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She smiled at the investigator, knowing very little about him but finding him friendly from what little time she’d spent with him. “I’m fine. Just ready for things to get back to normal, whatever that means.”

“Not to bum you out or anything, but you know you won’t get back to the normal you remember, don’t you?”

She glanced at his profile, bewildered. “What do you mean?”

“Chloe told you about what happened to her?” At her nod, he continued. “She and I have gotten to be close friends through all of this. She would be the first to tell you, after you survive an attack like that, it’s hard to go back to life as if it never happened.”

“My situation is different from hers. Zane got there before I was actually…” She couldn’t bring herself to say the word.

“You were assaulted, Bridget. Whether he raped you or not, he attacked you. I don’t mean to upset you by bringing this up. I was thinking, Chloe comes here sometimes for a support group meeting. I forget the name of it, but she said it’s helped her a lot. I know you haven’t worked here long, and I thought you might like to know.”

She could see the turn in conversation left him uncomfortable, and her heart softened. This tall muscular guy who was armed and ready to protect her from any unforeseen threat was trying to show her compassion and support. She smiled at him, hoping to ease his nervousness.

“Thank you, Sam. You didn’t upset me, I promise. I know you’re right, and I think I’ll check the support group out. I’m sure my supervisor can tell me which one it is.”

He nodded, satisfied with her response, and their conversation trailed off. When the elevator doors swooshed open, butterflies appeared in the pit of her stomach, and she hesitated before stepping off the elevator.

“You okay?” Sam asked.

“Um, yeah. I just…I don’t know. I’m nervous, but I’m not sure why.”

He placed a hand on her shoulder and waited for her to glance at him. “I’ll be close by all night. You say the word, and I’ll get you out of here.”

His offer did make her feel better even if it didn’t chase her nervousness away. “Thank you. I’ll be fine. I think it’s not knowing how people are going to react when they see me. I just want a normal shift.”

“The sooner you get the initial few minutes out of the way, the sooner you can get to your normal shift.”

She smiled. “Right. Here goes.”

She showed Sam where he could wait, and then she walked up to the nurse’s station. Amy was on shift but barely acknowledged her standing there before she was up and heading into a patient’s room. With a sigh, Bridget took her usual seat and started familiarizing herself with the patients on their floor.

“You’re here.”

Bridget had become engrossed in work, so she hadn’t noticed Charlotte walking up to her from the other side of the desk. She held her breath as she turned to face her supervisor, whose expression was unreadable.

“I’m here. I’m sorry for having to bail on my shift yesterday. I just need a few minutes to catch up on patient files, and then I’ll get to work.”

Charlotte moved closer and dropped in the chair next to Bridget. “I’m sorry. I should have called to see how you were doing. I…I didn’t know if you were up to talking or…I didn’t know what to say.”

Bridget released her breath. “I didn’t know how people were going to react about me or how much of what they heard was true. Are they blaming me? Do they know the whole story? Has Seth told people a version to make them hate me? I wasn’t really up to knowing what was being said.”

“What people are saying or what they know is not important. If someone is rude to you, please let me know, and I’ll handle it. If you need more time, I can call in someone to take your place for this shift. I want to be here for you.”

“I need to work a normal shift. That’s the best thing for me right now.”

Charlotte smiled. “Then that’s what you’ll get. Mr. Stutler has been asking after you.”

“I saw he was back. What’s wrong?”

“Gallstones. He’s better. He’ll be released tomorrow probably.”

“I’ll go check on him. Oh, and um, I’m sorry. I know you warned me about Seth, and I didn’t listen. I was stupid.”

“No, you weren’t. What I knew of Dr. Masters never gave me an inclination he would try to force himself on you.”

Bridget saw Amy return, though she kept her distance from them. Amy didn’t seem to pay attention to what they said, but she decided it was better to end the conversation now.

“It’s in the past now. I want to focus on work. Oh, and in case you’re wondering —” She pointed over to where Sam sat staring at his phone, though she was sure it was more for show. He likely had his eye on everything going on and every person present on this floor. “That guy is with me. He’s sort of watching out for me while I’m here. Just in case. He won’t be in the way, I promise.”