. Her father's words rang in her head; 'Be strong, don't cry, and shoot for the stars.'

Conrad was the star that had slowly brought her out of the dark and led her to where she was today; happy and hopeful.

As Barrett cocked the gun and put his finger on the trigger, Julia jumped in between him and Conrad.

The sound of two consecutive gunshots was heard echoing in the room all the way out in the corridor, along with a muffled groan.

"No!" she heard from behind her, where Conrad had been standing in the doorway. His voice was filled with rage, anger, pain and almost disbelief.

Julia looked at Barrett for a few seconds. If she hadn't looked down and seen the blood, she would have sworn he hadn't shot her. Then the burning sensation hit her like a tidal wave followed by excruciating pain, as she placed her hands on the impact sites, her lower and upper abdomen. She stumbled backward and hit one of the pile of boxes and slid down to the floor as she looked at Conrad.

Before Conrad could lunge at Cain, either to disarm him or kill him, he felt something heavy and hard hit the back of his head, sending him in the darkness.