Page 64 of Bad Medicine

For a moment, Amber looked more than sad; she looked completely defeated.

“Honestly?” she whispered, her fingers coming up to gently prod at her bruised cheek. “My face doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as my heart does.”

And in a move I’d seen her use a thousand times before, Amber raised her chin and squared her shoulders, tossing her hair behind her as she put her metaphorical armor in place. Turning from me, she strode after him, following Gregor out of the hospital without an ounce of shame showing.

Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my phone and dialed Trick.

“Yo.”

“Trick, you still out front?”

“’Course I am,”

“You see ‘em?”

“I do.”

“Good.” I ground my teeth together, knowing Enzo would lose his shit over this. “Follow ‘em.”

I hung up before he could respond, but I knew he’d do it just the same.

Putting a pin in that shit, I turned, expecting to find a frightened Mia in need of comforting.

What I found was an empty desk, with no Mia in sight.

“Where the fuck did she go?” I muttered to myself, looking around.

“If you’re looking for Dr. Carmichael,” a voice said behind me, and I spun around to find the same nurse I had seen all those weeks ago standing there, arms crossed. “You’re gonna have to go through me.”

For a second, I just stared at her, this woman old enough to be my mother, glaring at me like I was an errant child she needed to scold.

Was I glad she was protective of Mia?

Fuck yes.

Did I have time for her shit right now?

Absolutely not.

“Listen,” I started, eyeing her name badge. “Donna. I really need to know where she went. Can you tell me?”

“Why, so you can piss her off like you did before?”

“What?” I asked. “What the hell did I do before?”

“Nothing. And that was the entire problem.”

So, this woman knew things. Probably more things than I cared for her to know. Normally, someone calling me on my shit did nothing but piss me off, but right now, I just needed information.

“I know,” I said, watching as her eyebrows went up in surprise. “But if I’m gonna fix it, I need to find her.” Looking around, I didn’t see a head of gorgeous caramel hair anywhere. “Please, tell me where she is?”

Donna’s eye narrowed, and I could feel her scrutiny running over me like nails down my skin. Finally, when she deemed my intentions noble or whatever, she nodded, spinning around and marching away.

“Follow me, then,” she said when I made no move to chase after her. “She’s probably already gone, so you better be quick.”

I hustled after her as she wove her way through the bland, sterile corridors of the hospital, leading me to a set of double doors at the back I’d never seen before.

“If she’s still here, you’ll find her through there.” I reached for the handle, ready to push through, when Donna stopped me again. “But remember this, sonny boy. I know every way there is for a person to die, and I can make all of them unpleasant.”