Page 81 of The Secrets She Keeps

But…maybe…one ofthemwould be there. Theother side.And they’d help her. Maybe…even…Dr. Lake. Murdoch’s twin brother. Heather liked twins, considering she had one of her own. She really hoped Joy was at FCGH right now. If not, Murdoch’s twin.

Yes, she’d go into the ER and ask for Murdoch’s brother, if Samia wasn’t there. Joy had said he was really kind. Compassionate. Sweet, even. He was friends with Cashie and Joy—both of them liked him. Trusted him.

And Joy said he had a crush on Samia. A real one. Samia said he didn’t. Heather thought he would be someone who could help her.

She would ask for him. Dr. Lake. Murdoch’s twin brother.

She half thought Murdoch was that way too. Compassionate anyway. If he hadn’t been ontheir side,she would like Murdoch; she decided that on block two of her walk.

Yes, in another life, she would have liked Murdoch. Would have considered him a friend. Like Miguel.

Miguel. Miguel was most likely out there, looking for her right now. And he would be utterly relentless until he found her. She did have one friend left at the TSP. One. That mattered.

The TSP.

She hated that place so much. But if she quit…

She couldn’t quit. She couldn’t. Heatherneverquit.

Her family would say that all the time. Heatherneverquit.

Heather kept putting one foot in the other. And she just kept walking.

People looked at her. As she walked by. But no one said anything to her. They just stared.

Someone, a man around Cashlyn and Cara and Hope’s age, jogged right up to her. He stopped right in front of her. Heather tried to go around him. But he got right in front of her. Blocked the sidewalk.

Why was he doing that? Heather just looked at him. Why wouldn’t he get out of her way?

“Lady, do you need help or something?” He had dark brown eyes and dark brown skin, short black hair, and a diamond stud earring. He wore jogging clothes, and he was muscular and sweaty. He was a lot taller than she was. Six three or four, maybe. He had kind eyes. That was what stood out the most. He had kind eyes. Like her father’s had always been. “Who hurt you? Were you in a wreck? Talk to me, so I can help.”

“I just need to keep going. I need to keep going until I get there. My sisters work there. They are probably waiting for me now.”

“Lady, you need the hospital. Do you want me to call an ambulance?” He was walking beside her. Just walking beside her. He tried to touch her. Just on the arm, when she stumbled.

Heather hissed, jerked away. “No. Please don’t touch me! My…my arm is probably broken, and it really hurts now.”

He held up his hands. “Okay, I won’t touch you. I won’t. It does look like it might be dislocated, as well. But I’m not going to let you walk alone with a broken arm. I’m just not. I’m just going to be here if you need help, okay? Just tell me if you need more help. We’ll get there together.”

“Okay. I just need to keep walking.” Heather did that. A part of her knew she was going into shock. And she hurt. Every stephurt.But she just kept going. “To FCGH. I’m going there. To my sisters.”

“Do you want me to call an ambulance? I can call an ambulance. We’ll get you to the hospital faster that way. I promise I’ll stay with you.”

“No ambulance. I can walk. I can’t…afford an ambulance, actually. Even with…insurance. I just can’t. Not right now, not after the other bills. From when I was hurt…before. I can walk. I am going to do it. I told those bastardsIwould walk out of that warehouse on my own two feet andtheywouldn’t. After they hurt me. I did it too. I walked out. They didn’t. I did. They didn’t.”

“I am sorry they hurt you. You are doing fine. I’m going to walk with you, right beside you, just to make sure you get there. We are seven or eight blocks away from FCGH now. Or County. We’ll just walk there together.”

Her sisters were waiting. And her baby girls. A sharp pain went through her breast—she hadn’t left enough milk in the fridge for the baby. But maybe there had been enough in the freezer? Summer kept track of everything in that freezer. Maybe there had been enough for her baby? If there was, Summer would have found it. Summer would make sure Ember had what she needed somehow; Summer was good at that kind of thing. At getting the things their family needed, even when they couldn’t buy those things. Summer would take care of her baby. “FCGH. My sisters work at FCGH. My nieces too.”

“Can you tell me your name?” The man just kept walking next to her. Calm and steady. She liked him.

“Heather. My name is Heather. And I am aColeson.That matters. I have to get back to my family.”

“You will. I’ll make sure of it. I promise.”

She almost thought she believed him. He did mean it, she thought. He wanted to help—he must not be a cop, then. Cops inthistown didn’t help. They didn’t.

Well, most of them didn’t. She was going to try to remember that some of the cops here weregood.

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