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Even after what he did to you last night? Even after what he was going to take from you?
I shudder at that voice in my mind, focusing instead on taking deep breaths through my nose.
“Ma’am, is everything okay?”
My head whips up, and I nearly keel over with relief at the sight of the blue police officer’s uniform. All they have to do is listen to my story and look at Sam’s wounds, and they’ll do something about it. The evidence will speak for itself.
“Officer, I need to talk to you!” I urge, adrenaline coursing through my veins as I peel my body off the floor. “It’s important!”
“Okay…” He eyes me with a guarded expression, crossing his arms over his sizable gut while he waits for me to elaborate.
“Sir, my friend in there was attacked!” I say, gesturing wildly in the direction of Sam’s room.
“I know,” the officer grunts, eyeing Sam’s door with a bored expression. “I just took the statement from your friend. He was jumped by a couple of homeless guys last night on Main.”
“Are you sure?” My mind reels. This makes less and less sense the more I learn. We were on Main Street for our date—why would he go back? To blow off some steam after what happened when he dropped me off? My stomach roils with guilt at the thought.
The officer eyes me like I’ll fly off the handle at any moment. “Yes, ma’am, I’m sure,” he says, looking like he would rather dip his hand in hot oil than continue this conversation. “My advice would be to go home and get some rest. You look like you could use some sleep.”
Rage lights my veins as I watch the thoughts flare in his dull brown eyes. Crazy. Unhinged, delirious woman.
“I’ll try,” I mumble, turning from him so he doesn’t see the outrage twisting my face. When he’s out of sight, I shudder, leaning against the wall for support when my knees give out.
What am I going to do? What am I going to do?
I jerk as my phone pings with a text, and though dread weighs me down, I pull it from my pocket, my fingers trembling slightly as I click to my messages. There’s a text from a number I don’t recognize, but as soon as I read the simple line of text, I know exactly who sent it.
Unknown:
Did you like my present?
The room spins, falling out from under me. Then everything goes black.
When I come to, I’m in a bed I don’t recognize. The only thing that stops me from leaping up in fright is the hospital’s tattered blanket wrapped around my shoulders. As I lie there with my eyes shut tight, everything comes flooding back. Sam, the text, the impact of the floor and my temple right before I passed out.
I’m so incredibly fucked.
“Lilly? You awake?”
My eyes shoot open to the sight of Drew, his brows drawn in a pained expression. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was the one who hit his head.
“Hey, sleepyhead.” His lips part as he reaches out, gently tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “You took a pretty nasty fall earlier. How’s the head?”
“Like a million tiny men are sledgehammering it from the inside. How long have I been out?”
Drew’s mouth pops to answer as the door bursts open, revealing a smiling Dr. Slater.
“There’s my favorite intern!” He strides over to the bed, flipping through the chart in his hands. “You took a pretty nasty fall, Ms. Hayes.”
“That seems to be the consensus.”
His eyes raise to meet mine, amusement flashing in their pale depths. “It seems you haven’t lost that dry sense of humor. That’s a good sign.”
I fiddle with the IV attached to the top of my hand. “So can I get back to work now? I’m behind as it is.”
“You don’t need to worry about that, Ms. Hayes,” Dr. Slater mumbles, diverting his attention to the chart. “I’m prescribing an evening’s rest.”
My mouth pops open in indignation, but Dr. Slater’s look has my words dying in my throat. “Your body was close to crashing, Lillith. When’s the last time you slept?”
