.

pressed a button to raise her bed slightly. “We... We were out at a club with some friends. People we know from school. It was our first time going out with them or going to a club. Sri, he said we needed to learn how to have fun, that no one should study as much as we do. I didn’t want to go, but I went because he asked me to. Why didn’t he listen to me? I knew we shouldn’t have gone.”

      “Why did you feel that way?”

      “I don’t know.” She stared at the far wall where the nurses had recorded her information on a dry-erase board. “I had a feeling we shouldn’t go.”

      “Had something happened to make you feel that way?”

      “Nothing in particular. I get these feelings.” Rayna rubbed her abdomen. “Here. Often they turn out to be sound. I wish this wasn’t one of those times.” She broke down again, her sobs echoing through the small room.

      Sam felt awful for pushing her to recount the most traumatic moment of her life, but she needed to know. “So, you were walking home...”

      Rayna nodded and wiped her face again. “We were walking on P Street. I wanted to take a cab, but Sri said the fresh air would be good for us after being in the club. He talked me into walking. ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘It’s a beautiful night.’ He’s very convincing when he sets his heart on something.” Her face crumpled when she seemed to realize she had spoken of him in the present tense. “He... He was talking about a big presentation he had to make this week at school. There was a loud noise and everything happened at once. He staggered and fell onto me, and I went down with him. I couldn’t tell what was happening until I felt the blood. There was so much blood.” She shuddered and hiccupped as another sob erupted from her chest.

      “When did you realize he’d been shot?” Sam asked.

      “I didn’t know that until the police came. They told me that’s what happened.”

      “Were you injured in the fall?”

      “I sprained my wrist,” she said, raising her arm to show Sam the brace she wore.

      “Did you see the car or anything that might help us catch the people who did this?”