“Just tell me!”
He took out his phone, casting a bright light on his dark face. “He’s alive. Now shut up.” He made a call as I squirmed on the ground, my consciousness slipping.
He’s alive.
“Hey, it’s me,” Samuel said from far away. “I need someone to pick me up. Yes,now. We have a fucking problem.”
*
When I awoke some time later, my mouth tasted like ash, and my head was spinning like a washing machine. I was lying on a hard mattress, a thin blanket covering me. When I tried to move my right leg, a sharp pain sliced through me. I gritted my teeth, carefully reaching to touch the bandage around my thigh. It felt tight and secure. I was wearing only underwear and a gray shirt, the same kind of shirt I’d worn years ago. Anxiety and relief collided inside me. I achieved my goal of reaching Hayden—assuming he was truly here—but the plan had not been to end up a prisoner as well.
Tammy.I had no idea how severely she’d been hit or if my damaged car could have taken her to safety.
I glanced around, taking in the small, windowless room with the bare beige walls. A toilet and a shower cubicle were on the other side of the room. A nightstand next to my bed held a bottle of water. I reached for the bottle, but my unsteady hand caused it to fall to the floor and roll away.
“Dammit.”
I lifted the blanket and tried to sit up, grimacing at the awakening pain in my thigh. With my back against theheadboard, I called, “Hey!” I needed information and for someone to help me pick up the bottle. “Hey!”
No one answered, and my head pounded from raising my voice. I carefully maneuvered my legs off the edge of the bed, then placed my left foot on the floor. With that accomplished, I gingerly placed my right foot down as well, trying not to put pressure on it. Pain shot up immediately, but not enough to stop me. I rested my hand against the wall and moved to stand, then hopped on my left foot closer to the bottle, which had rolled to the other side of the room. I managed three hops before my head began to spin, the walls shifting around me.
Shit.
Trying to keep myself stable, I couldn’t avoid putting pressure on my right foot. A lightning bolt shot up my spine, and I collapsed to the floor with a cry. The door opened seconds later, but I was in too much pain to look up.
“Give him a shot,” Samuel said.
“No!”
“It’s for the pain, Jonah. And where the hell were you trying to go?”
“Water,” I wheezed as another man I didn’t recognize crouched next to me. He injected me with a syringe above my bandaged wound. Moments later, the pain began to subside, and what felt like a thick cloud spread behind my eyes.
“Don’t fight me,” Samuel said as he leaned to pick me up. He placed me on the bed and went to retrieve the water.
“Call me if he needs more shots,” the other man said. “He shouldn’t stand for a few days.”
“Didn’t you say you’d bring a wheelchair?”
“Did I? Oh, yeah. Knew I forgot something.”
The shitty doctor left, and Samuel handed me the water. I drank most of the bottle before catching my breath.
“Do you need to use the toilet?” Samuel asked.
“No.”
“We got the bullet out, but you shouldn’t put any weight on that leg.”
“Fine. Do you know what happened to the woman I was with?”
Samuel shrugged. “She could be dead. I didn’t stick around to look for her, but I know for sure she didn’t follow us. Who was she?”
“Someone. Where’s Hayden?”
“Somewhere.”
I bit back my anger. “Who can I speak with about him?”
