Billy made hurried steps through the entrance of Harlem Hospital’s K building. The guard sitting behind the desk tried to stop her to check her ID, but Billy ignored him and kept going toward the elevators. The portly man in the company-issued blue suit made to pursue her, but Marcus interceded. After a brief explanation, and a once-over of Marcus’s identification, the guard returned to his post and troubled them no further.

During the elevator ride up, Marcus tried to offer Billy words of encouragement, but they went in one ear and out the other. Seeing the pain in her eyes, he wanted nothing more than to reach out and comfort her, but he didn’t want to overstep his bounds. Before the doors had completely opened on the third floor, Billy was sliding between them and sprinting down the hall. Marcus found himself almost having to jog to keep up with her.

When Billy reached the nurses’ station, she gave the young Trinidadian woman Yoshi’s full name and was directed to room 322. Keeping her speedy pace, Billy moved down the hall to locate her friend. When she found Yoshi’s room, she paused outside the door for a minute. Not really knowing what to expect, she had to gather the courage to go in. Marcus offered to go with her, but Billy declined. This was something she had to do on her own. Taking a deep breath, Billy pushed the door open and stepped into the room.

Yoshi lay on a bed, with the side of her face bandaged and her left arm in a cast. Her eye was swollen and her lip looked like it would burst if you touched it. Yoshi’s whole body was covered in bruises and scratches from the ordeal. Tears streamed down Billy’s cheek when she saw the mess the attacker had made of her friend.

“Yoshi?” Billy called to her, slowly approaching the aluminum bed.

At first Yoshi was still, but gradually she began to move. Stirring from her drug-induced slumber she looked at her friend through her good eye, which had a red web running through it. She tried to raise her arm, sending pain racing through her body.

“Billy?” she whispered through her swollen and dry lips.

“I’m here, baby,” Billy said, rushing to her bedside and taking her good hand. “It’s gonna be okay.”

Yoshi tried to manage a smile, but only ended up wincing in pain. “I’m sorry,” she said, sobbing through a distorted voice.

“It’s okay, baby.” Billy embraced her. “Who did this to you?”

“It was Rel and those guys from Bad Blood,” she confessed. “When I went home from the club they were waiting from me.” Yoshi’s body shook from the sobbing. “I tried to fight them, but I couldn’t make them stop. Billy, they hurt me so bad.”