Silent Run(14)

She had to get help. She had to say something, but she couldn’t get any air into her lungs.

Suddenly the scene in front of her faded away, turning to blackness. She strained to see some light, but she was completely blind.

Someone was holding her down, covering her mouth and nose. She was going to be the next person to die. But he wasn’t shooting her; he was suffocating her, she realized. In seconds it would be over.

Desperation broke through her paralysis. She pushed against the weight pressing on her, using her hands to swing at anything she could reach. Her fist connected with skin, bone. She heard a grunt, a curse, but the voice . . . it wasn’t the same voice. Who was it?

Sarah’s eyes flew open. A man stood over her, wearing blue scrubs and a mask over his mouth and nose. He had a pillow in his hand, the same pillow that had just been covering her face.

He was coming back after her. He was going to try again.





Chapter Five


Sarah screamed as loud as she could, raising her hands to fight off her attacker. The man struggled for a moment, then swore and dropped the pillow before running from the room. Gasping, Sarah put a hand to her mouth. Seconds later Jake burst through the door, a concerned expression in his eyes.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” he demanded.

“A . . . a man,” she stammered, waving her hand toward the door. “Did you see him? He . . . he tried to smother me with that pillow.” She pointed to the pillow now lying on the floor, her heart racing in triple time.

Jake looked down at the pillow, then back at her. Disbelief flooded his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“I was asleep. When I woke up a man was holding that pillow against my face, so I screamed. Didn’t you see him? He ran out of the room two seconds ago.”

“I saw a male nurse come out of your room,” Jake said slowly.

“That was the guy. He was dressed in scrubs.”

“Are you sure you weren’t dreaming?”

“I know the difference between a dream and reality,” she snapped. But she had to admit there was a small niggling doubt in the back of her mind. She had been asleep. She’d been dreaming of gunshots and blood. Was she wrong? Had she just imagined that feeling of suffocation?

No, it wasn’t her imagination. He’d put the pillow against her face. She could still taste the cotton fibers in her mouth. He’d tried to suffocate her.

“Oh, my God!” The reality of what had just happened settled in. “He tried to kill me.” She looked at Jake in confusion, the horror of the past few minutes sinking into her brain. “Why would someone want to kill me?”

Jake stared back at Sarah for a long moment, doubt clouding his gaze. “You tell me.”

“Obviously I don’t know,” she returned. “Could you at least go look for him?”

“Is this another trick to get me out of the room?”

“Are you out of your mind?” she asked in exasperation. “Forget it. I’ll look myself.”

“Hang on,” Jake said with a frown. “If someone was trying to kill you, he’s not going to be standing in the hall. He’d be long gone by now.”

As Jake finished speaking, Rosie rushed into the room, looking worried. “What’s going on?”

“There was a man in my room wearing scrubs,” Sarah said. “He tried to smother me with that pillow.” She pointed again to the pillow on the floor.

“What?” Rosie’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “Are you sure?” she asked hesitantly. “You do have a head injury. Is it possible you might have imagined—”

“No, it’s not possible. It happened. I know it did,” Sarah said, desperation in her voice. Why wouldn’t anyone believe her?

“Okay, okay. Calm down. I’ll call security,” Rosie said, holding up a reassuring hand. “I’m sure someone will be right up to talk to you about what happened.”

“Are there any male nurses working on the floor right now?” Jake asked. “Maybe we could talk to them, see if someone had a reason for being in the room.”

Rosie shook her head. “We don’t have any male nurses on duty at the moment. But I’ll ask at the nurses’ station if anyone saw anything. I don’t believe there were any further tests ordered, but it’s possible one of the lab guys came in here—perhaps to draw some blood.”

“He wasn’t here to draw blood,” Sarah said firmly.

“Before you go,” Jake said as Rosie headed to the door, “has anyone called or asked about Sarah?”

Rosie hesitated. “I think there was a call earlier. One of the other nurses took it. Ms. Tucker was sleeping, and we had her phone turned off. The nurse forwarded the call to Dr. Carmichael’s office. I can check with him.”