10
Nick marched up to the front desk of the hospital. He had made good time. He usually reserved the flashing lights hidden in the grille of his car for official police business, but this time, he had made an exception.
The waiting room of the small hospital was nearly empty and smelled of hand sanitizer. There was a woman with a wailing infant, and an older man with his pant leg rolled up to reveal a lean, hairy calf. A metal fishing hook had been embedded in his flesh. A mounted TV was on in the corner, playing a 24-hour news channel on mute with closed captioning. He caught sight of the twisted wreckage of a beige truck on the screen before turning to face the nurse behind the desk.
She looked to be in her thirties. Her scrubs had a floral pattern beneath her pink cardigan. Her strai
