She rushed into the elevator and tried to close it before he got there.
He slid his foot into the track to stop it. The sensor recognized the obstruction and the doors slid open again. “Nice try.” He stepped in behind her and pressed his back against the wall.
Neither spoke. He tapped his fingers impatiently against the wall. Dammit. It was like he was channeling Dizzie. Why wasn’t she pushing the button for the floor?
“You okay?”
She shook her head. Blond tendrils shivered against her neck. “No. I hate this place.” When she wasn’t animated by anger, she looked wan. Sadness radiated off her.
“I’m sorry.” He hated this place, too, and he hadn’t spent nearly as much time here as Portia had.
“And I really hate the tenth floor.” She looked directly ahead and addressed her words to the door.
“Is that where we’re going?”
She nodded, but didn’t press the button. He reached past her and did it himself.
“Dammit, Killian!” Instead of anger, her words carried anguish.
“We need to get moving.” Since he was 99 percent sure he’d seen her outside the hospital, Killian knew it was a long shot that they’d find Dizzie on the tenth floor. There was still that 1 percent, though. He needed the certainty.
“I was getting there. I needed to prepare,” Portia said as the elevator began its descent.
“For the coma floor?” He was being a dick, but he had to find Dizzie.
“For the floor where my mom died, asshole. Remember?”
Shit.He’d forgotten. When they’d been in middle school, Portia’s mom had been diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer.
“I’m sorry, Portia. I didn’t realize this was the same floor.”
She shrugged, but there was no energy in it.
As he watched, her spine stiffened and she shed her memories, cloaking herself in her usual armor.
He’d forgotten that was how it started. She’d come by her Ice Queen nickname the old-fashioned way—by being a bitch—so it was easy to forget that the first time she’d needed the armor was when her mother had died.
“It doesn’t matter.” Her tone said otherwise.
The elevator stopped and Portia exited first. She moved slowly, as if her memories weighed her down.
“After my mom died, this whole floor was gutted and completely remodeled. Dad didn’t want any reminders.” She turned and gave a bittersweet smile. “If he could have removed the entire floor, he would have.”
Killian understood. His grief for Tommy battered at him. If the woman he loved had died here, he wouldn’t want the reminder.
The tenth floor was surprisingly quiet. Only one nurse sat at the station. Otherwise, the floor appeared empty. It gave him the creeps. The sooner they finished their search and left this floor, the better.
“Where do you want to start?”
Portia was already moving, the tracker held stiffly out in front of her. She approached the nurses’ station. “Excuse me. We need your help.”
Killian trailed after her. The desire to search for Dizzie pulled at him, but Portia had the tracking program and he couldn’t risk her finding Dizzie first.
The lone figure hunched over the computer didn’t acknowledge their presence until Portia coughed. Loudly.
“What’s your rush? These patients aren’t going anywhere.” The nurse propelled a small figure across the screen with his finger.
Wow. If he was playing video games at work, he should keep his eyes on the elevator and his screen facing the other way.
