Light sprain? It hadn’t felt so light when it had happened or when I had been hopping around that garage. I simply nodded.

“Did the blood test show anything else in my system?”

He glanced at the chart again. “Nope. Why do you ask?”

“I was…drugged. Injected with something late Tuesday afternoon.”

“Looks like they ran the standard drug panel. We can run it again, but if it was something like Rohypnol, it’s probably left your system by now.”

Of course. Rohypnol. The date-rape drug. It induced amnesia, impaired judgment, and left the system quickly.

I’d been wondering how the masked man had gotten me out of my apartment without anyone noticing. I hadn’t passed out after all. I’d walked out of the apartment on my own. I just didn’t remember. That was also why he hadn’t given me any food until quite a bit later. I would have thrown it up.

“Run the test again anyway,” I said. “Please.”

He nodded. “Of course.” He cleared his throat. “All we know from the police officer who wrote you up is that you said you were kidnapped from your home and then forced into a garage with a running car.”

“Yes, that’s correct. And if today is Thursday, I was gone for almost forty-eight hours.”

“I see. Now that you’re awake, we’ll bring in a police officer, and you can make a statement.”

“At the time I was pulled over, Doctor, the officer in question wanted to arrest me for grand theft auto. So you can understand if I’m not too excited about speaking to the police again.”

“We’ve verified your identity,” Dr. Hernandez said, “and your injuries are commensurate with what you described. I don’t think you’re going to be arrested.” He gave me a big smile.

“Still, you don’t know for sure.”

“If the police thought you were any kind of risk, they would have someone posted at your door. Possibly have you cuffed to your bed. I’m pretty sure you’re in the clear. Do you have any questions for me?”

“Yes. When can I get out of here?”

“I’d prefer to keep you overnight, for observation. We want to make sure the CO gets out of your system in a timely manner. But I don’t see any reason why you can’t leave tomorrow. We’ll get you a soft boot for your ankle. You’ll probably only have to wear it for a week or two. Maybe only a few days.”

Since I had no idea what my loft would look like when I got there, staying another night in the hospital didn’t sound too bad. “Can you get me some food?”

“Of course. There’s no reason why you can’t have a little something to eat.”

“Great. Thanks.”

The nurse entered. “Here you are, Doctor.” She handed me an apple juice box, the straw already inserted.

I took it quickly and sucked down some of the cool juice.

“Betsy, can we find Dr. Carmichael something to eat?” Dr. Hernandez said.

She turned, looking at him with stars in her eyes. “Of course. Right away.” She giggled and left the room.

Crushing on the doctor. I was too tired even to smile.

Dr. Hernandez was busy writing some notes in my chart. “Is there anyone we should contact? Are you married? Live with someone?”

He didn’t ask if I was in love with someone. Of course he wouldn’t. But I was. I was in love with Jonah Steel, and I might have lost him forever because I’d sneaked out of his home.

I shook my head. “No. And I’ve taken a leave of absence from my practice, so no one will be missing me.”

Had Jonah missed me? He hadn’t answered my call when I’d tried desperately to contact him while the intruder was in my loft. I had no idea if he even cared. And because I hadn’t memorized his phone number, I couldn’t get in touch with him.

“Things are looking good here.” Dr. Hernandez put down my chart and turned. “Oh, and here’s the police officer to speak to you.” He looked at the woman in blue. “Not too long, okay? Dr. Carmichael needs her rest.”

“For sure,” the officer said.

My memory was fuzzy, but this definitely wasn’t the officer who’d stopped me on the highway, since she was a woman. She was uniformed, her black hair pulled back in a severe bun from a pretty, although non-made-up, face.

She sat down in the chair next to my bed. “Dr. Carmichael, I’m Officer Ruby Lee. I just need to ask some questions about what happened to you.”

“All right. I’ll do the best I can.”

“That’s all I ask. If you start to get too tired, just let me know, and we’ll continue another time.”

I nodded.

“All right, just start from the beginning.”

“I was in my loft, in the shower, on Tuesday, when I heard some scuffling. I got out of the shower, but left it running, and grabbed my purse on my dresser and ran to my closet. I tried to dial 9-1-1, but I got a busy signal. Twice. Why did that happen? Someone is supposed to be there to help in emergencies.”

Officer Lee nodded. “I sympathize. It does happen sometimes, however.”

“I have no way of knowing whether help would have gotten to me in time anyway, but it would’ve been nice to know someone was trying to help. No one knew what was going on.”

“Someone did. Your call was logged, and the police went to your apartment. They recovered your purse and your phone, and there was evidence of forced entry.”

I heaved a sigh of relief. “So you know I’m telling the truth.”

She smiled. “Of course we know you’re telling the truth. The officer who stopped you was being a little bit of a vigilante, and trust me, he’ll hear from his superiors.”

I closed my eyes and breathed in.

“The car you were driving was reported stolen by a Dr. Rodney Cates.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. But don’t let that fool you. I’m pretty sure Dr. Cates was behind this attack.”

“Why would you say that?”

God, I didn’t want to go through the awful facts again, but I had to tell the truth to the police. “His daughter was a patient of mine. She ended up committing suicide, and Dr. Cates blames me for it, even though a practicing psychotherapist and an attorney reviewed my file and concluded that there was nothing in my notes to indicate she was suicidal.”