I picked it up and slid it into one of the pockets inside my bag.
Not because I planned on calling him, but if I remembered something later, I didn’t want to waste time digging through drawers when I got home, trying to find his number.
That was all.
The drive to the hospital felt completely different than it had the night before.
The excitement was gone…
Yesterday I’d been singing along with my playlist and thinking about fresh starts. Tonight, I drove in silence with myhands resting on the steering wheel while I fought through the downtown Atlanta traffic.
Every few minutes my mind wandered back to that parking garage. The argument… The gunshots… Sam…
I hated that I knew his name now.
Yesterday, he was just a patient.
Today, he was somebody whose family I’d met... somebody whose mother had cried just a few feet away from me while doctors fought to save him.
It made everything feel a little heavier.
When Grady finally came into view, I let out a slow breath before pulling into the employee parking garage.
For a second, I just sat here.
My eyes drifted toward the row where everything had happened less than twenty-four hours earlier. The blood was gone. The police tape had been taken down, and employees walked through the garage like it was any other evening.
If I hadn’t been there myself, I would’ve never known someone had almost died right there.
Grabbing my bag, I climbed out of my SUV and made my way toward the employee entrance.
“Hey. You made it.” I looked up to find Nia leaning against the wall with a cup of coffee in one hand. “I was starting to think you were gonna call out.”
“I thought about it.”
She laughed.
“I bet you did.” We walked beside each other toward the elevators. “How you feeling?”
I shrugged and told her, “I’ve been better.”
“I figured.” She took a sip of her coffee before glancing over at me. “You know, nobody would’ve judged you if you’d taken tonight off.”
“I didn’t want my first week to start with me calling in.”
“That’s understandable… I just wanted to make sure you weren’t trying to be superwoman.”
I laughed.
“I left my cape at home.”
“Good,” she said with a grin. “Because this place already got enough heroes running around.”
I couldn’t help but smile.
For the first time since we’d met, it didn’t feel like she was just being welcoming because I was the new nurse. It felt like she’d genuinely checked on me.
“I appreciate you,” I said.