Chapter 35

All the way to the hospital on the hill at the south edge of town Amy kept her mind blank. She couldn’t allow herself to think. She scarcely allowed herself to breathe. An accident. Riley. Deer. Truck. Ditch. The words hurled themselves at her one after the other, like heat-seeking missiles.

At the last stop sign before the hill, she hit her brakes too hard and her tires slid across the intersection. She was lucky no other cars were coming. She held her breath until the car straightened out, then eased up the hill and skated into the parking lot of the hospital.

With a prayer on her lips, she rushed into the hospital and demanded to see Riley.

They told her she should sit down. They told her it shouldn’t be long.

They told her she had to wait.

She told them, “Point me toward Riley Sinclair right this minute and you might live to see the end of your shift.”

“Security!”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Amy said as she started down the hall. “If you’ve got a security guard here in the middle of