Page 10 of Lethal Game

As Jason left, she stared down at his card, at his phone number. Of course, she'd never use it…but it was still nice to know she could. She was feeling attached to him, probably because he'd saved her life.

The door opened again, and her pulse leapt, but it was Georgia bringing in a wheelchair along with her bag.

"You got my purse. Thank you."

"No problem. I called Carrie to come and get you. She's waiting in the lobby. You can get your car tomorrow. I don't think you should drive tonight."

"I agree." She didn't want to go into the garage again or drive home with a sharp pain in her head. "I'm just sorry Carrie had to come back to get me." Carrie was a pediatric nurse and lived in her apartment building. They had been friends since they'd both started working at Wexford three years ago.

She felt strange getting into the wheelchair. She was used to being the nurse and not the patient, but it was hospital protocol.

Georgia wheeled her out to the ER lobby. Carrie, a fair-skinned, freckled redhead, was standing by the front desk, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, her hair pulled up in a ponytail. They'd worked the day shift together, and it was now after nine. But Carrie had jumped into her car as soon as Georgia called. Carrie was a good friend.

"I heard what happened," Carrie said with concern in her gaze. "Are you all right?"

"I will be. I just want to go home. Thanks for coming to get me."

"Of course. I was happy to do it. I'm parked right outside the door."

"Great." As she got up, she smiled at Georgia. "Thanks for taking care of me."

"Rest and hydrate."

"I will. I know the drill."

Carrie stayed close as they walked out of the hospital. As she got into the car, she couldn't help looking at the big, shadowy parking structure in the distance and thinking about how close she'd come to losing her life.

"Are you really okay?" Carrie asked, shooting her a worried look.

She was happy to have her dark thoughts interrupted. "I will be."

"Do you want to talk about what happened?"

"I don't. Is that okay?"

"Of course. I'm sure you just want to forget it."

"That's exactly what I want to do."

"How about food? I'd offer to feed you, but my refrigerator is bare. Should we pick something up?"

"I'm not hungry. And I have food in my fridge, if that changes."

"All right."

The ride to their apartment building in Santa Monica took only ten minutes. She'd picked the location based on the easy commute. Traffic in LA could be bad at any time of the day.

Carrie lived with her boyfriend, Ray, in a two-bedroom apartment on the second floor, while she was on the third floor in a studio. After being with people all day, every day, she enjoyed having her own space, even if it was small. One day, she'd get a one-bedroom, but she had student loans to pay off first.

After parking in the garage, they walked to the elevator together, and she was grateful for Carrie's presence, fighting theurge to grab her friend's hand. She didn't think she was disguising her fear very well because Carrie gave her a sharp look when they got in the elevator.

"You're really spooked, aren't you?" she asked as the doors closed. "I should have parked in front of the building."

"No. I'm going to have to get over my fear at some point. I have to park at the hospital. I have to park here. I can't avoid garages forever."

"Maybe not forever, but for now. I'm going to go with you to your apartment and get you settled, and then I'll go down to my place," Carrie said. "Don't argue. Otherwise, I'll stay all night."

She gave her a weak smile. "I wasn't going to argue. Thank you."

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