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“And take away from their precious time at the hospital while us lowly nurses do all the menial labor? I doubt that’s a good use of the hospital’s dollars.”
“I’m not sure this is either,” I sighed. “I guess I should look at it like a field trip.”
“Ms. West?”
I turned and nodded to the officer approaching the desk. “You must be here to take me to the school?”
“Yes, ma’am. Do you need to grab anything before we go?”
“Yeah, I’ll be right back.”
He nodded, tipping his hat to me. I hurried to the locker room and grabbed my things, but before I could leave, I was slammed up against the lockers and something sharp was pressed against my neck.
“You tell him he has until midnight,” a low voice hissed in my ear.
“Wh…what are you talking about?” I asked, my voice shaky and unsure.
“Just tell him,” he hissed.
His fist slammed into my side, making me double over in pain as he disappeared, leaving me alone and gasping for breath. I pressed my hand to my side, wincing at the pain in my ribs. On trembling legs, I lowered myself to the floor, leaning back against the lockers. I pressed my hands to my cheeks, wondering what he was talking about. Who was I supposed to tell? And why would he assume I would know?
“Hey, girl, I just—” Gina sucked in a breath when she saw me sitting on the ground. I shot her a shaky smile, hoping she would think everything was fine, but she could always see right through me. “What happened?”
She rushed over to me, hopping over the bench to kneel beside me.
“Nothing. I just got a cramp.”
“And decided to sit on the ground instead of on this nice, sturdy bench?” she asked in a disbelieving tone.
“I just…”
“Don’t you dare lie to me. I’ve seen enough women come through this hospital with the same old lies. I don’t need to hear that from you.”
“Gina,” I said, gripping her arm. “I need you to forget about what you saw.”
“Why would you ask me to do that? Girl, you know I have your back. Whoever did this, we’ll hunt them down and show them what it’s like when two strong women gang up on him.”
I chuckled, wincing as my side flared in pain. “I would love to do that, but I don’t know who it was.”
“You mean, someone came in here and attacked you? We can get the video feed from the?—”
“No,” I said sharply. “It was a man. He told me to tell him he has until midnight.”
“Him who?”
“If I knew that, I would tell you. I have no idea what he was talking about.”
“Wait, does this have something to do with the baby daddy?”
I was about to tell her no, but that actually made sense. “Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t ever see him. We don’t spend time together. But…”
“But what?”
“My neighbor saw him go into my house. And then all the money I had saved up disappeared. It had to be him.”
She knew exactly what it meant to have all that money disappear. I wouldn’t be able to run, and that meant sticking around for longer or taking my chances with nothing. “But if he stole all that money, why would someone come to you and tell him to hand it over by midnight?”
“I don’t know. I’m not even sure if he was talking about money.”
