“Okay.” She sighs. “I hope you sort out your situation. Have a safe flight.”
I wish I didn’t have to go.
“You, too, baby,” I whisper, and hang up before I change my mind and stay.
I CALL ROS AS we taxi toward the runway.
“Christian, how’s Savannah?”
“I’m on the plane coming home. I have a problem I have to deal with.”
“Something at GEH?” Ros asks, alarmed.
“No. It’s personal.”
“Anything I can do?”
“No. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“How did your meeting go?”
“Positive. But I had to cut it short. Let’s see what they put in writing. I might prefer Detroit just because it’s cooler.”
“The heat’s that bad?”
“Suffocating. I’ve got to go. I’ll call for an update later.”
“Safe travels, Christian.”
ON THE FLIGHT I throw myself into work to distract me from the problem waiting at home. By the time we’ve touched down I’ve read three reports and written fifteen e-mails. Our car is waiting, and Taylor drives through the pouring rain straight to Seattle Free Hope. I have to see Leila and find out what the hell is going on. As we near the hospital my anger surfaces.
Why would she do this to me?
The rain is lashing down as I climb out of the car; the day is as bleak as my mood. I take a deep breath to control my fury and head through the front doors. At the reception desk I ask for Leila Reed.
“Are you family?” The nurse on duty glowers at me, her mouth pinched and sour.
“No.” I sigh. This is going to be difficult.
“Well, I’m sorry, I can’t help you.”
“She tried to open a vein in my apartment. I think I’m entitled to know where the hell she is,” I hiss through my teeth.
“Don’t take that tone with me!” she snaps. I glare at her. I’m not going to get anywhere with this woman.
“Where is your ER department?”
“Sir, there’s nothing we can do if you’re not family.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll find it myself,” I growl, and storm over to the double doors. I know I could call my mother, who would expedite this for me, but then I’d have to explain what’s happened.
The ER is bustling with doctors and nurses, and triage is full of patients. I accost a young nurse and give her my brightest smile. “Hello, I’m looking for Leila Reed—she was admitted earlier today. Can you tell me where she might be?”
“And you are?” she asks, a flush creeping over her face.
“I’m her brother,” I lie smoothly, ignoring her reaction.
“This way, Mr. Reed.” She bustles over to the nurses’ station and checks her computer. “She’s on the second floor; Behavioral Health ward. Take the elevators at the end of the corridor.”
“Thanks.” I reward her with a wink and she pushes a stray lock behind her ear, giving me a flirtatious smile that reminds me of a certain girl I left in Georgia.
As I step out of the elevator on the second floor I know something is wrong. On the other side of what look like locked doors, two security guards and a nurse are combing the corridor, checking each room. My scalp prickles, but I walk over to the reception area, pretending not to notice the commotion.
“Can I help you?” asks a young man with a ring through his nose.
“I’m looking for Leila Reed. I’m her brother.”
He pales. “Oh. Mr. Reed. Can you come with me?”
I follow him to a waiting room and sit down on the plastic chair that he points to; I note it’s bolted to the floor. “The doctor will be with you shortly.”
“Why can’t I see her?” I ask.
“The doctor will explain,” he says, his expression guarded, and he exits before I can ask any further questions.
Shit. Perhaps I’m too late.
The thought nauseates me. I get up and pace the small room, contemplating a call to Gail, but I don’t have to wait long. A young man with short dreads and dark, intelligent eyes enters. Is he her doctor?
“Mr. Reed?” he asks.
“Where’s Leila?”
He assesses me for a moment, then sighs and steels himself. “I’m afraid I don’t know,” he says. “She’s managed to give us the slip.”
“What?”
“She’s gone. How she got out I don’t know.”
“Got out?” I exclaim in disbelief, and sink onto one of the chairs. He sits down opposite me.
“Yes. She’s disappeared. We’re doing a search for her now.”
“She’s still here?”
“We don’t know.”
“And who are you?” I ask.
“I’m Dr. Azikiwe, the on-call psychiatrist.”
He looks too young to be a psychiatrist. “What can you tell me about Leila?” I ask.
“Well, she was admitted after a failed suicide attempt. She tried to slash one of her wrists at an ex-boyfriend’s house. His housekeeper brought her here.”
I feel the blood draining from my face. “And?” I ask. I need more information.
“That’s about as much as we know. She said it was an error of judgment, that she was fine, but we wanted to keep her here under observation and ask her further questions.”
“Did you talk to her?”
“I did.”
“Why did she do this?”
“She said it was a cry for help. Nothing more. And, having made such a spectacle of herself, she was embarrassed and wanted to go home. She said she didn’t want to kill herself. I believed her. I suspect it was just suicidal ideation on her part.”