Niyah kept her fingers pressed against Mario’s carotid artery and ran alongside the gurney to the elevator. Once they were inside, a nurse wrapped a blood pressure cuff around his arm. She squeezed and used a stethoscope to check his blood pressure. After a frown, she released the air from the cuff and started again. When she was done, she looked up with a concern-filled frown. “BP is 60 over 40,” she announced.
With a blood pressure that low, Mario didn’t have much time. But he was still alert and conscious. He was fighting. Thankfully, when they got off the elevator, there was a team of medical personnel waiting. After the ER doctor ran through his assessment to Dr. Cherry, the vascular surgeon, they were directed into operating room 3.
Niyah leaned forward and used her other hand to brush his dark hair out of his. “Hang in there,” she whispered. “The surgeon is scrubbing in.”
Mario closed his eyes and sighed as if relieved. Seconds later, Dr. Cherry was standing next to her. “I’ll take it from here,” he said in a calming tone.
He pressed his finger next to Niyah’s and pushed hers away from the surgical field. After taking two steps back, Niyah breathed her own sigh of relief.
“We need the room,” Dr. Cherry declared.
Niyah nodded. “The room is yours,” she acquiesced with a sigh.
She left the operating room, silently reciting a prayer for Mario’s survival. Niyah walked down the hall to the nearest bathroom and entered. She walked over to the sink and pumped a ball of soap into her hand. After turning the water on, Niyah glanced in the mirror. She was covered in Mario’s blood. It was like a scene from a horror movie.
Since her scrubs were a lost cause, Niyah washed the blood from her hands and face and then left the bathroom. She took the hall to the elevator. When it arrived, she stepped in and selected the button that would take her back to her exam room. On the third floor, a bell dinged, signaling that the elevator had been summoned.
Niyah backed into the corner and waited for the summoner to enter and be horrified by her appearance. When the doors separated, she was surprised to see Donatella entering the elevator. Her mouth flew open at the sight of Niyah’s blood-covered scrubs. “What the hell happened to you?”
Niyah dropped her head. “It’s a long story.”
“Wow,” Donna marveled through a heavy breath. “You look like you’ve been hiking through a nightmare.”
“Yeah. I’m sure,” Niyah agreed. “How’s Lucas?”
“He’s out of surgery. That’s all I know. Actually, I was just coming to see you.”
“For?” Niyah asked as the elevator landed on her desired floor.
“Bella is little tied up, but I wanna take a peek at the shooter and your report.”
Niyah nodded and stepped off the elevator. “I’ll show you what I have so far.”
Donna looked down at the trail of blood, leading to Niyah’s exam room. “What the fuck happened down here?”
Avoiding the blood, Niyah walked alongside the wall. “My intern was attacked.”
Donna waved her hand over the floor. “Damn,” she exclaimed. “Did he survive?”
“So far,” Niyah muttered.
She pushed the door to the exam room open and stepped aside for Donna to enter. “He’s right inside. Gimme a minute. I gotta call the police.”
Donna chuckled. “I am the police.”
Niyah raised a brow. “When I need some dope sold or a freaky prostitute, I’ll call you. But for this, I think I’ll call 911.”
“Whatever,” Donna scoffed. “I got enough shit on my plate anyway.”
Niyah laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
But her laughter was clipped by the empty exam table. “Where’s the body?” she gasped.
CHAPTER 15
DONATELLA
Donna needed to fill the family in on the happenings in the morgue. But when she entered the waiting area, the Creeds were in the middle of what seemed like an intense debate with the hospital staff.
