The door to her apartment building finally appeared in view. She let herself into the lobby and took a second to appreciate being out of the wind. The lobby seemed almost eerily quiet after the noise of the wind in the trees outside. Warmth began to seep back into her cold toes and fingers and she unzipped her jacket. After stopping at the mailboxes, she went around the corner to get the elevator to her fourth-floor apartment only to be greeted by a piece of paper taped to the doors. Out of order.

Crap. She leaned her forehead against the closed doors. She was so tired. All she wanted to do was get to her bed and collapse for a few hours. For a second, she contemplated sitting down in the corner of the lobby and going to sleep there. She was that tired. Then she thought about Catalina Rohr, how the work shed been part of at the hospital that day had made it possible for that little girl to have a father. She was a doctor, God damn it. Yes. It was hard, but it was so worth it.

Lexa pulled herself up straight. Four stupid flights of stairs werent going to stop her. They were one more thing for her to conquer. She flung open the door to the stairs and marched up.

The stairwell was nearly as cold as it was outside. The smell of damp concrete and something else odd and metallic tickled Lexas nose. The iron railing was cold under her hand and the peeling paint on it scratched a bit as she ascended. Hitting the landing for the first floor, she paused to catch her breath. The smell was stronger here. What was it? It was familiar, but she couldnt quite place it. Not her problem. She shook her head and started up the next flight.

She was halfway up the next flight when she saw the shoe. It took her a second to make sense of it. She was that tired. For a moment, it seemed like it was hanging in mid-air. Then she realized it was on a foot that was attached to a leg that had to belong to someone who was lying face down on the next landing.

Fatigue forgotten, she raced up the next stairs. Shed been right. A man lay face down on the scuffed concrete, a pool of blood spreading beneath him. That had been the metallic smell shed noticed. Blood. Familiar, yet too out of place here in the stairwell for her to identify it.