Page 34 of Dr. Do-Right
“Yes, it’s…” He paused, and I heard a low murmur in the background. “Rija, we’ll have to talk about this when you’re here. But you need to go.” His words reached me right as Asher knelt down beside me.
“Miss Sanchez, we need to move out now. It’s a lot easier to secure your apartment than it is to lock down the whole hospital.” His warm green eyes didn’t seem overly flustered or concerned, but his hand on my arm, urging me out of the chair, spurred me into action. I tried not to sway on numb feet when I stood.
“Right, I have to go. Crap, I don’t have any of my stuff.” Even as I spoke, Asher lifted my work bag from the floor at his feet, offering it to me. I took it automatically.
“We took the liberty of retrieving your things from your locker to speed things along.”
His hand on my upper arm pushed me gently to the doorway while I stared down at the bag in my hand. I hadn’t even noticed it sitting there. My other hand was still clutching Asher’s phone to my ear, where I could hear Mal breathing softly. I shook my head to clear it.
“My locker was locked.”
He fished in his pocket before pulling out the familiar hot pink combination lock. “No sweat.” I blinked as he slid it into the outside pocket of my bag.
“O-okay. I—Director Caplan, I have to—”
Caplan nodded, waving me on. “We’ve already started calling people to handle your shifts this week. Be safe, Rija. We’ll see you soon.” He sounded more confident than I’d ever been in my entire life. I wanted to take comfort in his optimism, but I still felt like I was scrambling for a foothold.
It was a struggle to keep my legs and breath steady as Asher led me back down the hall. He murmured something into hisearpiece. The same one I’d seen on my driver on my way to the gala. I sucked in a breath.
“Rija?” Mal asked in my ear, still on the line.
“All that security at the gala. That was for you? For this?” I remembered the security guards at the apartment that night, too. The ones I’d seen around the lobby over this past week. We used to only have one night guard. Why didn’t I realize it before now?
In the two beats he paused before responding, my heart sank into my stomach. I knew his response before he even said anything. “Yes.”
A burst of air left my throat. Like a sob or a cry or a shout. Maybe all of them put together. Asher’s hand on my shoulder squeezed. “Why didn’t you tell me, Mal? You’ve been dealing with this all by yourself? Has this…have all those ‘work emergencies’ really been about your stalker?”
“…Yes. I’m sorry, Kitten.” My chest squeezed, more tears rolling. Just a few minutes ago, I’d been worried about my mother sniping at me, and for the last few weeks, Mal’s life had been in danger? I could have lost him and never even known there was anything to be worried about.
“It’s really not that big a deal,” Mal assured me. “I received a threat that she’d try and get to me at the gala. It was quick work to put a screening team out front.”
“Not a big deal?” I sobbed again, air trapped in my lungs.I could have lost him.
“It’s their job, Ri. I know…it seems like a lot. But I promise, everything is fine. This is…completely routine.”
He was lying. I could tell he was. He was minimizing this situation and the danger he was in to make me feel better, to ease my struggling, sawing breaths.
I needed to get to him, right now, to see that he was alright with my own two eyes, and then shake him until whatever had come loose in his brain popped back into place.
Everything else seemed so insignificant now: My parents’ disapproval, Sonia’s reaction to our relationship…none of it mattered. Mal mattered. Sonia mattered. I needed to be with them, right now. We’d figure everything out, together.
“Where’s Sonnie?” I asked, refusing to address his absurd claim that this was all routine. We’d discuss that later, in person, in private.
Asher ushered me through the door to the stairwell, pausing when I did. When I gave him a questioning look, he just pointed down.
“On her way to the airport. She’s safe, I swear. She’ll be here tonight.”
“Okay. Okay,” I repeated, eyeing the stairs, unsure if my shaky legs were up to the task. I turned back to Asher. “No elevator?”
“Exfiltrate,” he nodded with a smirk. “We’re going to be a bit sneaky.”
“Okay.” I started down. “I’m coming, Mal.”
“Yes, good, just get here and we’ll talk. We’ll figure everything else out, Ri, I swear.”
I gulped, gripping the phone so tightly I could feel the ridges of the case on my finger pads. Next to me, Asher eased the duffel bag out of my hand and tossed it over his shoulder. I hadn’t even noticed I’d been struggling with it. Now that it was gone, I realized it had been heavy. Had they emptied my whole locker in there?
I had too many questions and hardly any answers. Just stairs. Ten floors’ worth of them.
