Chapter 34

Everyone is shooting me dirty looks as I slip out of the auditorium. Partially because I end up leaving behind a huge puddle of coffee under my seat. But what am I supposed to do? Crouch down in the middle of the lecture hall, wiping up coffee with the little tiny napkins provided with the food? It would take like a thousand of those napkins to clean up all that coffee.

I’ve got to see Ryan now. I’ve got to convince him not to do what I know he’s thinking about doing. Before it’s too late.

I race over to the elevators, and just my luck, the doors open and there’s George. I hesitate, knowing that I don’t have the stamina to make it up all those stairs.

“What floor?” he asks me.

“Ten,” I say. “And… it’s kind of… an emergency.”

Our eyes meet for a split second, and George nods. Someone else starts to board the elevator, but George holds out his arm to block them. “Sorry,” he tells the frustrated would-be passenger. “We’ve got an emergency and we’re going straight to the tenth floor.”

Seriously? Wow. George rocks.

The doors slide shut and we begin our express journey to the tenth floor. George shoots me the tiniest of smiles, which I return.

When we get to the tenth floor, I shoot out of the elevator like a bullet. (Okay, bad analogy.) I sprint down the hall to Ryan’s office, practicing the speech I’m planning to recite to convince him that life is worth living. I nearly slam into a startled young guy in scrubs during my race to the end of the hall.

Except when I get to the office, the sign with Ryan’s name on it is gone.

“Hey!” I bark at the guy in scrubs. “What happened to Dr. Reilly?”

The guy hesitates, as if he’s not sure he should say anything. “He resigned.”

“He resigned ?” That sick feeling in my stomach intensifies. “When?”

“Two days ago.”

Two days ago.

Ryan hasn’t been to work in two days.

He lives alone. He has no wife or girlfriend. If he were lying dead in his house, would anyone know?

Oh God …

My knees go weak. I have to hang onto the wall to keep from falling to the floor. The guy in scrubs gives me a concerned look. “Are… are you okay, ma’am?”

“Do you know where he lives?” I manage.

He blinks at me. “What?”

“Do you know where Dr. Reilly lives?” I say more loudly this time.

I see the hesitation on his face. He knows. He just isn’t sure if he should tell the crazy lady who is practically having a nervous breakdown in the hallway.

“Please tell me,” I say. “Please. Please .”