The charge nurse looked back at me, and I could tell she’d already put two and two together. Then she asked, “You witnessed the shooting?”
“I…”
Before I could answer, two Atlanta police officers walked into the trauma room with hospital security right behind them. One of the officers looked around until his eyes landed on me.
“Is she the witness?” he asked.
The charge nurse nodded. “Yeah.”
The officer walked over. “I’m gonna need you to step outside with us.”
I looked back at the man lying on the bed. “I can still help.”
“You already did,” the charge nurse said. “We’ll take it from here.”
Everything inside me wanted to argue. Walking away from him felt wrong, especially after fighting so hard to keep him alive, but I knew I didn’t have a choice.
I slowly pulled off my gloves, my hands trembling more than I wanted to admit, and started toward the door. I’d only taken a few steps when I heard somebody call out behind me in a fragile voice.
“H-Hey…”
I turned around and found the man staring straight at me. Blood stained his lips as he struggled to lift his hand, his fingers barely moving while he fought for another breath. Something told me he wasn’t just reaching… he was trying to tell me something.
I took a step closer.
“Nia,” I said, keeping my eyes on him. “I think he’s trying to say something.”
Nobody looked up. The room was too busy, and every doctor and nurse were focused on saving his life. His eyes never left mine as his mouth opened and closed like he was trying to tell me something, but no words came out.
Then, without warning, the steady beeping of the monitor changed into one long, piercing tone.
“He’s coding!” Somone shouted right before the room went into full chaos.
2
VICE BLACKWELL
Iwas halfway through telling the contractor everything that was wrong with the floor plan when my phone started vibrating across the conference table.
Nobody even looked in its direction because they already knew better. When my phone went off during a meeting, it wasn’t anybody else’s business unless I made it theirs.
“We’re not squeezing another twenty tables in there,” I said, sliding the blueprint back across the table. “People don’t come to Blackwell’s to eat shoulder to shoulder with strangers. Open the dining room back up.”
“Vice, that’ll cut seating by almost?—”
“I know exactly what it’ll cut.”
He didn’t say shit right away as he cleared his throat before nodding. Then he went, “I’ll redraw it.”
“You do that.”
I leaned back in my chair, letting my eyes travel around the room. My assistant sat off to my left, typing notes faster than anybody could talk.
The room stayed quiet as everyone waited for me to say something else. Before I could, my phone started vibrating again. I glanced down at the screen and saw Mace’s name, thehead of my security staff. I declined the call and shifted my attention back to the meeting.
“If that’s all,” I said, looking around the room. “We’re done for the day. We’ll pick back up tomorrow.”
Chairs scraped across the floor as everyone stood, gathering their notes and heading toward the door. Before anyone could make it out of the conference room, my phone rang again. Three calls in less than two minutes. Mace didn’t call me three times unless somebody was dead…
