"On the house." A dismissive wave of his hand, and another kindly smile.
I was still feeling shaky as I moved back down the vacant hallway, but
I refused to let either of them help me. Instead I left him to oversee
Ramala as she shut down the equipment.
Oddly, the place still seemed vacant except for me, though there was a
large white door that appeared to lead to another wing. What was in
there? I wondered. The questions kept piling up.
It soon turned out I was wrong about the clinic being empty. When I
reached the door to the room where I'd been, I thought I heard a
shuffling sound inside. I pushed it open gingerly and saw the room was
dark. It hadn't been when I left. The shuffling noise--I realized it
was somebody closing the Venetian blinds--immediately stopped.