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“Fourth,” Raina finally announced just as the door opened. “Oh…” Grinning at me, she nodded. “You probably knew that better than I did since you were born and raised in Westport.”
I sent her a tight smile as I stepped into the elevator. “Want to make sure no one’s going to be there to greet me when the door opens on Four?”
“Oh, sure. Good idea.” She popped out of sight, only to reappear a second later. “Get off on third. Get off on third right now.”
I pushed the button forthree, and the elevator paused its ascent to the floor below the intensive care unit. “Maybe we should take the stairs,” I whispered as we were let off into a darkened corridor.
“Do you even know where the service stairsare?” she asked.
I pointed to a nearby sign hanging from the ceiling that showed a picture of stairs.
“Ah.” She brightened. “Sweet.”
As soon as I entered the stairwell, she zapped ahead of me to play lookout, only to scare the ever-loving crap out of me again when I reached the door to the fourth floor because she popped her head through the center of it.
“It’s a bit dicey out here, but if you stay quiet, I think you’ll be okay.”
I lifted one eyebrow before saying, “Define dicey.”
She winced. “The nurse’s station is, like, right there, but they sit with their backs to this door. So…”
“Great.” Shaking my head at her to let her know this was crazy, I eased the door open as quietly as possible and crept into the hall.
Two nurses were talking in muffled voices from their station, but neither of them glanced my way when I slid into the ward.
“Let’s try this hall first,” Raina suggested, jarring me when she didn’t even attempt to use a quiet voice.
I nodded and hurried after her as she added, “I’ll check the left side, and you can check all the rooms on the right. Sound okay?”
I bobbed my head again, afraid to talk. And we started off, darting into the rooms across from each other. I shuddered at the old man with tubes connected to him, then cringed at the child sleeping in the next room with an adult passed out in a nearby cot.
In the third room, the patient looked as if she could be Raina’s age, but her entire head was swathed in white gauze. She was also intubated with a machine breathing for her. Needing to be sure, I crept slowly forward until I could make out her distinct square-shaped face and alabaster skin.
Swallowing thickly, I took in the bruises around her eyes and small scratches marring her cheeks and arms. Other than that, she looked perfectly whole and untouched.
“Nothing yet,” Raina said, appearing in the doorway. “Are you having any—?” When she saw herself on the bed, she slowed to a stop and merely blinked.
“Found you,” I said quietly.
She inched forward, only to pause next to me as if afraid to go any closer. A second later, her eyes widened in horror. “My head—my head is wrapped. Do you think they had to shave me bald?”
“No,” I told her softly before I reached out and picked up an auburn curl that was peeking out from the bottom of the gauze and had been resting on her shoulder. “Look.”
“Oh—oh, thank God.” Easing another step forward, she reached out her fingers to touch her physical hand, only to pull her arm back and shake her head. “I didn’t feel that at all.” Then, glancing at me, she admitted with tears in her eyes, “I have no idea what’s supposed to happen now.”
I shook my head. “Neither do I.”
“I feel as if I should stay here,” she admitted, sitting down in a side chair as she watched herself.
“I get that,” I said. “I’d probably want to stay with my body, too.”
Tearing her gaze away from her physical form on the bed, she sent me a sad smile. “Thank you, though. Thank you for coming with me and breaking into the hospital so I didn’t have to do this alone. I—I really appreciate it. Just… Thank you for everything, Foster.”
I nodded, feeling as if I shouldn’t leave either of them, but I had no idea what else there was for me to do.
“Do you need anything?” I asked anyway.
She furrowed her brow. “No. I—what could you even do for me?”
