Shit happened.
And someone who might’ve been able to provide usable intel about Joaquin had gotten away. There was nothing Mark could do about it.
Right now, all he could do was wait until he could walk on his own again.
Chapter 16
Jenna stood at the entrance of the hospital, staring out at the bus that was parked about twenty yards away. She’d been here for way too long—people were starting to stare. A nurse asked if she was okay. A teenage candy striper asked if Jenna needed help calling an Uber and offered to explain how the app worked.
Jenna had managed not to roll her eyes or explain she could write those types of apps in her sleep.
But she didn’t manage to force herself to make a dash for the bus.
The last couple hours had been chaotic. Three nurses had run into the lab and explained that an unauthorized man dressed like a doctor had entered Sarah’s room. Evidently, he’d tried to inject her with something, but Mark had stopped him.
Jenna and the doctors had then needed to make sure the man hadn’t done anything else to Sarah. Thankfully, her vitals were steady and blood work had come back clean—or at least clean for her, given all the compounds already being pushed into her system.
But someone had tried to kill her—the results of what had been in that syringe proved it. Jenna had no doubt the pretend doctor man was another one of Joaquin’s robots. They hadn’t captured him, but at least now law enforcement was standing guard outside Sarah’s door. Nobody else would be getting to her.
Agent Marino had stopped by and let Jenna know there was a small government lab nearby that had given Jenna permission to continue to work so they weren’t in the hospital’s way. Tomorrow, that was where they would go. There wasn’t anything else to do here, and the blood samples she needed would be sent to the other lab.
Jenna hadn’t seen Mark since before the fake doctor incident. She’d texted him to let him know she was ready to leave if he was.
His response hadn’t been what she was expecting.
Bus is out front as close as possible. I can’t carry you tonight. I’m sorry. I’ll explain.
So, here she was as she’d been for the past thirty minutes, staring at the vehicle like twenty yards was twenty miles away.
Logically, she knew if Mark wasn’t able to carry her, there was a good reason. She couldn’t doubt that, not after how attentive and understanding he’d been about all her quirks. She liked what was happening between them, and despite her nerves about letting anyone too close, Mark was getting under her skin.
And she didn’t mind it. Not even a little bit.
He wouldn’t have left her here to face this alone if there were other options.
Maybe he’d had to go to the police station or something. Maybe to meet Callum or do some other super-secret law enforcement stuff. Mark knew how hard getting to the bus would be for her.
He wouldn’t just leave her here.
She had to go. She couldn’t stand here all night. She grabbed her phone.
I’m about to make my getaway to the bus. It is unlocked, right?
The last thing she wanted to do was force herself out there, only to have to come back because a door was locked. But she might not have a choice. She wasn’t sure if Mark could respond to a text right now. He may be too busy.
Yeah. I’m inside the bus. Door is unlocked.
She stared at the phone in her hand for a long minute. He was already inside the bus? She waited for him to offer to come get her.
But…nothing.
So much for not just leaving her here.
No way to delay the awful any longer. Mark wasn’t here to carry her—literally or figuratively—so she had to do this herself. She pushed off the wall and walked out the door, knowing waiting would make the terror worse.
It was dark outside the hospital. The lights in the parking lot and under the portico were bright, but she could still see the black sky, and her whole body shuddered. The air was cool around her, which should feel good against her skin, but instead felt like sandpaper scraping her and rubbing her raw.
She could see the bus, but it seemed to get farther with every step, not closer. She sped up, the sound of her labored breath the only thing she could hear. Nausea curdled her stomach, and her vision dimmed. She kept her sights planted on the bus and kept moving forward.