Come Closer

by Brenda Rothert

  Her brow is furrowed, and her eyes are swimming with pain and guilt. I can’t help pulling her close to me.

  “Hey. You couldn’t have known he’d do this.”

  She shakes her head. “I knew he was capable. As soon as I saw in that book that he’d had people killed, I should have gone to the police. If I had, my sister would still be alive.”

  Pressing her face to my chest, she breaks down in tears. It’s the first time I’ve seen her give in to her sadness. She needs this.

  “You still have the book?” I whisper, my cheek resting on her silky hair.

  After a moment’s hesitation, she says, “It’s hidden. In Chicago.”

  I take a few seconds to process things. It was enough of a shock to find out it’s not Allison Cole I’m falling for, as I thought, but Ava. And she’s in danger. She also just spoke, and the first word she said was my name.

  I’m a problem solver. It’s a skill I learned in the military that still serves me well as a doctor. In life-or-death situations, I isolate the problem and create steps to solve it.

  “We need to find out who came into your room,” I say, talking to myself as much as Ava. “If I go to the Hawthorne administration with this, we might not find out who it was for sure. They’ll start questioning the staff, and word will get out.”

  “Is there any chance I imagined it?” She looks up at me. “I’ve been having dreams about him for months. I just can’t even . . . Has it been a real person all along? And what have I told him?”

  She looks like she might be sick, and from the dark circles under her eyes, I know she’s exhausted.

  “If you’d told him what he wanted to know, he wouldn’t keep coming back,” I tell her. “And from the needle mark on your arm, I don’t think there’s any chance you imagined it.”

  She sighs heavily.

  “Here’s what we’re gonna do,” I say. “I want you to ask Morgan to sit in your room with you for a few hours. I’ll give you something to help you sleep. And trust me to figure something out to catch the guy who came into your room.”

  “Don’t tell Dr. Heaton.”

  I narrow my eyes. “Is she bothering you again?”

  “I just have a bad feeling about her, Daniel. She asked me about the book, and there’s no way she should have known about it. Unless the police know about it. Maybe Dax figured out it wasn’t me they killed. I don’t know.”

  “Have I told you about my army buddy, Sam?”

  She scrunches her forehead in confusion. “No.”

  “We served in combat together. There’s no bond like that. And now he’s a detective for the Chicago Police Department.”

  There’s a flicker of hope in her eyes.

  “Do you trust me?” I ask her.

  “Yes.”

  “Then rest while I figure some things out. And don’t tell anyone else any of this.”

  She nods. “I don’t feel like talking to anyone else, anyway.”

  I wrap my arms around her, and she presses herself against my chest. It feels good. Ava’s trust in me makes me want her even more than I did before.

  There’s a knock on my door, and Ava jumps out of my arms. I put a finger to my lips so she knows to stay quiet, and then I walk over to the door and crack it open so whoever it is can’t see her.

  “Morning,” Sara says with a smile. “Did you forget the staff meeting?”

  “Oh, shit. I did.”

  She waits a couple seconds, then gives me an expectant look. “Well, let’s go.”

  “I’ll be there in a few minutes. Just have to take care of something first.”

  “We can’t start without you.”

  I hold back the impatient glare I want to give her. “Sure, you can. You guys know the drill.”

  She shrugs. “Okay. See you in a little bit.”

  I close the door and turn back to Ava. She’s standing with her arms crossed, looking a little more settled than she did earlier.

  “What are the stages of grief?” Her tone is quiet and controlled.

  “Uh . . . let’s see. Denial, anger . . . bargaining, depression, and then acceptance.”

  She nods. “I guess I’ve been in denial this whole time. It just hurt too much to really accept living without her. But now . . . God, it happened so quickly. Now I’m angry. So fucking angry. I want to kill Dax and those two men he sent to my apartment. I want them to feel what she did.” Her voice breaks and tears flood her eyes.

  “I understand. But one thing at a time, okay? I’m going to get some medication for you from the supply room. Meet me up in your room.”

  When she walks toward me, in the direction of the door, I’m drawn to her in a way I can’t resist. I wrap my arms around her again and pull her against me, lifting her feet from the floor. She cups my cheeks and kisses me softly.

  “Thank you,” she says against my lips. “For helping me and believing me. For everything.”

  “I won’t let anything happen to you.” I set her feet back on the floor and take a deep breath to compose myself before I open my office door and we walk out.

  Alli—I mean, Ava—puts her head down and makes her way down the hallway, toward the great room and the main staircase. I’m right behind her, on my way to the medical supply room, when I see Sara standing at the end of the hallway looking at me.

  For once, she’s not giving me a flirtatious smile. It’s more like a glare.

  Fuck. She saw Ava come out of my office.

  AFTER I GIVE Ava some medication to help her sleep and leave her in Morgan’s care in her room, I step in for the second half of the staff meeting. It’s all perfunctory stuff, and my mind keeps wandering to Ava.

  If someone is able to get into Hawthorne without authorization, in the middle of the night, no less, we have serious security issues. That concerns me, especially knowing how crucial security is for our Level Three patients. There are psychopaths up there who would feel no remorse over the crimes they could commit if they got out.

  I pull Tillman aside after the meeting. “Hey, will you be okay without me for a couple hours?”

  “Yeah. Everything okay?”

  “I just need to go into town for a little while. I’ll be back by this afternoon.”

  He starts morning rounds, and I go get the keys to one of the SUVs owned by Hawthorne. The dark Expedition doesn’t get much use because Joanne Hawthorne bought it for my use when she hired me, and I’m careful not to leave here unless I have to. Just because I don’t go out searching for the temptation of alcohol, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t find me.

  I normally don’t feel an urge to drink anymore, but the old craving is creeping in today. As soon as I’m away from the safety of Hawthorne, where there’s no alcohol, my body seems to react physically.

  The town of Greenville is only about twenty minutes away, and I decide to call Sam on the car’s Bluetooth to get my mind off drinking. I push the button on my cell phone, and it connects to the Expedition’s speakers.

  “Delgado,” he says when he answers. “How the hell are you?”

  I smile at the enthusiasm in his deep voice. “I’m good, man. How about you?”

  “Not bad. Busy with work. Where are you these days, still in Montana?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You like it there?”

  “I do. You should come up and go hunting with me this fall.”

  “Say no more. I’m in.”

  I clear my throat. “I’m actually not calling just to talk.”

  “Yeah, no shit. You never do. That’s why I haven’t talked to you in a year. What’s up?”

  I tell him about the open murder case, leaving out the part about it being Allison and not Ava who was actually murdered.

  “Doesn’t ring a bell, but I’ll look it up,” he says. “I’m doing gang enforcement these days.”

  “Kicking some ass?”

  He laughs. “Something like that.”

  “I need to know as much as you can get me on that case. As soon
as possible.”

  “You got it, brother.” He pauses. “Hey, you still clean and sober?”

  “Two years sober. I was never on drugs, dumbass.”

  “Good thing, since you’ve got a supply on hand. Don’t fucking go there, man. You’ve got a good thing going up there; I can tell by your voice.”

  I nod. “Yeah. You’re right.”

  “Okay, I’ll do some checking on this case and call you back.”

  “Thanks, Sam.”

  “Anytime.”

  I push the button on the Expedition’s dash to end the call, sighing deeply. He’s right. I’ve come a long way in the past two years. Ava’s counting on me. And Caleb . . . I smile as I think about his recent visit.

  This is my second chance, and I’m not letting the people I care about down. I drive past a liquor store and two bars in Greenville. Even though they aren’t open yet, I know I could handle the temptation if they were.

  My destination is a small gun shop downtown. I’ve bought shotguns here, and I know the owner, Pike, will have what I need. He’s one of those guys who has everything.

  I park and walk into the tobacco-scented storefront with purpose. Ava’s not the only one who’s angry. Whoever assaulted her last night is never getting away with it again.

  I JUST CAN’T RELAX. IT’S the third night since I told Daniel what happened, and I’m wondering if this will be the night the man comes back to prod me for answers.

  Or will it be another night of quiet, with me just pretending to sleep as I wait for someone to show up but no one ever does? Another night where I wonder whether the man is only a figment of my traumatized mind.

  After a drink of water, I return to my position curled up on my side with my eyes closed. It looks like I’m asleep, but it’s after 2:00 a.m. and I haven’t slept yet tonight. I’m tired enough, but the worry about what might happen if I drift off keeps me awake.

  If the man who injected me returns, Daniel will know. We’re actually hoping he’ll return so we can get some answers. And if he does, the tiny camera Daniel installed across from my bed will alert him. He set it up so the camera kicks on at 9:00 p.m., and any movement sends an alert to his cell phone. That drink of water I just had may have woken him up.

  He's sleeping on the couch in his office, though from the shadows under his eyes, I don’t think he’s sleeping much more than me. I’m so lucky to have him in my corner.

  For so long after Allison died, all I heard in my mind were the unending screams of my own grief. I was emotionally paralyzed, unable to imagine feeling anything but despair and hopelessness ever again.

  I’m feeling more now, though. Daniel sparked a tiny flame inside me that took a long time to grow into something sure. Something that won’t be snuffed out by the slightest breeze.

  Anger, desire, frustration, gratitude. I never thought there would be room for those feelings in my shattered heart again. He made room, though. Or maybe he made me want to clear the way myself. Either way, I’m alive again. It’s bittersweet, because it means I’m healing from Allison’s death, however slowly.

  I don’t deserve that. It should be me in that dark wood casket buried beneath the headstone marked with my name. She took my place and died the death that was meant for me.

  I’m replaying my final conversation with her, trying to recall every expression on her face and every word she said, when I feel myself being pulled into a twilight state. I’m fighting to stay awake, but it’s a losing battle.

  Movement wakes me up. I’m in a fog, my movements slower as I open my eyes and try to focus in the darkness.

  A big, dark form is practically flying across the room.

  “You better be scared,” he says in a low growl.

  Daniel.

  He pulls another figure away from my bedside, slamming them against the wall. From the groan of pain, I can tell it’s a man.

  The man who’s been asking me questions while I sleep. It was real. I feel a sense of relief and apprehension at the same time.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Daniel has the man pressed against the wall, his fists balled around two handfuls of his shirt.

  “Dr. Delgado,” he says, sounding alarmed. “I’m just doing my checks. I check every patient every hour.”

  “Bullshit. Try again.”

  My arm is heavy as I reach for the light on my bedside table. It takes me a couple seconds to switch it on, and when I do, I gasp with surprise.

  It’s Eric, a third-shift CNA.

  “I saw you,” Daniel grinds out. “I’ve got you on camera. That tape is going to the cops if you don’t talk right fucking now.”

  “No.” The panic in Eric’s tone intensifies. “Please don’t. I’ve got a new baby, and my girlfriend lost her job. I need this job.”

  “What was on that cloth you put over her mouth?” Daniel releases his hold on Eric but stays just a few inches away from him. Eric has to look up to meet Daniel’s eyes because Daniel is so much taller.

  Eric pauses before spitting out the answer. “Chloroform.”

  “Chloroform?” Daniel’s tone is low and ominous. “Empty your pockets right now.”

  He holds out a hand, and Eric gives him an apprehensive look.

  “I said now.”

  Eric reaches into the pockets of his scrubs and pulls out a tissue, his employee ID card, and a hypodermic needle.

  “What is it?” Daniel asks.

  “Sodium thiopental.”

  “You asshole.”

  Tears shine in Eric’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Dr. Delgado.”

  “Who put you up to this?”

  “I don’t know his name.”

  Daniel gives him a warning look. “Tell me everything you do know.”

  Eric looks around nervously. “It was in May. Right after my daughter was born. This guy came to my house and said he’d give me five grand to question Allison Cole. Another ten grand if I could get the answers he needs.”

  “And you decided to shoot her up with drugs to do it?” Daniel scowls at him.

  “She’s mute, man. What was I supposed to do?”

  “You were supposed to report that visit to me, not take the money and abuse one of our patients.”

  Eric gives him a helpless look. “I didn’t hurt her.”

  “Tell me more about the man who came to see you.”

  “He, uh . . . he’s a black guy with perfect teeth. And a nose ring.”

  Eli. I know from Eric’s description that it was Eli, who is Dax’s right-hand man.

  “How do you contact him?” Daniel asks.

  “He gave me a phone number to call if I get the information.”

  “What information?”

  Eric swallows nervously. “Who killed Allison’s sister. And if she tells me that, where the book is.”

  “What book?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Daniel takes two handfuls of Eric’s shirt and slams him against the wall.

  “I don’t fucking know, man,” Eric says. “The guy told me I was on a need-to-know basis.”

  “Did you call him?”

  Eric shakes his head frantically. “No. She never told me anything. All she does is say her own name over and over. Allison, Allison.”

  Daniel just stares at him for a second, and Eric pleads, “Please don’t report me. I need this job so much.”

  “I don’t need to report you. I’m in charge of all medical staff here. You’re fired.”

  “No.” Eric practically wails the word, tears welling in his eyes.

  “Don’t.” Daniel’s jaw ticks as he steps back and runs a hand through his hair. “You assaulted a patient. For money. You make me sick. You’re damn lucky I’m not going to the cops.”

  “But . . . my girlfriend’s car broke down, and—”

  “Stop talking.” Daniel takes out his cell phone and sends a text. “The night security guard will come get you and escort you off the property. And if you ever set foot on this campus again,
I will take that tape to the cops.”

  Eric just sighs heavily and nods.

  “How do you feel?” Daniel asks me.

  I’m still groggy. I meet his eyes, hoping he’ll get the message that I’m okay but still not fully myself.

  “Drink some water,” he says.

  Within a couple minutes, a Hawthorne security guard comes into my room and responds to Daniel’s instructions to escort Eric away. As soon as they’re gone from the room, Daniel comes and sits down on my bed. He takes my hand, running the pad of his thumb over my knuckles.

  “You okay?”

  I nod, still in a haze.

  “I have to go to Joanne Hawthorne about why I fired Eric. I’ll ask her to keep it between us.”

  “What else are you going to tell her?”

  He sighs softly. “I think I should tell her as much as you’re comfortable with. You’re in danger. We don’t know what else this guy did, or will do, to try to get to you.”

  “It was Eli. He works for Dax.”

  Daniel’s expression darkens. “You have to get out of here, Ava.”

  “And go where?”

  His hold on my hand tightens. “Anywhere. I’ve got friends who can hide you.”

  I shake my head, a new sense of determination taking over. “I want to go to Chicago.”

  “You can’t do that. You won’t be safe there.”

  “I need to go get the book and get it to the police. The only way I’ll ever be safe from Dax is if he’s in prison. That book has all the evidence they’ll need.”

  Daniel can’t disagree with me. His eyes are locked on mine as he thinks through what I said.

  “I need to do this,” I say, my throat tightening with emotion. “For Allison. Dax doesn’t get to just live his life after what he did to her. So either I get that book to the cops . . . or I kill him.”

  “Or he kills you.” Daniel arches his brows at me. “Have you even fired a gun before?”

  I shrug. “I know it’s not rational. But whatever I don’t know . . . I’ll figure it out. I’ll learn. I have money.”

  “You can’t do this on your own, Ava. I’m going with you.”

  I balk at his suggestion. “You have to be here. This place needs you.”