She took a long sip of her coffee, and then looked deeply into his eyes. “Everyone else is an also-ran ... and always will be. Everyone.”
He bowed his head for a moment. “Thanks for leveling with me, Gina. And I do understand.” He stood, bent over and kissed the top of her head. “If you ever change your mind, or need a shoulder to cry on ... you know my number.”
He walked away.
* * *
After work, Jenni and Gina walked into the apartment. Gina collapsed on the sofa, put her feet up on the coffee table, and closed her eyes.
Jenni sat down next to her. “Are you all right?”
“Actually, I’m so beat I don’t think I can even get up to take a shower and eat before I crawl into bed.”
“Phooey! You’ve got to eat.” Jenni was up and moving.” I’m going to take a shower and wash off all the hospital bugs and then make you dinner. I’m staying in your home, I’ve got to do something to earn my keep.”
“Sounds like a plan. As for me, I’m going to sit here and veg out. Maybe just watch you work.”
The doorbell rang.
“I didn’t hear the downstairs buzzer, did you,” Gina said.
“It’s me,” Harry said on the other side of the door.
Jenni looked at Gina.
“Let him in, please, Jenni.”
Harry nodded at Jenni as she opened the door. He walked inside and sat down next to Gina, took her hand, and brought it to his lips. “Not feeling too well, babe?”
Gina’s eyes filled with tears. She turned into his arms, put her head on his chest, and sobbed.
* * *
Jennie made a big bowl of soup when Gina refused to eat anything else. She looked so run down Harry suspected it wouldn’t be long before she would be very sick.
She leaned on him as he undressed her and took her to the shower. He got completely soaked while he washed her hair, back, and all the rest.
Gina couldn’t stop crying. All she would say over and over was “I’m sorry, Harry.”
“Forget it, doll.”
“Harry you’ll end up sick, too. I can take care of myself.”
“I don’t think so.” That’s all he said, but he had to hold her up several times to keep her from collapsing.
Gina had really hurt him. He’d spent the last six weeks not only missing her, but almost paralyzed with loneliness. It was difficult to accept that she could be with another man so quickly, so easily.
Abby had been there for him, wanting to be with him, and he’d turned her away. Maybe it was time to accept that Gina not only wouldn’t marry him, but that he’d become someone who was truly only a friend.
As he towel-dried her, she looked into his eyes. “I’m just so tired. I haven’t been sleeping much without you, and the nightmares have gotten worse when I do sleep. ”
He tucked her into bed, started to lie down next to her, but his shirt was soaking wet. As he removed it, he could see she was drifting off. “Some of your clothes are in the bottom drawer if you want to change,” she mumbled.
“I’m going to go take a shower.”
“Don’t leave, Harry.”
“I won’t.”
* * *
Harry lay in the dark trying to think about what his plan should be. He had to return the next day to Arizona. He’d signed up for an extended contract—a minimum of two, but possibly four, more weeks in Tucson. He wasn't sure about anything as he started to drift off into sleep.
“No!” Gina screamed at the top of her lungs. “Stay away from me! Put that bat down, Dominick!”
Harry reached out for her, pulled her into his arms, and held her tight while she shivered and sobbed.
There was a knock on the bedroom door. “Is everything all right?” Jenni called out, then started pounding.
“It’s okay, Jenni. Gina’s had a nightmare, but she’s fine.”
Gina looked at Harry and even in the dim streetlight he could see the fear in her eyes.
“It’s Dominick. He’s coming! Coming for me! Coming for you!”
Chapter 36
Gina forced herself out of bed the next morning to get ready to go to work. She felt somewhat better, even after a night of chills and burrowing into Harry’s chest to try to warm herself.
She knew she was needed at Ridgewood—there were sicker people than she and the hospital was seriously short of staff. Seemed everyone was coming down with this bug.
She stood next to the bed, looking down at Harry. His dark curly hair was in a tangle, and he lay with his arms spread out, taking up a huge part of her side of the bed.
He was like a sleeping child, assuming that all was well, all was safe. Gina never felt that secure anymore. That sense of freedom had been missing from her life for a long time.
Evil was out there and she knew real safety was out of the question as long as it existed. One day her nightmares would turn into reality and Dominick would find her and kill her.
Harry opened his eyes. One moment he’d been asleep like a child, now his eyes were fierce, intense.
“You’re not going to work, are you?”
He reached for her hand.
“Harry, I have to leave.”
“I’m going back to Tucson today.”
“Go.”
He looked at her with pleading eyes. “Gina—”
“—Go back, Harry.” She turned and ran from the bedroom, through the living room, and out the apartment door, with Jenni straining to keep up.
* * *
The hospital grounds were a swirl of movement. Patients were milling around, most of them looking deathly ill. Several open canopies, along with a large Red Cross cabin tent, had also been set up next to the hospital as triage units.
Doctors and nurses dashed in and out of the temporary facilities, trying to care for the huge number of sick people who kept crowding in like apparitions out of nowhere. With every blink of the eye, the numbers seemed to double.
Like yesterday, police cars were parked at various locations around the hospital. As they drove by to find a parking place, Gina and Jenni could see the officers moving through the crowd on foot. People were pushing and shoving to gain better positions in the long lines.
“Oh, my God! If this keeps up they’re going to have to bring in The National Guard just to maintain order,” Gina said. “These people are starting to hit each other just to get in.”
“This is awful,” Jenni said. “Some of them can barely stand.”
“I’ll bet the floors are like a madhouse.” Gina bit her lip. “You can almost smell the desperation.”
They drove around the side streets; all of the usual parking spaces were gone. They finally drove into the underground hospital employee parking garage. It, too, was almost full.
Gina hated driving into the bowels of the hospital and always parked on the street. It always made her think of Dante and the final circle of hell. She slipped the Fiat into an empty slot next to a wall. Not a favored spot, but at least one side of her car was protected.
They walked to the elevator and when the doors snapped open, there was only enough room for the two of them.
Someone in the back of the car said, “In or out!”
At the first stop, a few people got out and Russell stepped in with his tray.
Gina gave Jenni a reassuring smile, but she could feel her eye start to twitch.
Gina was squeezed smack up against Russell. As the doors closed, he whispered in her ear, “I’m coming to get Jenni, and then you’re next.”
Gina half-turned. “What did you say?” She could feel everyone’s eyes boring into her.
Russell looked around as though he didn’t know what she was talking about, or even if she was talking to him. She wanted to stomp down hard on his foot but was afraid he would react violently, harm someone on the crowded elevator.
When the door clunked open again, it was their floor; Jenni tugged at her arm. “Come on, Gina, let’s go.”
She was furious
with Russell, wanted to strike out at him, but she let Jenni guide her to the nurses’ station, which was surrounded by personnel waiting for report.
Russell, who had followed them out of the car, scurried past them and went on down the corridor.
“Did you hear what that lab rat said?” Gina said, nodding toward the departing Russell.
“No, but I could tell something was going on,” Jenni said. “What did he say?”
“Some gobbledygook I couldn’t understand.” But she’d heard every word; she kept watching the lab tech until he entered a room at the far end of the corridor.
* * *
Russell’s stomach was churning.
I hate those two nurses. Bitches!
Hate them.
Lately, finding a way to get rid of them was his first thought when he woke up, and the last thing on his mind before he fell asleep.
Their constant scowls of disapproval stirred up that familiar hot lava in his stomach―it bubbled up inside of him, threatened to expand and scald the rest of his insides.
At home, when the pressure became too much, he would grab one of his X-acto knifes, find a virgin spot on his thigh, and slowly move the blade across his skin. As the pain and the beads of blood welled up through the slit skin, he surrendered to a wild orgasmic explosion; its powerful release always brought a sense of control.
Blood was powerful.
Blood was his savior.
Here people in the corridor were pushing past him like he was unimportant, like he was nothing. The whole hospital was alive with movement, like an ant hill with hurrying drones.
Russell took a deep breath and looked at his lab sheet and the orders for blood samples.
He needed blood.
He needed blood now!
He checked his lab sheet against the last room number at the end of the corridor—patients Lena Dobbs and Aaron Dobbs.
Inside the room, he found them squeezed into a space that was barely adequate for a single patient.
He had no orders for Lena, who was sleeping quietly, but Aaron Dobbs had a string of ordered tests. The patient was coughing and moaning, suffering obvious severe pain. Russell moved to the side of the bed away from Lena, set his heavy tray down on the stand.
His mind raced ahead, projecting the outcome of what he had to do. He was intent, focused on how he could empty this man, empty himself.
He needed to empty himself.
A voice cut through his thoughts like a penetrating laser.
“What are you doing?”
It was Gina Mazzio.
“What do you think I’m doing? I’m drawing blood for lab work.” He dragged the necessary tubes from his tray, put on the identifying stickers, and wrapped a tourniquet around the patient’s arm. Puncturing the vein was easy and he was done in a few minutes.
RN Mazzio never left the doorway.
His insides were ready to explode.
Chapter 37
By the end of the shift, Gina was near exhaustion. She kicked herself for getting cornered into agreeing to stay two extra hours.
But she could tell that the evening shift supervisor was desperate for staff. That’s what usually happened to Harry, and she would give him a bad time about it. Now here she was doing the same thing.
Harry, I’ve got to stop thinking about you.
She could barely plow her way through all the patients housed in the hallways; the madhouse of activity all around her was beating her down.
She was actually bruised from running into people, turning blind corners and smashing into them. The place was like a snake pit, with everyone on top of each other, slithering around, looking for a way out.
But there was none.
Every time she saw Russell on the unit, she made it her business to keep track of his movements. Her gut told her he was up to something ... something dangerous other than tormenting Jenni. But what?
After the change of shift report, Jenni, purse in hand, said, “I can’t believe we made it through. Get your things and let’s get out of here.”
“Sorry, Jenni. Haven’t had a free moment to tell you that I agreed to put in another two hours.”
Jenni’s face sagged. “Are you kidding me? How could you do that? You’re totally beat.” She leaned against the wall. “Well, I’m not doing it. I can barely lift my arms.”
“It’s okay.” Gina pulled her car keys out of her pocket. “You’ll be doing me a favor. I hate leaving it there ... something bad always happens to it in that damn garage. I’ll grab a cab home.”
“Really? That’s the most temperamental car in the universe and you want me to drive it?”
“You can do it. I’ll give you my emergency info if you need help.”
“But, Gina, it’s got a stick shift. I haven’t driven one of those in years ... and I wasn’t too good at it then.”
“It’s up to you. It’s that, or you can grab a cab.”
“Oh, I’ll do it.” Jenni took the keys from Gina, started to turn away, but instead took Gina’s hand. “You know, Gina, I just wanted to say how much I appreciate you’re being such a true friend to me.” Tears welled up and spilled down her cheeks.
Gina hugged her. “Hey, glad I could be there for you.”
Jenni smiled and walked away, then waved goodbye when she reached the elevator.
* * *
By the time Jennie made it to the underground parking lot, she thought it was kind of eerie ... and much too quiet.
It also seemed darker than she remembered as she walked down the aisles, moving towards the far section where Gina’s car was parked.
Jenni finally realized some of the overhead lights had burned out and it gave the place a creepy feel.
The stupid hospital’s probably trying to save money on their electric bill.
She laughed at her cynicism.
She began to enjoy the silence. The day had been filled with so much noise—patients in distress, one Code after another.
Thoughts of a hot shower popped into her head. That was the first thing she was going to do when she got to Gina’s apartment. Then maybe she’d make a grand attempt at making her Italian-style lasagna from scratch.
For an Italian like Gina, that should be good for a laugh or two.
At least it will be something special ready to eat so she can just flake out when she comes home.
The more she thought about it and all the preparation it would take, she changed to spaghetti.
The underground garage echoed her laugh.
When did I get to be so lazy?
She thought about Gina. You couldn’t say that about her. Jenni didn’t know how her friend could have agreed to put in any overtime.
How does she keep going? She looks sick. I swear, nurses are the worst when it comes to taking care of themselves. We’re all demented.
The car was just ahead. She slid her hand into her pants pocket and took out the keys.
Man, it seems like days ago instead of just this morning that we came to work.
She turned, looked back in the distance she’d covered, couldn’t see any other departing employees lined up in their cars to leave the garage.
No one hangs around one minute longer than they have to. Don’t blame them wanting to get away from this snake pit as quickly as possible.
Her watch said it was a few ticks past 4:30. All the incoming shift workers were already parked and the place was peaceful. Maybe she would curl up in the car and take a nap. She studied the Fiat for a moment.
No one’s curling up in that car. No way.
She quickly opened the driver’s door, tossed her purse onto the passenger seat.
I hope I don’t strip the gears driving this little baby.
With one leg in, she was distracted by a noise at the rear of the car. She turned her head and stared into the stone cold eyes of Russell.
“What the hell, Russ?”
He grabbed her by the arm, yanked her out of the car, and wrapped both hands around her thr
oat.
Jenni tried to turn, could barely speak. “Let ... go of ... me ... you ... bastard!”
“What did you call me, bitch? It’s Russell. My name’s Russell.”
“Leave me alone!”
Her leg was caught in the car; she couldn’t pull it free.
She let herself fall to the pavement to get away from his strangling hands.
He wouldn’t let go.
Russell squeezed her throat harder and harder. She couldn’t breathe. Everything was fading.
She tried to jab the car key into his arm. He grunted a laugh, held her down with one knee, and pulled out his jackknife. He shoved it in front of her face and opened the largest blade.
“You little bitch.”
He slashed across her throat; a spray of red flew around her head.
“That’s ... my ... blood,” Jenni sputtered as darkness closed in. “No!”
* * *
Russell ran to his car, drove out of Ridgewood’s garage like the devil was chasing him. He screamed Jenni’s name over and over, the sound bouncing off the inside surfaces of the small car. He could barely coordinate his movements to keep the Civic on the road.
Rapture curled into every fiber of his body.
He’d watched in fascination as her blood sprayed from her neck, pumped by each fading heartbeat. It was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.
He’d done it to animals when his foster dad was with him, made him do it. But this was different. Nothing compared to the vibrant spray of thick, heavy blood coming from a person’s neck. Jenni had been a human fountain.
It hadn’t lasted long enough.
The front of him was covered with her blood. It was viscous and he couldn’t stop smearing it all over his shirt and arms. Warm. Thick.
Draining patients didn’t compare. This was what he really craved.
He was several blocks away from the hospital garage when the glow began to fade. Reality smacked hard.
They would be after him. That Inspector, the one who’d come to his apartment, would come looking for him.
The thought of getting caught made him frantic. He shucked his shirt and jacket, threw them on the passenger-side floor, reached for his lab coat from the back seat to hide his nakedness.
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