" Good work today, Suri!"
"Thank you!" I grinned at my supervisor while putting on my coat. "See you next week."
"Good luck with your exam," she called out before exiting the staff room, holding a stack of charts ready to be filled out.
Wrapping my black scarf around me, I made my way to the exit doors only to stop abruptly right after stepping out through them. A few feet away from the entrance stood a group of reporters with their cameras up high, capturing the scenery around them while they waited for someone from the hospital to walk out of the doors.
"Guys! Look, it's the girl from before!"
My eyes widened as I realized that the guy shouting belonged to the group- he'd seen me through his camera lens. Breaking out of my frozen state, I swirled around and began power walking down the pavement towards the square.
"Hey!" some other guy in the group shouted after me. "Wait up!"
I sped up.
Soon enough, another pair of footsteps were heard behind me. Then I felt someone grab my arm. Begrudgingly, I turned around to face the reporter who had first noticed me.
"You work as a nurse here?" he asked, although it sounded more like a statement rather than a question, judging by the tone of his voice.
"Yes," was my automatic answer, before I realized that I was digging a hole for myself. Immediately, I shook my head. "I mean, no I'm no-"
"Oh, you are!" he continued, not falling for my pathetic attempt to lie. "I thought I recognized you from this morning, in the ER!"
"Uh..." I ducked my head. "Sorry, I've got to go."
"Oh, but this won't take more than a couple of minutes!" he insisted and dug out a metal ball from his pocket, suddenly smiling brightly.
"Sorry, I can't-"
"I understand that you are busy," he continued, not giving in to my efforts to tug my arm out of his grip, "but this subject affects a million of people's emotional and physical well-being, which is something that you, a nurse who has dedicated your life to help other people, surely must feel strongly about?"
"I guess but..."
"And judging by the look you had when it was mentioned in the ER," he suddenly took a step forward, narrowing his eyes, "I believe you know a lot about this case. "
An involuntary gasp left my lips.
"A-ha!" A wide grin broke out on his thin face. "I thought so!"
Pressing the button to make the metallic shell of the camera swipe back, he began firing demands. " I just need you to tell me your opinion regarding the murder. Start off with telling me your name," he explained eagerly, "and then tell me if this issue has had any sort of impact on your work environment and if it has affected the patients around you."
Before I had any chance to say anything, a loud ringing blared out, making us both do a startled jump. Realizing after a second that it was my phone, I began to dig around in my pockets to finally pull it out and put it against my ear.
"Meet me at the crossroad, two blocks behind you, in 2 minutes."
I did a double take at the screen to see who the owner of the mellow voice was. There was no caller ID present. "Who's this?"
A loud sigh was heard on the other side of the line. That's when it clicked and I gasped.
"Ah! Offic-"
"Don't say it."
My hand flew up to my mouth and I threw a glance at the reporter that was waiting with an impatient expression on his face in front of me. "Oh right. I won't, but do you want me to meet you now?"
"Yes."
"Like right now?"
"Yes."
"But there is no way I can get there in two minutes! How?"
"Run," he replied curtly.
"Huh?" I glanced around at the people around me. A few feet behind the journalist in front of me were his colleagues, making their way towards us.
"Now," Ehren emphasized before hanging up.
I stared at the phone in my hand, not sure what to do. A loud clearing of the throat next to me made me look up again. The reporter was still holding the glimmering ball in his hand, ready to capture some film.
"So," he began his interview again. "What was your name again and how long have you been working in the ER?"
"I- I really have to go, sorry," I stuttered and tried again to tug my arm from his grip. "I'm late for this thing..."
"Okay," he finally nodded and put the ball in the pocket of his coat. While still holding onto my arm with his other hand, he pulled out a phone. "Could you give me your number then so that I could ask you a few questions later when you have the time?"
"Uh..."
"Oh, and your name also. What did you say it was now again?"
Finally giving up, I sighed. " I am-"
"My girlfriend," a smooth voice suddenly commented next to me, making me do a startled jump. Feeling a hand land on my shoulder and squeeze it lightly, I glanced up to see a hooded man beside me. "So you can let go of her arm now."
"Uh..." Wide-eyed, the journalist stared dumbfounded at the disguised police officer. Then he dropped my arm as if he'd burned himself on it. "Listen, man. I wasn't trying anything with her. I'm actually a repor-"
"That's great, man." Ehren sent him a 'thumbs up' before turning me around. Lowering his head so that he was almost on eye-level with me he muttered, "I told you to run."
"Hey!" the man behind us cried out as Ehren began to lead me away from him. "Hold on a second!"
"I was going to!" I hissed back and stumbled a little as I tried to keep up with his increasing pace. Pulling his hood further down over his face, he broke out into a slow jog towards a gray car that stood parked a few feet away.
"Wait!" I called after him, "Where are we going?"
"Away from the reporter," Ehren said at the same time as the car doors flew open. "Now get in."
Not bothering to check if I obeyed his order, he slid into the driving seat. I followed suit and strapped myself into the passenger seat behind him.
From behind us, we could hear the steady clattering of footsteps as the reporter began to run after us, having realized that his source of information was getting away. "Wait, guys!" he shouted, "could you just give me a quick second?"
In response, the officer in front of me revived the engine and steered the car out into the street.