"Someone's in the hallway."
Marcus's eyes snapped open. He'd fallen asleep in the chair beside Aria's bed. The room was dark. The only light came from the monitors tracking her vitals.
He checked his watch. Three AM. The hospital was quiet.
Marcus moved to the door. Looked through the small window. A figure stood at the nurses' station. It wasn't a nurse.
The figure turned. Marcus saw the gun tucked into a shoulder holster.
His blood ran cold.
He locked the door quietly. Moved back to Aria's bed. Shook her gently.
"Wake up. We need to leave. Now."
Aria's eyes opened immediately. Years of training meant she went from sleep to alert in seconds. "What's wrong?"
"Someone's here at the nurses' station; he is armed." Marcus was already disconnecting her monitors. Careful to do it slowly so the alarms wouldn't trigger. "We're leaving. Right now. Can you move?"
