The elevator opens, and we walk down the hall.
“Good for you. She wouldn’t happen to have a sister, would she?” He grins.
Now I laugh. “No, but she has a friend you might like.”
“I might take you up on that. Assuming she isn’t like that nurse.”
At the end of the hall is a restricted access door and a window. I press the buzzer next to the window.
“She busted my balls the first time she met me,” I tell him. “Trust me, she’s nothing like that nurse.”
“Can I help you?” a male voice asks through an intercom.
I glance through the window, but I don’t see anyone. “Yes, we’re here for Joseph Taylor.”
There is a pause before the voice returns. “He had an x-ray, but he should be back in his room by now.”
I look at Rover, and he shrugs.
“He could have been in the other elevator, and we missed him,” Rover says.
“Let’s go check.”
We go back to Joseph’s room. It’s still empty.
Kaitlyn walks into the room, all smiles. “Did you find your friend?”
“No, did you see him return?” I demand.
Her smile fades. “No, he hasn’t returned yet.”
“Shit.”
I race back to the elevator and up to radiology with Rover on my heels. I press the buzzer.
“Can I help you?” the same voice asks.
I use my‘I’m not fucking around’voice. “Yes, Joseph Taylor isn’t in his room. I need to speak to whoever saw him last.”
My tone must work, because a man in blue scrubs comes out the door. “Hi, I was with Mr. Taylor. You said he isn’t in his room?”
He has dark circles under his eyes, and I have to wonder if he’s at the end of a long shift.
“No, did you wheel him back yourself?”
The man scratches the back of his neck. “No, after the scan, he said he needed to use the bathroom, so I showed him where it was. A few minutes later, when I checked the bathroom, it was empty. I assumed he made his way back to his room on his own.”
I have to step away to remain calm. “Were you aware that Joseph Taylor has us here in shifts protecting him? That he was here because someone tried to kill him?”
The man pales. “No, I didn’t know.”
I turn to Rover, “Let’s split up and search. I’ll take the stairs down to the lobby.”
He nods. “I’ll check the exterior perimeter of the building.”
If Joseph did leave on his own, he’s in a hospital gown and has no transportation. He won’t get far.
By the time I hit the lobby, I’ve passed two doctors and three nurses but haven’t spotted Joseph. I run to the reception desk by the front door. “Excuse me, did you happen to see a patient leaving in only a hospital gown?”
