Chapter 498
“That can’t be right. The head nurse said the patient from Room 1702 left in a wheelchair. It has to be you.”
“Do you even know the name of the patient in Room 1702?” Kristine asked.
Both nurses answered at once. “No.”
Kristine was at a loss for words.
“What’s going on over there?” a middle-aged woman’s voice called from down the corridor.
Both nurses snapped upright.
“The Room 1702 patient tried to leave, but we stopped her,” one of them explained quickly.
The head nurse approached and studied Kristine, then shook her head with evident irritation. “This isn’t the Room 1702 patient.”
The nurses’ expressions crumbled. “We got the wrong person?”
“Never mind. She’s probably long gone by now. Both of you, back to your stations.”
“Yes, ma’am. We’re sorry,” they murmured, heads down, before turning and walking away.
The head nurse turned to Kristine. “I apologize for the confusion. It’s their first shift, and they haven’t familiarized themselves with the patient yet.”
“It’s fine,” Kristine said, already edging toward the elevator.
She was almost certain Bobby had stepped off on this floor. If her instincts were right, Elyse was here — which meant she needed to be anywhere else.
“If you’d like us to arrange some form of compensation—”
The head nurse’s offer was cut off by a shrill, hysterical voice from somewhere down the corridor. “Everyone out! If Colton doesn’t come himself, I’m refusing treatment!”
Kristine went still. She recognized the voice immediately. Elyse.
But Colton wasn’t here.
Perhaps he had been telling the truth about the urgent matter at work. She pushed the thought aside before it could take root and started wheeling herself toward the elevator.
“Ms. Green? Why are you here?”
Bobby.
Kristine stopped. Her mind moved quickly.
“You came to see Miss Lloyd, didn’t you?” he said, crossing the corridor toward her in long, purposeful strides.
An idea clicked into place. “Yes. Is Colton here?”
“Mr. Yates isn’t—” Bobby started, then seemed to catch on to something. “You came looking for him. But he didn’t come.”
“No,” Kristine corrected herself quickly. “I’m here for a medical check-up.”
The words were out before she could stop them. She held herself very still, waiting.
In the past, if she’d said something like that, Bobby would have assumed she was covering for secretly trailing Colton. She could only hope he reached the same conclusion now.
Under his searching look, she barely breathed.
Then Bobby broke into a knowing smile. “Understood. Need a hand?”
“No, I’ve finished,” she said, and exhaled slowly.
“All right. I’ll arrange a car to take you back.”
“Thank you.”
She steered herself into the elevator and noticed her palms were damp against the wheels. She could only hope fooling Colton would go just as smoothly.
After picking up her medication from the pharmacy, Kristine got into the car Bobby had arranged and returned to the villa.
She stayed tense all afternoon.
But evening came and Colton still hadn’t returned. The villa was unusually quiet — no movement, no presence anywhere in the house. The silence pressed down on her like something physical.