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“Oh,” I said, shoulders sinking as I realized he was right. But also, what other choice did I have? It wasn’t like the world stopped turning because someone shot me. The electric company and my landlord wouldn’t care if I was a little afraid to go back to work. I didn’t have the luxury to just… stop going.
“I have to go back to work,” I told him, thinking of how much work I’d already missed out on. And I didn’t even have my phone anymore. The senator was likely losing his ever-loving mind.
“You can’t.”
“What choice do I have? I have a job to do.”
“For a man working with someone who tried to kill you.”
“If I want him to go down for this, I have to catch him talking to them.”
“You won’t be able to catch him talking to them if you’re dead.”
“I’ll be more careful.”
“How?”
“I’ll… order a ride-share to and from work, so I won’t be walking on the street. And I’m safe at work. There’s too many people around.”
“That’s incredibly risky.”
“I understand, but I don’t have the luxury of just not going to work.”
To that, Elian sucked in a deep breath that had his shirt expanding over his solid chest. “I understand,” he said. “But I don’t like it. And I’ll encourage you to think hard about it before you make a decision. Better to fall behind in bills than end up in an early grave,” he said.
“I will think about it,” I told him. I would be doing nothing but thinking about it for the rest of the day. “Thanks for, you know, saving me today,” I said.
“You don’t need to thank me for that,” he said, reaching into his pocket to produce his wallet, then pulling out a card that said nothing on it, save for a phone number. “Here. Take this,” he said, handing it to me. “If you ever need help, let me know.”
“Thank you,” I said, placing the card on my counter as we walked past it on the way to the door.
“Make sure you take care of those stitches,” Elian said as he moved into the hall.
“I will.”
“And, hey, Elizabeth?” he called after starting to walk down the hall, turning back to me.
“Yeah?”
“Try to stay alive, okay?”
He wasn’t waiting for an answer, though, as he turned the corner and disappeared.
Alone, paranoia had me locking my door, then adding the little alarmed door stopper that I brought with me when I traveled and had to stay in hotels. Not that it would be much help if someone tried to break in here. The door was the only way out. But it might, you know, alert the neighbors. Who might come to see what was going on.
I debated grabbing Kevin and taking myself to a hotel for a few nights. But, honestly, my building felt somewhat safer than a hotel. At least there was a doorman here whose sole job it was to make sure no one came in who wasn’t supposed to.
I grabbed my tablet out of my purse, shooting off a message to my team to get in touch with Michael for me, tell him that my phone was broken, and that I would be in touch as soon as I got a new one.
From there, I ordered a new one to be delivered to my apartment building.
Did I maybe also order some pepper spray and an ear-splittingly loud personal alarm? Yes, yes, I did.
Because as the hours ticked by, the reality of this seemed to settle in more and more.
Someone had tried to shoot me.
Kill me.