The emergency room was too bright, too loud, too much. Brooke sat on the exam table, trying not to move her head as Gina worked on cleaning the laceration.
“This is going to need stitches,” Gina said, her professional mask firmly in place. But Brooke could hear the worry underneath. “Probably four or five.”
“Okay.”
“Brooke.” Gina’s hands stilled. “What happened out there?”
“I told you. I’ve told everyone. They came out of nowhere. I don’t know who. They wore a ski mask.”
Gina’s expression darkened. “Did they—”
“No. They didn’t. They just grabbed me and tried to pull me off the trail. I fought back, and then some hikers came, and whoever it was ran away.”
“Thank goodness for those hikers.” Gina resumed cleaning, her touch gentle despite the circumstances. “I called Steph to come sit with you. I’ve got another couple of hours on my shift, but I don’t want you alone.”
“Gina, I’m fine— ”
“You have a concussion. Someone needs to monitor you. It’s either Steph, or Phil, or your dad.”
Brooke closed her eyes. Phil would lose his mind. Her dad would, too, and that was a whole other level of drama Brooke didn’t have the energy for right now.
“Steph,” she said quietly.
“Smart choice. She’ll be here soon.”
While Gina worked, Brooke replayed what had happened. The attack had been so sudden, so violent. Random? Had to be. Wrong place, wrong time, some crazy person on the trail. It didn’t make sense otherwise.
But the silence bothered her. The attacker hadn’t said a word. Not a threat, not a demand, nothing. Just grabbed her and tried to—what? Drag her away? Hurt her?
“Hey, hey,” Gina said, handing Brooke a tissue. “You did great. You got away, and you’ll be fine.”
“I will,” Brooke whispered. “It’s just so weird.”
They tried to kill me. Brooke pushed the thought away. As Gina said, she was fine. Bruised, battered, and bleeding, but fine.
Gina finished the stitches and moved on to other patients. Brooke lay on the uncomfortable exam table, ready to be discharged. Gina said the doctor wanted to see her again before she was released and to just hang tight.
Steph arrived and sat in the chair beside the exam bed, her usually cheerful face tight with concern.
Deputy Boverman showed up half an hour later. When he entered, Steph stood and went to Brooke’s side.
“Ouch,” Adam said, making a face. “You’re okay?”
She nodded, regretting the movement.
“Don’t do that,” Steph said, touching her arm.
“No kidding.”
Steph turned to Adam. “Brooke gave her statement to the city police. They responded.”
“Yeah, the park is inside Irma city limits. I’m following up to determine if it’s connected to any of our county cases.”
“Such as?” Brooke asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Can you walk me through what happened?”
“I’m sure you can get a copy of the report.” Steph smiled, but there was a bite to her tone.
