Kaylee awoke with a jolt, grateful it was another nightmare.
Except that she didn’t have fluorescent lighting or tan walls at her apartment. She twisted her head to see a small tray of medical items on a low counter nearby. She sat and groaned, pain radiating down her arm.
Her left arm was in a sling.
“You okay?” Evan asked, poking his head in at the sound of her pain.
“I don’t know,” she mumbled. “My head feels … heavy and my arm hurts.”
“No surprise there.” He slid on gloves and crossed to her. His expert gaze took in the bandage around her shoulder before he peered into her eyes. “We gave you a shot of painkillers and antibiotics. You’ll be groggy for a day or two. The good news is that she missed anything important.”
“So that really happened?” Kaylee asked. She checked out her bandages, unable to see the damage beneath thick white gauze.
“About that.” He rested a hand on her thigh absently, frowning. “What happened? I checked the surveillance video, and there’s a weird gap.”
Kaylee hesitated. What did she say? That Amira had seen the Shadowman, had a conversation with him then tried to kill her?
That she had seen the Shadowman?
“I don’t know,” Kaylee said finally. “She was talking to like, someone who wasn’t there then she stabbed me.”
“We didn’t have her pegged for the violent kind at all.” Evan was puzzled. “She’s been docile and gentle since arriving a few weeks ago. This is very uncharacteristic for someone like her.”
“Oh, god, can I have a shirt?” Kaylee asked, realizing she was wearing a bra and skirt.
“Sure. Yours was ruined. I have my workout clothes here. They’re clean,” he added quickly. “I do laundry here sometimes.” Faint pink spread across his face. “Father hates that.”
Kaylee almost laughed, startled by the admission that the man who would inherit a medical empire did his laundry at work.
Evan brought over a soft t-shirt and helped her into it. Moving her shoulder hurt, though the pain was warm and distant. She could barely feel her arm. He repositioned her sling. She sighed, exhausted by the small movements.
“We have a few extra rooms. You’re welcome to stay here for the night,” Evan said.
She sought the most diplomatic response she could muster. “I respect your work and your father’s dedication, but I will never live it down if I stay in a mental health center tonight.”
He laughed. “Yeah your boss wasn’t about to wait for you.”
“He took the car?”
“Yeah.”
Son of a bitch. Another reason to despise Mike. “I’ll get a cab.”
“Put these on. I’m a little obsessive about clothes matching,” Evan said. “You can’t leave here in a dress skirt and t-shirt.” He placed a pair of workout pants on a chair. “I’ll see if I can get you a cab.”
He closed the door and left her in peace.
Kaylee sighed. This isn’t happening. I didn’t go to a nuthouse and get attacked by a patient.
She wriggled out of her skirt and into the pants. The clothing was far more comfortable. She tried to fix her hair but stopped when her left arm wouldn’t work right.
The presence crept up behind her again. She twisted, heartbeat soaring.
He wasn’t visible, but she knew he was there.
“What do you want?” she whispered.
“I saved your life,” the hiss responded.
She was seeing and hearing things now?
“Um, who are you talking to?” asked a voice behind her.
She faced the open door, where Evan stood waiting.
“No one. Myself,” she answered.
“There aren’t any cabs this late. It’s a three hour drive anyway,” Evan said.
“Oh. How late is it?”
“Almost eight.”
Kaylee calculated how long it would take for Mike to wrap up his meeting and return back to the office.
“Mike … Mr. Harrison didn’t send the car back for me?” she asked.
“No. He asked if you were okay and left.”
I can’t stay here. Whether it was the drugs or her sudden fear of mental health centers, Kaylee felt like she was near tears. Evan’s face softened into a warm smile.
“Look, I’ll drive you home,” he said. “I planned on working late, but it is Thursday. I normally start my weekends Thursday night with a trip to the Bow Bar.”
Kaylee’s brow furrowed. The Bow – short for Rainbow – Bar was a well-known gay hotspot in DC.
It would figure the most pleasant, attractive man she’d met in years was gay.
“I’d owe you forever,” she said.
“I owe you. Your boss is probably going to sue us for what happened.”
“Only if it gets his name in the paper,” she said wryly. “He is all about Mike Harrison.”
“I got that impression. My father didn’t care for him too much anyway. Maybe you can represent us in court.” Evan winked.
“This time next year, yes.”
“You okay on your feet?”
She nodded.
“You’ll be stiff tomorrow.” He held up her purse and two pill bottles. “More antibiotics and painkillers. If it gets unbearable, call me, and I’ll write you a new script. I told your boss you needed a few days off.”
A forced vacation. Was this what happened when she ignored the signs she needed a break? Some lunatic stabbed her?
Kaylee nodded. She walked into the hall, too aware of the Shadowman at her back.
“Can I ask you something, Evan?” she ventured. “About stress?”
“Of course.”
They were in the hallway on the third floor, the one with the low risk patients. The television was on with one man stretched on the couch while orderlies walked through checking rooms.
“Can stress be …” she hesitated. “Can it feel like someone is always dogging your every move?”
Evan studied her as they walked. “It can take on many forms. A person whose mind is taxed to its limit can invent any number of ways of trying to express itself. Basically, it’s a warning system. When the warning becomes physical, it means you really do need to find better coping mechanisms and re-evaluate your life.”
“That’s not what I wanted to hear,” she responded. “I haven’t even passed the bar, let alone gone to trial. How can I be so –”
The lights flashed out, leaving them in complete darkness for a split second. Auxiliary lighting blinked on, the low glow illuminating the corridor.
“Is that normal?” she asked, hushed.
“During storm season.” Evan sounded doubtful. “Head through the door there to the elevators. First floor is reception. I’ll meet you down there after I check in to make sure there aren’t any issues.” He started back the way they’d come.
Kaylee watched him for a second then followed his instructions. She prayed the doors in the basement weren’t now all gaping open for their knitting-needle wielding maniacs to escape and attack her.
The thought made her breathing shallow. She punched the button to the elevator three times.
Shadowman left abruptly. Kaylee looked around, uncertain why his disappearance made her feel more unsettled.
I saved your life.
That was one version of things, and it might’ve been the right one. He had kept Amira from stabbing her again. But was she ready to accept that an invisible presence that sat on her balcony at night and stalked her the rest of the day had not only helped her but spoken to her?
Did it make her as crazy as the people here?
She hit the elevator button once more.
It yawned open, and she cringed to see the auxiliary lighting didn’t extend to the dark depths of the elevator. She couldn’t see inside.
Don’t be an idiot, she scolded herself. Besides, there’s only one way out of here.
Kaylee walked into the elevator and clicked the button for the first floor. She frowned, seeing the button for the basement glowing as well. As if someone else was in the elevator already.
She started to turn.
Someone grabbed her.