Dr White's Baby Wish

‘Nothing,’ Cody noted as he took a hit on his upper arm. ‘Mick, steady, man. You’re in hospital. We’re the good guys.’

Harper leaned as close as she dared, one eye on those flailing arms. ‘Mick, I’m Harper, a doctor, and I want to help you, but I need to know if you’ve swallowed any drugs.’

The young guy groaned, opening and closing his eyes rapidly.

‘Yes or no?’ she persisted.

A brief nod was his only reply.

‘Balloons or capsules?’

Mick twisted his head to the side and stared briefly beyond her, fear and hatred blinking out of his stricken eyes. ‘Balloons,’ he croaked.

So the detective was right. The detective. She looked up, right into Cody’s eyes, and saw her own uncertainty there which gave her the determination to get rid of the stranger. Turning around, she growled, ‘I asked you to leave, Detective Strong.’

‘So you did.’ He sounded so smug a trickle of apprehension ran down her spine.

Cody said in a ‘don’t fool with me’ tone, ‘You will do as Dr White says.’

Nice as it was to have the nurse backing her, Harper had a definite feeling their visitor wasn’t going to take any more notice of Cody than he had her. She glanced at Cody and nodded thanks again, appreciative of his attempt to help her with this horrid man. She didn’t know why she thought him horrid, but she did. Probably something to do with those arctic-blue eyes that bored into her relentlessly. The complete opposite to the warmth she found in Cody’s brief green gaze on the rare occasion he looked at her for an answer to some question. Shivering, she glanced at the nurse now, not wanting to focus on that other man. But she still had to get rid of him. He was a hazard in the emergency room.

‘Call security,’ she mouthed at Cody.

Mick wheezed out some words.

‘What did you say?’ Leaning down to hear him better, Harper felt the heat radiating off his body. ‘Jess, get the fan going as fast as possible.’

‘Not cop. Supplier.’

‘Mick? Really?’

He nodded. At least, that was what she thought his erratic head movement was.

Harper hoped against hope the man behind her hadn’t heard or seen any of that. He wouldn’t be pleased that she now knew for sure he wasn’t a detective but a criminal. She thought fast. What to do? They had to work on saving Mick’s life, get the so-called detective out of here and call in the real police, all at the same time. And she’d sent Cody out of the room. Squeezing the young man’s hand, she whispered, ‘Okay,’ before straightening up.

Of course it was not okay. It was a minefield.

Cody was still there. Thank goodness. His presence and calm manner gave her strength. Catching her eye, he nodded once, tightly. Had he heard what their patient had said? Whatever message he was trying to send her, she wasn’t understanding, and they were wasting time if Mick stood any chance at all of surviving the poison streaming through his body.

With a shaky breath she turned to the man causing her problems. ‘This is an emergency department. Anything you want to ask my patient will have to wait until we’ve treated him.’ If he survives. ‘So please head out to the waiting area. Now.’

‘Or what?’ A rapid movement and a gun appeared between them.

‘What are you doing?’ she gasped as that trickle of apprehension became a torrent of fear. She was unable to stop staring at the weapon pointed directly at her chest, where her heart was beating the weirdest, sickest rhythm against her ribs. Definitely not a detective, then. Glancing out of the wide opening of Resus One, she could see only one person at the desk, and he was rapidly removing himself from sight. ‘Call the police,’ Harper begged silently.

‘Hey, what do you think you’re doing?’ Cody moved around the bed fast, stepped up close to her so his arm touched hers and eyeballed her aggressor, anger darkening his face. ‘Put that away.’

‘You want to argue?’ The man smirked as he waved the gun at Cody, taunting him to take a crack at him. ‘I’m here to collect what’s mine.’

That gun mesmerised Harper as it was moved between her and Cody in a very deliberate, menacing way. One little squeeze and someone could die. Just as simple, and horrific, as that.

She had to do something. Drawing what she hoped was a calming breath, but felt like an asthma attack, she said in a voice that didn’t sound like hers, ‘Stop this. Now. Our first priority’s to save Mick’s life. So get out of the way while we do all we can.’ She glanced sideways to her patient. Damn. ‘Cody, oxygen. Now. Jess, bring the fan closer. We need to get his temperature down fast.’

The girl was paralysed with fear. ‘Sorry, yes, Harper.’

With Mick fighting him all the way, Cody struggled getting the mask on.

‘Matilda, the water.’ No reply. ‘Matilda?’ Harper glanced around but there was no sign of the junior nurse. When had she snuck away? Now they were down to three. Not enough to help their patient, but fewer to be confronted with that gun. Hopefully it also meant they could expect help in the form of security or, better yet, armed police, shortly. Then what would Detective Strong do? Her skin lifted in goose bumps as she struggled to tamp down the fear threatening to rage through her and flatten her thought processes. Would they find themselves in the middle of a shooting match? She had a patient to care for; other staff to try and keep safe.

‘The oxygen’s flowing.’ Cody’s calm voice cut through her panic.

Her eyes met his and the fear backed off a few notches. Darn, but he was good. Cool as. She straightened her shoulders and dipped her chin to acknowledge she was on her game, however shakily.

Cody nodded back. ‘I’ll get the water.’ He caught Mick’s flying arm and tucked it down against the young man’s body. ‘Steady, mate. Think we’ll strap you down for a bit, okay? Can’t have you knocking out your doctor, can we? Jess, maybe you should get the water.’

Harper took the end of a strap he handed her. He had it all together—seemed completely unfazed about their unwanted spectator. She drew more strength from him. ‘You and Jess do this while I go get some drugs.’ She turned to come face-to-face with their interloper, and felt the cold, hard reality of a gun barrel poked into her stomach.

‘I don’t think so.’ Those chilly eyes fixed on her. ‘No one’s going anywhere.’

‘I am trying to save this man’s life—a life that you mightn’t care about—’ she stabbed his chest without thinking ‘—but I do. We do. So get out of my way.’

‘The only thing I care about are those packs in his gut. They belong to me.’ Cold steel jabbed deep into her stomach. ‘Nothing, no one else, matters. Get it?’

She nodded. ‘Sure. But I am going to do my absolute best to save Mick’s life, whatever you think, so move out of my way.’ She locked eyes with the man, fighting down the returning panic weaving through her tense muscles.

He waved the gun in her face, so close she tipped her head back. ‘What are you going to do about it, doc? Eh? Wait until idiot here dies? Because he’s going to. One way or the other. They all do.’

The firearm was menacing but even more so were the eyes locked on her as he continued. ‘Save us all the trouble and cut him open so I get what I came for. Then I’ll get out of your hair.’ If he’d shouted or snarled, she’d have handled his statement better, but he’d spoken softly, clearly, and set her quivering with dread.

There was no getting rid of the man, nor was he going to let her get the midazolam Mick desperately needed. She wanted to call out for someone else to bring the drug but that meant putting another person in jeopardy.

‘I’ll go,’ Cody intervened. He flicked her a quick look that seemed to say, Hang in there, I’m on to this, but she could be far off the mark. It had been a very fast glance.

The gunman snarled, ‘No you don’t.’

Cody shrugged exaggeratedly. ‘We need more water and drugs and, if you think I’d do a bunk and leave Dr White alone with you, think again. The drugs cupboard is just on the other side of the doorway.’

Phew. Relief warmed Harper. As much as she’d like the nurse out of here and safe, she didn’t want to be left without him watching her back as much as it was possible.

Her relief lasted nanoseconds. An arm slung around her throat, cutting off anything she could’ve said to back up Cody. Her assailant hauled her backwards, hard up against his torso.

‘Let her go.’ Cody stood right in front of them, his hands loose at his sides, those impressive feet spread wide, looking for all the world like he regularly dealt with this sort of situation, this type of villain.

‘Want to try and make me?’ the man snarled, then tightened his hold around Harper’s neck. Was he getting upset that things weren’t quite going his way?

They weren’t going her way either, but she could try to regain some control over the situation. Struggling to straighten up, she got hauled further off-balance for her efforts.

The grip tightened on Harper’s throat, making her eyes water and feel as though they could pop out of their sockets any moment. Her windpipe hurt. But it was the latest wave of fear rolling up from her stomach that really threw her off-centre. She didn’t have a chance of getting away from this man, or of saving Mick.