I could text Gabe and ask him to come up. Maybe he could distract Marjorie. Or I could try to slip out when she was back in her office. I’d done it before, although that time she’d had music on.

My phone buzzed again. I pulled it out, my screen lighting up the small exam room. Afraid Marjorie might see the light bleeding out of the office, I curved my palm over the top.

Gabe: You out?

I replied with numb, clumsy fingers: Trapped in clinic.

Gabe: There’s a bunch of cops out front!

The cops had probably come when Gabe broke into Marjorie’s car.

I closed my eyes. I was on my own.

Leather creaked as Marjorie sat down. She was back in her office.

I stood silent and still for what felt like forever. Rain fell in sheets on the other side of the window, a curtain separating me from the outside world. Sepia shades of yellow cast long rectangular shapes on the tiled floor.

My eyes adjusted to the darkness. Across the room I could make out the hulking shape of the exam table, the computer on its small desk just beyond. I glanced at the tools in the room, trying to figure out what I could use now. Stethoscope. Scales. Paper towels. Gauze. Reflex hammer.

If worse came to worst, I could just knock her out. There was always gauze to bandage her afterward. I almost laughed at the absurd thoughts whirling through my brain like demented birds.

The clinic was set up like a square, reception in front, exam rooms along the corridor at the back. Marjorie’s office was at the end of the hall, facing the exam rooms. Directly across from me was the hallway that led past the medical supply room and out into reception. Marjorie’s office door was open, so sneaking across wasn’t an option unless she was distracted.

I had to distract her.

I grabbed the reflex hammer and eased around the open door, tossing it across the corridor toward the medical supply closet. It made a solid thunk, and Marjorie instantly got out of her chair. I peeked through the crack by the door’s hinges. Marjorie’s back was to me as she bent to pick up the little hammer. She then opened the supply closet, momentarily obstructing her view of me.

This was it.

I slipped out, scuttling to the left, then cutting right down the hallway toward reception.

I crouched behind the desk while I waited for her to return to her office, but instead she walked toward reception. I could hear her breathing, the shuffle of her shoes against tiles. My heart banged against my rib cage, my whole body flooded with adrenaline. It felt like my blood was made of fire.