Detective Harris spoke up. “We’ll also notify the security staff about what happened tonight. If anybody suspicious shows up, they’ll know to call us immediately.”
I glanced at him but didn’t say anything. My mind had already drifted somewhere else.
Who the fuck were these people?
Why were they talking about me before Sam got shot?
What was Sam trying to expose?
None of it made sense to me, but I was going to get to the bottom of it, if that was the last thing I did.
3
MILAN RIVERS
By the time I made it home, I was beyond exhausted. I’d spent the last several hours answering questions, replaying the shooting over and over for detectives, and trying to convince myself there wasn’t anything else I could’ve done.
I dropped my bag by the door and headed straight for the shower. The blood on my scrubs had dried hours ago, but I still couldn’t stand the thought of wearing them another second. Twenty minutes later, I climbed into bed hoping I’d get at least a couple hours of sleep before I had to be back at the hospital.
It never came, though.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Sam stumbling toward me with his hand pressed against his side. I heard the gunshots. I heard myself telling him to stay with me. Then I’d remember the doctor walking into that consultation room and telling his family there wasn’t anything else they could do.
I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling.
Maybe if I’d gotten to him sooner...
Maybe if I’d started applying pressure a little faster...
Maybe...
I sighed because deep down, I knew better. The logical part of me understood that a gunshot like that wasn’t something I could fix in a parking garage. I’d done exactly what I was trained to do, but the woman inside me wasn’t trying to hear any of that.
My phone started ringing before I could disappear down another rabbit hole. It was my sister, Mariah and I answered on the second ring.
“Girl… don’t tell me you just getting home,” she damn near yelled.
I let out a tired laugh. “Is it that obvious?”
“Milan, it’s almost eight o’clock in the morning.”
“I know.”
“You were supposed to call me.”
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back deeper into the pillow. “I know.”
She let out one of those dramatic sighs only Mariah could pull off. Then she said, “I’ve been sitting here worried sick, wondering if I needed to drive over there and beat on your door.”
That made me chuckle.
“You would’ve woke up the whole apartment building.”
“And?” she shot back. “I would’ve been okay with that if it meant making sure my sister was alive.”
The smile faded just as quickly as it came.
“I’m okay.”
