Each person had value.
Each life was important.
So what happened?
Did the medical situation become too much? Too overwhelming? If that was the case, someone could simply walkaway and let the State step in. In a way, that was what was happening now anyway. But the girl’s parents could have done that without abandoning her.
Or had she seen something? Been somewhere she shouldn’t have been? Was that why someone had tracked her down in the hospital and tried to silence her permanently?
Had they thought she was already dead by leaving her in that alley, and then somehow realized she’d been found and decided to make sure she would be eliminated while in the hospital? That was quite a risk to come into the hospital and inject her with whatever drugs had filled that syringe. That indicated she had seen or heard something concerning.
Someone came up behind her, and Bridget startled.
“Sorry.” The deep voice slightly lowered her concern. Todd leaned against the cabinet next to her, and she relaxed. “How are you feeling?”
“I’ll have a headache, but I’ll be okay.”
“Glad to hear you’ll make it.”
“Yeah. Did you learn anything at security?”
He shook his head. “I need to know the approximate time that the person was in here before we review the video.”
She tried to think. “Maybe eleven? I think you’d been gone about an hour.”
He nodded. “That fits about when I got back. I just missed the incident.”
“Probably. I’d been here and talked with Dr. Miller. She’d decided to free up this room and really encouraged me to leave.”
“Was she overly pushy about that?”
“Why do you ask?”
He frowned and rubbed his nose. “I don’t know.”
“You think she was involved.” The thought bothered Bridget, but only because it had flitted at the edge of her thoughts, too.
“It sounds crazy.”
“Not any crazier than someone trying to kill this girl in the hospital.” Bridget looked at the small girl in the overly large bed. “I can’t reconcile the doctor with that idea, but I do think we need to consider it.”
“Excuse me, but we’re here to move the patient.”
Bridget looked up and noted the techs in the doorway. Todd stood and then helped her to her feet.
“I’ll go review the security footage. You stay with her.” He nodded toward the bed.
“Yes, sir.” She tried to make the words flippant. But as he strode away, she felt his absence.
It was only as she settled into the new room on the ICU floor that she allowed herself to wonder why.
CHAPTER 7
Afew hours later as the sun began to peek through a crack in the curtains covering the window, Bridget stepped out of the ICU into the waiting room to find Dani Jamison waiting for her. The woman wore perfect makeup, wide-leg jeans, a crisp, white shirt, and a red blazer. She looked classy and ready to step on-air the moment a camera pointed her direction. At the same time, she carried two cups of to-go coffee and a bag.
“I’ve brought sustenance for you.”
“Thank you.”
