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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.
Mick. ‘Let me go,’ she tried to say, but nothing got past that arm pushing on her throat. Her fingers clawed at it, trying to loosen the throttling sensation. She couldn’t swallow and breathing was a strain.
Her eyes fixed on Cody’s. She hoped he couldn’t see her fear. Looking deep into his steady gaze, she tried to draw strength from him, to calm down. She couldn’t afford to let the assailant beat her. Count to ten, think what to do.
How in Hades did she count when even getting enough oxygen into her lungs was a mission?
* * *
Cody gulped. Strong was hurting Harper. But she was good. She might be terrified—he definitely was—but she wasn’t taking any crap from the lowlife. Go, girl. No. Be careful, stay safe. Lowlife had the advantage and not once had he looked as though he’d be afraid to pull that trigger.
He guessed the guy had nothing to lose. No one would stop him walking out of here while he held that gun. Hopefully the armed-defenders unit would arrive soon and be able to work out a solution without anyone getting injured or worse. If someone in the department had dialled 111. If Matilda had stopped to tell anyone on her mad dash to freedom. He was afraid to look out into the department in case he alerted Lowlife to other staff or anyone that might be working towards taking him down.
In the meantime the three of them still stuck in here had to deal with the situation and keep out of harm’s way. They weren’t going to get the drug that might calm Mick down a little. The odds were stacking up against him as time ran out fast. And, while Cody abhorred drugs and the people who made a living out of them, this young man was paying a huge price, way too huge. He wouldn’t be making the big bucks that people like Lowlife here would be. ‘I’ll run towels under the cold tap,’ he told Harper. ‘Then you outline what we do next.’ He was trying to warn her to stay put, that they’d get this sorted.
But either she was playing dumb or was just being plain brave because she shook her head, and managed to speak, which indicated that the arm had loosened on her throat. ‘We need icy-cold water, not tap water.’
Lowlife tightened his grip around Harper’s neck again and heavily tapped the gun barrel against her skull. ‘No one goes anywhere or the doc gets it.’
Harper’s eyes widened and all the colour drained from her cheeks. Her front teeth dug deep into her bottom lip.
‘Let her go,’ Cody growled. Fury was building inside him. ‘Incapacitating her isn’t going to change a thing.’ It was obviously a painful hold. Her throat was going to hurt for days. He gritted his teeth. It was crazy to think anyone would have to deal with an assailant in a place where people came to get fixed up, but it happened.
Another man threatening a woman on his watch, though? No, it wasn’t happening again.
‘You think I won’t use this? Huh? Want to see what happens when a bullet goes through brain matter?’ Lowlife laughed, a hideous sound that must’ve been heard throughout the department and made Cody’s skin crawl.
But it was the shock in Harper’s eyes that really got to him. She probably hadn’t encountered anything quite like this before, while he had. He had held his wife in his arms while she’d died of a knife wound to her heart. He’d been unable to halt the life draining out of her that day—had felt so useless, so helpless. Which was why the quiet evil about this man tightened his gut and had him fearing for Harper. That fear vied with anger. Nothing he said or did helped Harper while she was trying to help her patient. She did not deserve to be held to ransom. Or worse. Evil had no boundaries.
All the things he hated about bullies and nasty SOBs burst through him, and it took every ounce of self-control not to leap on the guy and take him down. That would really help the situation. Not. He’d probably get Harper killed in the process. He would not face that again. Once in a lifetime was once too often. He had to be careful; acting impulsively only led to disaster. ‘Let’s be sensible here. Dr White cannot save Mick’s life while you’re holding her.’ Damn, but he hated grovelling.
‘Who says we need to save the useless piece of garbage? I only want my drugs out.’
Jeez. Cody rammed his fingers through his hair. This guy didn’t deserve to be breathing. ‘Still need the doctor for that.’ Though Lowlife probably had his own knife strapped somewhere on his body; Cody had no illusions about the man getting his merchandise back himself. Which only underlined the dire situation they were all in.
Harper blinked at him. Mouthed something he couldn’t read. Her eyes tracked sideways towards the head of the bed.
The monitor? Reluctant to take his eyes off Lowlife while he held that gun to Harper, Cody quickly glanced sideways and saw the flat line on the screen. Mick Frew had gone into cardiac arrest. He hadn’t even heard the changed electronic sound; he’d been so focused on the doctor and her captor.
Cody needed to act quickly before anyone else rushed in to help and found themselves in this dangerous situation. He immediately hit in the centre of Mick’s sternum with his clenched hand, watching the screen intently. The flat line continued. Another thump and he said as calmly as possible, ‘Paddles, Jess.’ It wasn’t Mick’s condition churning his gut, but Harper’s. Dealing with this cardiac arrest wasn’t going to quieten Lowlife any, but no way could he ignore their patient either.
Thankfully Jess already had the paddles in her hands, even if she was staring at Harper.
As he shoved the paddles firmly onto Mick’s exposed chest, he couldn’t stop thinking about the doctor behind him. She was amazing, more concerned about their patient than her own life. She’d read the monitor, or heard it go into that monotone that went with lack of heartbeats, and had tried to let him know even when her windpipe was being squashed. She was some lady. Careful, pal. Don’t get too impressed. You’d hate to follow that up with something more caring.
He held the paddles in place and said urgently, forcefully, ‘Stand back.’
‘Want to get closer, doc?’ Lowlife chuckled.
Cody froze. Never before had he heard such an evil chuckle. It was a match for that hideous laugh. He tried for reasoned and calm. Tried very hard. Snarled, ‘Stand back. If the doctor gets zapped, so will you.’ Dumb idiot. Hadn’t thought of that, had he?
Behind him Harper was hauled back so fast she lost her balance and fell into the man behind her, who also lost his balance.
The hand holding the gun wavered, the fingers tightening as Lowlife struggled to remain upright.
The air stuck in Cody’s chest as he waited for the explosion as the trigger was inadvertently pulled. It didn’t happen.
Instead, Harper dropped lower, fell to the floor. Deliberately? Lowlife no longer had her by the throat, or the gun at her head. Cody sprang forward, his shoulder aimed directly for the assailant’s chest. They went down together, sprawling across the floor while the gun spun out of reach.
Harper crawled after the weapon as Cody worked at subduing Strong by flipping him on to his stomach and planting a knee in the small of his back. ‘Don’t even bother trying to get away.’ Sometimes it was a bonus being a big man, Cody admitted as he looked around for Harper.
She was standing now, holding the gun as though it was about to go off and shoot her. Her hands were shaking and her eyes were wide with shock.
Cody’s heart squeezed for her.
Jess called from the bed in a terrified voice, ‘Still no sign of cardiac function.’
Harper blinked, shook her head abruptly and shoved the gun into the waistband of her scrubs. Rushing across to pick up the paddles from where Cody had dropped them moments ago, she instructed, ‘Stand back,’ and delivered a jolt of electricity. And another, and another.
‘Jess,’ Cody called as the man under his knee squirmed and started swearing loudly. ‘Go get help. Let everyone know we’ve got Strong under control, but as soon as the police arrive I’m more than happy to hand him over.’
Harper was zapping Mick like her life depended on it. ‘Come on. Don’t leave us now.’ Tears ran down her cheeks and her bottom lip trembled.
‘Harper. Stop.’ Cody desperately wanted to go and wrap his arms around her, take away some of the shock presumably making her react like that. As if he’d get away with doing that. Even in the circumstances he knew Dr Harper White would not thank him for showing her concern—especially in front of the staff. Her reputation for being strong, solid and independent went before her, and in the week he’d been working here he hadn’t seen anything to negate it.
Suddenly the room was full of gun-toting men dressed in the dark-blue overalls of the armed defenders squad and Cody relaxed for the first time in what seemed like hours but according to the wall clock was little more than ten minutes.
He couldn’t help himself prodding the man beneath him as he stood up. ‘You’re history.’ What he really wanted to do to the guy wasn’t going to happen even though the creep deserved every moment of pain for what he’d done to Harper White. The fear in her eyes would stay with him for a long time. And then the anger. She was something else; she really was.
As cops grabbed their man, Cody crossed to Harper. ‘It’s over, doctor.’
Her hands were shaking as he took the paddles from her. ‘Mick—he didn’t stand a chance.’
As her fingers oh-so-gently closed Mick’s eyes she said quietly, ‘I’m sorry, Mick Frew. I am so sorry.’ Then she slashed her sleeve across her face. ‘Damn.’
Cody muttered around the road block in his throat, ‘We weren’t exactly given much of a chance.’
Watery eyes met his as her fingers went to her temples, rubbed hard. ‘Unfortunately you’re right.’ Then she straightened up to her full height, bringing her head to somewhere about his shoulder.
A few unruly curls had escaped the wide band meant to keep them in place and were now stuck to her moist cheeks. Cody’s fingers itched to be able to lift them away and tuck them behind her ears. But he didn’t dare. He already loved this job, and wasn’t going to spoil anything by getting offside with this particular doctor.
So why was he wrapping his arms around her and hauling her shaking body close to his? Because he needed to hold her against him. However briefly, whatever the outcome, he just did. Tucking her head against his chest, he dropped his chin on the top of her thick, soft hair and held her. Breathed in her scent of citrus and residual fear. Her being in his arms gave him strength, helped him settle his jittery muscles. He hoped he was giving the same back.
She’s a perfect fit for my body. The realisation banged through him, made him tense.
Made Harper lift her head and look at him with puzzlement beaming out at him from watery eyes. She sniffed once and plastered a tight smile on her mouth. ‘Let’s go face the second round. There’ll be questions from all directions.’
Slowly Cody unwound his arms from that warm body he shouldn’t be noticing in any way. From somewhere deep he found a smile that was entirely for her. ‘You did good, doctor. Really good.’
CHAPTER TWO
REALLY? I DID a good job? Of what? Harper asked herself as she stepped out of Resus One. Their patient was dead, the assailant had been taken down by Cody and she felt like a toddler who’d just had a huge sugar fix. The shaking had started in earnest now that she had nothing to focus on. That impending migraine had also become reality.
Turning to Cody, she saw his jaw tighten. His mouth flat-lined. Feeling out of sorts too? He’d been so calm in there, so reliable. Yet she’d felt a tremor in his body in that all too brief moment he’d held her close. His hug had been like a welcoming home, a comfort, a much-needed place of calm and care and warmth. Only during that hug had she known for sure how rattled he’d been by what had gone down. She liked that he’d shared the whole episode, including the fear. She stepped closer to him, still needing his strength, his deliberate calm.
Which was enough to make her step away again. She must not need anything about him, from him. Needing something from a man had got her into trouble before, had led to the wrong marriage for her.
‘Hey, Harper, are you all right?’ George stepped up to her. He was head of the department and her brother’s friend—which meant Jason would already know about this, damn it all.
She swallowed, pain from where her throat had been flattened more apparent now she wasn’t on high alert. ‘I’m fine.’ Her voice came out as a high-pitched squeak. Great. Now she was sounding like that sugar-overloaded toddler.
The department was in chaos with police going about their business while nurses and doctors hovered around the area, looking like they didn’t know what to do or where to go, so they resorted to staring at Cody and her.
George took her arm. ‘My office. Both of you. Jess, you too. Where’s Matilda?’
Jess shook her head. ‘I don’t know. I haven’t seen her. I’m on lunch break now, so can I go to the canteen? My boyfriend’s there.’
‘Of course you can, as soon as you’ve talked to the police. They’ll want to ask you all a few things.’ George looked around at his staff. ‘Okay, everyone, we have a waiting room full of patients, and one in the ambulance bay. Let’s try to get back to normal as quickly and quietly as possible. The police will be here for a while, and I expect you to be helpful and answer any of their questions.’ He held a hand up. ‘However, I do not want any one telling patients what has happened.’
Harper grimaced. Like he had any hope of every single person in the department keeping their mouth shut, but she supposed he had to put it out there. Texts would already be flying around the city, probably the whole country, and the moment Jess saw her boyfriend she’d be yabbering her head off. Not that Harper could blame the girl. Talking was a way of relieving the stress. Even she felt a desire to tell someone what had happened, but she wouldn’t. That would be totally unlike her. But then how often did she have a gun held to her head? Her muscles tightened as renewed fear grabbed her.
‘Cody, Harper, come with me. I’ll get you coffee sent from the cafeteria shortly. And some food.’ George’s answer to everything was coffee followed by food. ‘Come on. The sooner you talk to the police, the sooner I can send you home for the day.’
Harper shook her head. ‘You said the waiting room’s full. I can’t just disappear.’ At least, that was what she tried to say, but her voice was raspy and all broken up. Now that she was no longer dealing with the assailant and everything else, the pain in her throat seemed to be taking over. She needed something else to concentrate on so it would go on the back burner, at least until she got home.
Beside her, Cody growled, ‘I’m sure the other doctors don’t expect you back on the floor today.’ Then his hands clenched at his sides. ‘Gawd, what I don’t want to do to that lowlife.’
‘Not happening,’ she croaked.
‘Look what he’s done to you, all because of his greed.’
It hadn’t been only her. She spoke slowly and tried to ignore the pain. ‘George, Jess is in shock. Someone needs to check her over.’
‘On to it.’
She placed a hand on Cody’s forearm. Since when had she done this ‘touching colleagues’ stuff? She guessed that gun had a lot to answer for. Working hard at getting her words out clearly, she said, ‘Don’t let him get to you. I’m all right. Truly.’
Cody covered her hand with his for a quick touch, sending his warmth through her. Again. She could get used to that. But she wouldn’t.
‘You’re more than all right,’ he muttered before glaring across the room to where the assailant was being hauled roughly out of the department by two cops.
He no longer looked quite so dapper or smug, but the eyes that locked on her momentarily were filled with hatred.
She shivered. ‘Evil. Pure evil.’ As Harper watched the man being taken away, she felt some relief seep into her body and loosen a little of the tension gripping her. Turning to Cody, she asked, ‘How are you feeling?’ She swallowed and kept going. ‘You were right in the middle of it all. You hit the floor hard when you leapt on him.’ She still couldn’t get the sight of him doing that out of her head, probably wouldn’t for days.
Eyes the colour of spring paddocks locked on her. ‘Think my hip took a bit of a hammering but I didn’t feel a thing at the time. I’ll probably know about it tomorrow.’ His wide mouth tipped upward into a beautiful smile that sent ripples of pleasure through her. He really was ridiculously good-looking.
‘Ouch.’ She didn’t know if she was referring to his hip or her reaction to him.
His smile, like that hug, enveloped her in the sensation that they were in this together and that no one else had a part in it. Sort of like being in a cocoon with just Cody, which gave her a sense of it not being all bad. Not that she could find anything good about the last twenty or so minutes. She’d lost a patient. She hated that. No matter that the odds had been stacked against Mick from the moment he’d swallowed those drugs; she’d have done everything possible to turn the situation around—if she’d been given half a chance. If seemed to be the word of the day.
Someone tapped Harper’s shoulder, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Spinning around, she half-expected to find the gunman standing there smirking at her. ‘Don’t touch— Oh. Sorry, George.’ She’d totally overreacted. She rubbed her temples to calm herself down and try to ease the pounding that had cranked up harder than ever.
George gave her an understanding look. ‘Take it easy. He’s gone, Harper.’
‘Yes.’ He had, but how long before the sense of dread he’d caused left her? Going to sleep tonight might be a lot more difficult than usual.
‘The police want statements from all four of you. Especially you and Cody. That’s not happening in here with patients being treated. They’d overhear everything.’ Despite the presence of the armed defenders and two detectives, the department head was in charge, and letting her know it even before she argued that she needed to be busy right now.
If—that damned word again—she was being honest, she knew she wasn’t in any fit state to be dealing with emergencies or even the mundane illnesses presenting at the moment. But the idea of sitting in the office doing nothing but answering endless questions made her sick to the stomach. Glancing at Cody, she saw sympathy in his gaze. I don’t need sympathy. Especially not from you when you probably feel much the same way I do. She had to admit he didn’t look at all fazed by any of this, but he had been shaky in that hug. ‘I suppose coffee would be good,’ she conceded.
* * *
‘I’m surprised you think you can swallow anything.’ Cody watched Harper struggling to cope with the aftermath of the assault. She looked annoyed and a tad bewildered. No longer fearful, though, thank goodness. What would she do if he hugged her again? She held her hands against her stomach with her fingers entwined and knuckles white. He suspected she was desperately hanging on to her self-control. The shock was catching up, and he wasn’t immune either.
‘I’ll manage,’ she snapped. Was getting feisty another way of covering up her feelings?
‘Shouldn’t one of our doctors take a look at your throat?’ he asked. There could’ve been serious damage done.
‘That’s next on my agenda. You really shouldn’t talk too much until everything’s settled down.’ George nodded at Harper. ‘Want me to talk to Jason as well?’
‘No.’ Harper shook her head sharply at the boss, her eyes glittering angrily. ‘No.’ Then, ‘I presumed you already had.’
‘Been a bit busy. You do realise someone will have put it out there on the net? Jason probably already knows, and the rest of your family.’ George gave her a pointed look.
If that throat had been in proper working order Cody had no doubt she’d have been telling George where to go, and it wouldn’t be somewhere nice. She wasn’t known for holding back on her thoughts, no matter who she was talking to. Who was Jason anyway? Her partner? She didn’t wear a wedding ring. He had to be a significant person in her life for George to think he should be told about what had gone down. But, then again, why wouldn’t Harper want this Jason character to know?
‘I figured that since my vocal cords are in excellent working order I should be the one to phone him and say you’re all right,’ George continued as though Harper hadn’t glared hard enough to poleaxe him.
Harper sighed as she lifted her hands in resignation. ‘You’re right. But no drama, okay?’
The man grunted. ‘What are the chances?’
‘None,’ Harper muttered as Karin rushed up to engulf her in a hug.
‘Hey, Harper, you poor thing. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I came out of the treatment room and saw that man holding a gun to your head.’ She raised watery eyes to Cody. ‘I’m glad you saved her.’
Saved her was a stretch of the truth. But he was pleased he’d been able to take Lowlife down before he’d hurt their doctor any more than he already had. He really hated seeing people get hurt, and he particularly hadn’t wanted to see anything happen to Harper. ‘Thanks for the vote of confidence,’ he drawled. ‘But Harper saved herself. She started the ball rolling when she dropped to the floor.’ His relief at Harper being safe was overwhelming. Today the outcome had been good. He wouldn’t think back to the darkest day of his life—not now. Too disturbing.
They were still standing in the middle of the department while other doctors and nurses were ducking and diving around them now, bringing patients in from the waiting room. Cody had had about all he could take of people staring at him and clapping him on the back for doing a cracking job on the assailant. They meant well, but they had no idea what it had really been like in Resus One. ‘Come on, Doc, let’s get out of everyone’s way. Go have that coffee George mentioned.’
‘Doc?’ Harper shivered. That annoyance with George transferred to him. ‘That man called me “Doc”.’
Comprehension slammed him. Of course, Lowlife had, and in a denigrating tone at that. ‘I’m sorry, never thought about it.’ He didn’t want to rile her any more. Not after what they’d been through together.
Her shoulders drooped momentarily, then tightened again as she drew a long, slow breath. ‘Thank you for knocking him down. I am grateful. You could’ve been shot.’ Unbelievably her eyes teared up. Again. For him? Not likely.
He’d never have picked her for the weepy sort, but then today hadn’t been exactly normal. Violence undermined the strongest of people. Even his gut had tightened painfully at the moment when that gun had appeared. ‘Stop talking and give your throat a rest.’ He reached to take her elbow, saw those watery eyes widen and dropped his hand. Of course he was out of line, even if he’d only wanted to help. Being overly friendly to a colleague at work, no matter how well intentioned, could be seen as overstepping the mark. Apparently that hug had been okay at the time but now any other move from him wouldn’t be.
Harper muttered, ‘I’ve seen violence in the ED heaps of times.’
‘But never directed specifically at you, I bet.’ The thought of that kind of personal, immediate threat brought back unpleasant memories. The looks on the faces of women in the pubs when their men came home from a dry six-week stint on the fishing trawlers. Some of the crew over-indulged in alcohol and drugs, then took the resultant mood swings out on their partners. He’d stopped going to the pub with the guys after a while, unable to cope with what he saw but never managing to prevent it. He’d tried talking them out of their rages, had taken some punches and given a few back in self-defence, but he’d never convinced those guys that what they were doing to their women was wrong. Some men had a mind-set about using their fists that was impossible to change.