Ava stands in the hospital's chilly, antiseptic corridor, her heart thumping. The antiseptic odor permeates the air, a stark reminder of where she is in her choice. The door ahead leads to the surgery room, where the final chapter of her twisted identity will be revealed.
Today, the face she has worn for so long will no longer be hers following the surgery. The person she transforms into will return to her proper position, and she—Ava Go—will regain what was stolen from her.
She takes a deep breath and looks at her father, Dr. Lee, who is standing behind her, dressed in surgeon's scrubs. His eyes are serious yet kind, the same eyes she has always known, even when her face does not like the daughter he once knew. He lays one hand on her shoulder.
"Are you ready?" he says calmly, as if this were any other surgery as if the weight of her whole identity wasn't about to shift in a single operation.
