Silent Run

to try again.

Chapter Five

    Sarah screamed as loud as she could, raising her hands to fight off her attacker. The man struggled for a moment, then swore and dropped the pillow before running from the room. Gasping, Sarah put a hand to her mouth. Seconds later Jake burst through the door, a concerned expression in his eyes.
    â€œWhat the hell is wrong with you?” he demanded.
    â€œA... a man,” she stammered, waving her hand toward the door. “Did you see him? He... he tried to smother me with that pillow.” She pointed to the pillow now lying on the floor, her heart racing in triple time.
    Jake looked down at the pillow, then back at her. Disbelief flooded his eyes. “What are you talking about?"
    â€œI was asleep. When I woke up a man was holding that pillow against my face, so I screamed. Didn’t you see him? He ran out of the room two seconds ago."
    â€œI saw a male nurse come out of your room,” Jake said slowly.
    â€œThat was the guy. He was dressed in scrubs."
    â€œAre you sure you weren’t dreaming?"
    â€œI know the difference between a dream and reality,” she snapped. But she had to admit there was a small niggling doubt in the back of her mind. She had been asleep. She’d been dreaming of gunshots and blood. Was she wrong? Had she just imagined that feeling of suffocation?
    No, it wasn’t her imagination. He’d put the pillow against her face. She could still taste the cotton fibers in her mouth. He’d tried to suffocate her.
    â€œOh, my God!” The reality of what had just happened settled in. “He tried to kill me.” She looked at Jake in confusion, the horror of the past few minutes sinking into her brain. “Why would someone want to kill me?"
    Jake stared back at Sarah for a long moment, doubt clouding his gaze. “You tell me."
    â€œObviously I don’t know,” she returned. “Could you at least go look for him?"
    â€œIs this another trick to get me out of the room?"
    â€œAre you out of your mind?” she asked in exasperation. “Forget it. I’ll look myself."
    â€œHang on,” Jake said with a frown. “If someone was trying to kill you, he’s not going to be standing in the hall. He’d be long gone by now."
    As Jake finished speaking, Rosie rushed into the room, looking worried. “What’s going on?"
    â€œThere was a man in my room wearing scrubs,” Sarah said. “He tried to smother me with that pillow.” She pointed again to the pillow on the floor.
    â€œWhat?” Rosie’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “Are you sure?” she asked hesitantly. “You do have a head injury. Is it possible you might have imagined --"
    â€œNo, it’s not possible. It happened. I know it did,” Sarah said, desperation in her voice. Why wouldn’t anyone believe her?
    â€œOkay, okay. Calm down. I’ll call security,” Rosie said, holding up a reassuring hand. “I’m sure someone will be right up to talk to you about what happened."
    â€œAre there any male nurses working on the floor right now?” Jake asked. “Maybe we could talk to them, see if someone had a reason for being in the room."
    Rosie shook her head. “We don’t have any male nurses on duty at the moment. But I’ll ask at the nurses’ station if anyone saw anything. I don’t believe there were any further tests ordered, but it’s possible one of the lab guys came in here -- perhaps to draw some blood."
    â€œHe wasn’t here to draw blood,” Sarah said firmly.
    â€œBefore you go,” Jake said as Rosie headed to the door, “has anyone called or asked about Sarah?"
    Rosie hesitated. “I think there was a call earlier. One of the other nurses took it. Ms. Tucker was sleeping, and we had her phone turned off. The nurse forwarded the call to Dr. Carmichael’s office. I can check with him."
    â€œI already asked him if he’d spoken to anyone else, and he hadn’t,” Jake said. “However, it would be interesting to know if it was a man or a woman who called. Could you find out that much?"
    â€œOf course,” Rosie said with a nod.
    Sarah looked at Jake as Rosie left the room, a half dozen thoughts running through her mind. “That call to the nurses’ station could be from a friend, maybe whoever has Caitlyn, or...” She licked her lips as another idea occurred to her. “Or it could