My heart stopped. Literally stopped beating for a full second before slamming back to life with a painful thud.
“Is - is Mika...?” I couldn’t finish the question. My throat closed up and the words refused to come out. “Is she...?”
Dead. I couldn’t say it. Couldn’t even think it. Mika with her purple-streaked hair and her dozens of piercings and her attitude that took no shit from anyone. Mika who had been my first employee, my closest friend, the sister I’d never had. She couldn’t be dead. She couldn’t be.
Before Vivi could answer, a police officer approached us. He was older than the one at the barrier, with gray at his temples and the weathered look of someone who’d seen too much in his career.
“Ma’am? Are you the owner of this establishment?”
I nodded numbly, still holding onto Vivi. My friend seemed ready to collapse if I let go, so I kept my arm around her shoulders and forced myself to focus on the officer.
“I’m Officer Daniels,” he said. “Can I ask you a few questions about what happened tonight?”
“Yes. Of course. Just-” I swallowed hard. “Can you tell me what happened to my friend first? Mika Callum. She was here when...”
Officer Daniels’ expression softened with sympathy. “From what we’ve been able to piece together, someone sprayed the exterior of your building with gasoline and was preparing to ignite it. Ms. Callum apparently witnessed this from her apartment window and came outside to confront the perpetrator.”
“She confronted them?” Of course she did. That was so Mika. Brave, foolish, stubborn Mika who never backed down from a fight even when she should have.
“Unfortunately, the altercation turned violent. Ms. Callum was stabbed. The ambulance arrived quickly, but she’d already lost asignificant amount of blood by the time the paramedics reached her.” He paused, his voice gentling. “She’s been transported to Pine Valley General Hospital. The paramedics were confident she would need surgery, but they were able to stabilize her for transport.”
Mika had been stabbed while defending my stupid, meaningless shop. A building that wasn’t worth a fraction of her life, and she’d nearly died for it.
My knees buckled.
Noah appeared out of nowhere, his arms wrapping around me from behind to keep me upright. I hadn’t even realized he’d followed me from the car. He must have been giving me space to process, waiting nearby in case I needed him.
I needed him now.
“Easy,” Noah murmured against my hair. “I’ve got you.”
“The arsonist?” I managed to ask, forcing the words past the lump in my throat. “Did you catch them?”
Officer Daniels shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. By the time officers arrived on scene, the perpetrator had fled. We’re canvassing the area and reviewing footage from nearby security cameras. If there’s anything useful, we’ll find it.”
“Okay.” My voice sounded distant, disconnected from my body. “Okay.”
The officer asked me more questions after that. My name. My contact information. When I’d last been at the shop. Whether Iknew of anyone who might want to harm me or my business. I answered as best I could, the words coming out mechanically while my brain screamed at me to get to the hospital. To get to Mika.
When he finally finished and handed me his card with instructions to call if I thought of anything else, I turned to Noah with tears streaming down my face.
“Take us to the hospital,” I said. “Please.”
He nodded and guided both me and Vivi toward the car, one arm around each of us. Vivi was still shaking. I wasn’t sure I was any steadier.
The drive to the hospital was a blur. I sat in the back with Vivi, holding her hand while she cried silently against my shoulder. My own tears fell freely, soaking into the fabric of my shirt. My brave, foolish friend. Why had she done that? Why had she put herself in danger for a building? The shop wasn’t important. Not compared to her life. I could rebuild a shop. I could repaint walls and replace furniture and start over from scratch if I had to.
I couldn’t replace Mika.
Pine Valley General Hospital was small compared to the medical facilities in Ravenshollow, but it was clean and modern and staffed by people who actually seemed to care. Noah dropped us off at the entrance and went to park while Vivi and I rushed inside.
The woman at the information desk directed us to the ICU with a sympathetic expression that told me she’d probably heard a version of our story a hundred times before. We followed herdirections through sterile white hallways that all looked the same, past doors with small windows and beeping machines, until we reached the intensive care unit.
They wouldn’t let us in.
Mika was in surgery when we arrived, and then in recovery, and then being transferred to a monitored bed where she could be watched around the clock. The nurses explained in gentle voices that ICU patients weren’t allowed visitors, that we could look through the window but couldn’t go inside, that Mika needed rest and quiet and specialized care that couldn’t be interrupted.
So we stood at the window and watched.
