“Somebody dead,” was her sarcastic response.
Naomi made a face and leaned back in the chair. “You ready now?”
“No. I gotta do a quick prelim before my full exam. Can you wait about forty-five minutes?”
Naomi pulled her phone out of her purse. “I’ll wait here.”
Niyah walked around her desk and kissed her sister’s forehead. “I won’t be long.”
Excited about lunch with her sister, she grabbed her hospital coat and hurried to exam room 4, leaving Naomi to entertain herself.
***
“So, how’s Naomi? What has she been up to?”
“Girl, she’s good, full of surprises, though,” Bella noted with a chuckle. “She showed up at my job and took me to lunch. For one, I don’t think she’s ever been to my job. And get this, the heffa actually paid for lunch.”
Bella laughed. “She wants something.”
“For fucking sure, she does. She was even asking about my work. Since when does she give two shits about what I do?”
Niyah frowned. Bella’s strained laughter was cause for concern. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She’d only been awake for a few hours. Niyah was so excited when her number had popped up on the caller ID. But the moment she heard her voice she could tell that she was not well.
“I’m okay. I’m beat the fuck up, but I feel okay. How are you? I heard you had a little bit of excitement down in the morgue.”
“To put it mildly,” Niyah scoffed, pushing through the double doors to walk into the hospital.
“I’m sorry about your intern, but I am so happy that you weren’t there when the killer came looking for that body.”
“You and me both,” Niyah admitted with a sigh.
She turned the corner to enter the hall that led to her office and froze. After a big step back, Niyah shielded herself behind the wall and peeped around the corner. The handsome Asian doctor from the night before was peering into her office.
“Bella, he’s here,” she whispered into the phone.
“Who’s there?”
“The dude from last night, the Asian guy who I bumped into right before Mario was murdered.”
“Oh, shit! What’s he doing?”
“He’s trying to get into my office.” Niyah eyes flew open when the maybe doctor pulled a handgun from the pocket of his white coat and turned the doorknob. “He’s got a gun!” Niyah blurted in a whisper.
“Get out of there! Get out of there now, Niyah!”
Niyah turned and took off down the hall. She tore through the double doors and ran toward the parking lot.
“Niyah, don’t go to your car! Go to that diner across the street.”
Niyah changed course and ran across the street.
“You there yet?” Bella asked.
Niyah caught her breath and responded. “Yeah.”
“Look around for an exit sign. When you find it, go and sit near it.”
