Page 94 of Mission: Possible

"Male. I think. I guess. He was strong. His wrists were white."

"The hospital has security cameras in here, right?" I asked Alice.

She nodded. "Sure, but not in every room. I'm not sure Sophie's room had one."

"Is Sophie okay?" I asked.

Alice grimaced. "We don't know what kind of tampering occurred. They're changing all her lines and monitors just as a precaution."

"Okay. I'm going to check the stairwell to try to find Manny. Perhaps he caught the guy," I said optimistically. Manny was fast and strong and he had a police background, so he knew how to tackle a guy as well as defend himself.

"Be careful," warned Austen. "Whoever did it already hurt Sophie once when she was alone. This time, he tried it again in a busy hospital. He's more than a little dangerous."

"Don't worry about me," I said as I took off running, dodging the group of doctors huddled around the doorway of another room and avoiding an orderly pushing a gurney. I barely slowed down when I reached the door marked 'Stairwell' and pushed it open cautiously. No one leapt out at me. I stepped inside and the door closed softly. I peered down over the railings, then up, but saw nothing and heard only silence. I looked down again, noticing something on the landing below mine. Keeping my side to the wall, away from the open stairwell and any chance of an ambush, I jogged down, stooping to look at what caught my eye. A wallet? I picked it up and flipped it open. Manny's face stared up at me from his driver's license. Bank cards and seventy dollars in cash were still inside. He must have dropped it as he ran after the perp or in a scuffle. I stuffed it into my back pocket and continued to descend, quickly but cautiously now that I knew I was going in the right direction. Yet as I cleared the landings, I didn't hear a single sound except my own footsteps.

"Hey," a weak voice called out.

I stopped, straining to hear it again. "Who's there?" I called back, expecting a trap. I edged to the railing, leaning over it, preparing to leap backward if someone dared to aim a shot at me. To my surprise, however, I saw Manny slumped against the wall near the exit door, one arm draped across his chest. "Manny?"

"Who's there?" he asked, looking up as I hurried down to his side. "Lexi?"

"What happened?" I asked, jumping the last few steps that remained between us. I knelt, assessing his rapidly blackening eye and the blood oozing from his split lip.

"He got the jump on me," he said. "I think some of my ribs are broken. Here, help me up," he added, raising one arm to hook around my neck. I rose carefully, using my arm to support his back as he got unsteadily to his feet.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"Like hell. This should not have happened."

"What did happen? Austen said you ran after the guy."

"I was getting coffee and when I returned, I heard the commotion in Sophie's room just as this guy ran out and shoved me out of his way. He surprised me so I didn’t react as fast as I normally would. Austen yelled out that he hurt Sophie so I took off after him. I was gaining on him when he turned around, grabbed the banister and swung himself around on it, knocking me down. He jumped up and down on my chest. I could hear my ribs breaking," wheezed Manny as he clutched his chest.

I couldn't disguise the horrified look that crossed my face.

"If I weren't going so fast, he couldn't have managed to get me to the ground."

"Did you see who it was?"

"I can't be sure but..."

"But?"

"He looked like Zach. Something about the way he moved, although I never saw his face."

"Which way did he go?"

"Through that door. I don't know which way after that. It's been a few minutes. He's gone. Damn it!" Then he let out a string of Spanish words that I vaguely recognized as common curses. "I can't believe I let him get away!"

"He broke your ribs. You're not Superman," I told him. "We need to get you into the ER."

"I have to report back to Austen first."

"You can't climb those stairs. I'll tell him," I said, reaching into my pocket for his wallet. "You dropped this."

"Thanks," he said, taking it with a sharp intake of breath as he slipped it awkwardly into his jacket pocket. Pain swept his face and he stumbled. It took all my strength and concentration to keep him upright. "Is Austen okay? And Sophie...?" he asked before his voice trailed off and he looked away, like he couldn't bear to hear the news.

"They're both fine. The doctors are checking on Sophie’s vitals, and Austen seems okay except he might complain of a killer headache later."