Chapter 128: Chapter 128 Close Call
Elara
I could tell Sam wasn’t experienced at this kind of thing. While he was still frozen in shock, the police officers had already moved in and restrained him.
I clutched my stomach and handed the water bottle to an officer. "Officer, please have this water tested at your lab. You can see the white residue floating in it that he put in there."
"Absolutely. What’s your relationship to the suspect?" the officer asked.
"I’m his boss. He’s been with the company for less than a week."
By the time I finished giving my statement at the police station, it was already past midnight.
The pain had made me feel like I was going to pass out.
"That’s all for now. We’ll keep investigating and call you if we need anything else," the officer said, wrapping up our session.
A female cop noticed the thin layer of sweat on my forehead and looked concerned. "Are you alright? You look awful. Should I take you to the ER?"
I was honestly too exhausted to be polite anymore. "Yes, could you please take me to the nearest hospital? My stomach is killing me."
"Sure thing, just wait here while I get the car."
During the drive, the officer made small talk. "Tough being in management, isn’t it? Having to wine and dine clients, drinking, and then getting sick. Plus having to watch out for creepy employees."
"Nobody has it easy," I smiled weakly. "You don’t either. I’m sorry you had to work overtime because of this."
"Don’t worry about it," she chuckled. "It comes with the badge. You were pretty sharp though. Some women wouldn’t have caught on until it was too late."
What someone might do after drugging you was something nobody wanted to think about.
Truthfully, I hadn’t been particularly suspicious at first.
It was just that Dominic’s question about my new assistant had been stuck in my head all day.
I’d been extra careful during this business trip.
When I accepted the water, I never expected it would actually be spiked.
If I hadn’t been in such pain, the smart move would have been to get out of the car immediately and find a safe place before calling the police.
But I was hurting too bad to move, and the streets were pretty empty at 10 PM.
I had made a quick decision to share my live location with Hannah and asked her to call the police for me.
When we arrived at the hospital, I thanked the female officer and went to check in at the ER myself.
"Do you want me to stay with you?" she asked.
"No need, thank you. I can handle it on my own."
I’d already taken up enough of her time.
The ER was a madhouse that night.
Apparently, there had been a multi-car pileup on the highway, and stomach pain like mine wasn’t considered serious compared to those cases.
While waiting, I remembered that Dominic had asked me to text him when I reached the hotel.
There was no point in freaking him out when he was halfway across the country.
[Elara: Made it to the hotel. Pretty tired, hitting the sack now.]
After sending the text, I waited another hour before finally being called in.
The doctor quickly scribbled me some orders for tests, and after another hour of being shuffled around, I finally settled into an observation room with an IV drip.
The young nurse on duty was kind but clearly running on fumes. "You can doze off, but don’t go completely under. The ER is crazy busy tonight. When the IV is done, press the call button and wait for me to come change it."
"If you need backup, you could call a family member to come help," she suggested.
My pale lips curved into a slight smile. "I’m good. Thank you, nurse. I understand."
I drifted in and out of consciousness, not daring to fall completely asleep, checking the IV drip every few minutes.But it was hard to keep my eyes open.
Now that my stomach felt slightly better, my body was freezing for some reason.
I didn’t even care if the hospital blanket was remotely clean—I just wrapped myself up like a burrito underneath it, trying to get warm.
