Forgotten Memories (SWAT: Top Cops Book 4) (8 page)

“Sure.” She stopped and turned toward him. “What’s up?”

Noah glanced pointedly at Shane. “Do you mind? This is a private conversation about a patient.”

Shane crossed his arms over his chest, impressive in his uniform. “I do mind... I’m not leaving. Don’t use patient names and I won’t pay attention to the details.”

Gabby glanced between the two men with a scowl. “Stop it, both of you. What do you need, Noah?”

“Remember our patient with the low abdominal wound from last night?” he asked, stepping to the side and turning so that his back was facing Shane.

“Yes, I remember. Why? What happened?”

“He took a turn for the worse, and I need to take him back to the OR. I thought you might want to assist.”

Truthfully, all she wanted was to rest so that the last remnants of her headache faded away, but she forced herself to nod. “Sure, no problem. What time?”

“I’m heading up to the OR now,” Noah said.

She glanced over at Shane, who did not look at all happy. “I have to go. I’ll see you later.”

“How long will this take?” he asked.

“An hour or two at the most. But you don’t need to stick around.”

“I’ll wait for you,” he said firmly.

She didn’t argue, especially since she didn’t want Noah to know anything about the real reason Shane was there. “Okay, I’ll come down here to find you.”

Noah headed toward the elevators and she followed, glancing back to where Shane stood, watching them.

“New boyfriend?” Noah asked as he pressed the elevator button.

It was on the tip of her tongue to deny it, but for some odd reason she hesitated. Maybe having people believe they were dating was a better way to salvage her reputation than having everyone know that she’d been kidnapped and might still be in danger.

“We’re friends,” she said, finally breaking the long silence.

“Sure, whatever you say,” Noah retorted with a smirk. “Friends.”

She refused to react, keeping her expression impassive as they walked into the operating room and began to scrub for their case. Once in the OR suite, years of training took over, crowding everything out of her mind, including her migraine.

The patient’s abdominal wound didn’t look good, and as they worked she realized that they must have missed a metal fragment that was lodged in the patient’s colon. Had it been her fault? She hadn’t been the primary surgeon, but she had assisted long enough to stop the bleeding.

She swallowed the lump of guilt and concentrated on making sure the wound was irrigated with antibiotic solution before closing the incision for a second time. An hour later, she stepped back from the OR table. “That should do it,” she said.

“Thanks,” Noah replied, barely glancing at her. Did he blame her in some way? She was tired of fighting against the bias many of her male colleagues had against female surgeons.

Gabby left the OR and stripped out of her sterile garb. She scrubbed again at the sink before going into the women’s locker room for clean scrubs. Then she headed back down to the cafeteria to meet Shane.

He was sitting at a table right near the cafeteria entrance, and their gazes locked as she approached. The tingle of awareness that shot down her spine caught her by surprise. Shane exuded an inner strength and confidence that she’d never experienced with her male colleagues.

“Everything all right?” Shane asked, rising to his feet to meet her.

She nodded, disconcerted by his nearness. His powerful frame was overwhelming yet comforting at the same time. “Yeah, fine.” The scent of food made her realize that her headache was nearly gone and that she was hungry, after all.

But before she could head in to pick something up to eat, the loudspeaker overhead came on. “Code blue, fifth floor, room twenty-one.”

Gabby gasped and clutched Shane’s arm. “That’s Richard’s room.”

“Let’s go,” he said.

She was already running toward the stairwell, refusing to wait for the elevator.

What could possibly have happened to her stepfather? He’d been stable a mere hour ago. Maybe Shane was right, maybe this was the time to try to forgive Richard.

Or was it already too late?

EIGHT

S
hane kept pace with Gabby as she took the five flights of stairs up to her stepfather’s room with the gracefulness and energy of a gazelle. She was absolutely incredible, especially after everything she’d been through. No one would ever know that she’d been kidnapped, questioned by the police, spent over an hour in the OR performing surgery, all while dealing with a terrible headache.

Completely amazing.

He tried to reel in his emotions, knowing that this attraction simmering in his bloodstream for Gabby was dangerous. On more than one level. Not just for himself, personally. But professionally. He couldn’t afford to lose his ability to be impartial, not while working this case.

Not until they knew the truth about Creighton. And any potential ties to Gabby’s past. While Gabby had been in the OR, he’d reported in to Griff and Nate about how she’d stated that she and her mother were placed in witness protection.

Of course, Griff and Nate were skeptical. And he couldn’t blame them. Still, at this point, nothing else explained the different name on Gabby’s mother’s marriage certificate.

They’d know for sure as soon as Nate finished his background checks.

When they reached the fifth floor, there was a crowd of people standing outside Richard’s room. Gabby’s face went pale as they approached. She stopped just outside the door to her stepfather’s room, watching as the medical team worked on her stepfather, with her hand covering her mouth. Ten minutes later, she swayed and he quickly slipped his arm around her waist to hold her upright.

“Let’s find a place to sit down,” he urged.

“No, I’m fine,” Gabby said, stiffening her spine. She allowed him to stand beside her for another few moments before she stepped forward. “Bill?” she called over the mob of people. “What’s going on? What happened?”

Shane recognized the tall, lean neurosurgeon who had met Gabby in the ER when her stepfather was first being examined. The neurosurgeon edged through the crowd toward her. “He went into V-tach, and then V-fib. We’ve shocked him, but without success. Things don’t look good. I’m sorry, Gabby.”

“I don’t understand,” she murmured, her arms crossed protectively across her chest. “His vitals were stable. His head injury wasn’t that serious. What could have happened?”

“I’m not sure what to tell you,” Bill admitted, appearing just as frustrated as Gabby was. “We have his code labs back and his potassium levels are pretty high, but that could be because of his heart attack. We’ve given him meds to bring his potassium levels down, but that hasn’t helped. At this point, the only other explanation so far is that he threw some sort of blood clot. And since he has a head injury, we can’t afford to give him any blood thinners.”

Gabby thrust her fingers through her hair and Shane stepped closer to her side, just in case.

“Still in asystole,” someone said loudly from inside the room. “Continue CPR.”

The neurosurgeon turned to go back inside the patient’s room. For several long moments the team continued to work on Richard in spite of the fact that his heart rhythm was nothing more than a straight line.

Finally the neurosurgeon spoke up again. “He’s been down for fifteen minutes already with no pulse. I’m calling the code. It’s over. Thanks, everyone.”

Gabby made a soft sound in the back of her throat, and this time Shane wasn’t taking no for an answer. He put his arm around her waist and physically turned her around so he could guide her back toward the patient lounge located at the end of the hallway.

She collapsed onto the cushioned sofa and he sat beside her, staying close. “I’m so sorry, Gabby,” he murmured.

“I just can’t believe he’s gone,” she whispered.

“I know,” he said, feeling helpless.

“It’s my fault he’s dead,” she said in a choked tone and then surprised him by turning and burying her face in the curve of his shoulder. His heart twisted when he felt the dampness of her tears.

“Don’t cry,” he said, holding her close. “His death isn’t your fault, Gabby. Creighton did this, not you.”

There was a long pause and she sniffed loudly as if trying to stop the flow of tears. “Richard resented me, right from the very beginning.”

“You were young, Gabby, maybe you misunderstood.”

“No, I knew. He wanted my mother all to himself. He arranged for me to be sent away to live at a boarding school when I was nine years old,” she said. “I cried, begging him and my mother to let me stay home, but he insisted. And my mother went along with it.”

Nine? A surge of anger on her behalf made him see red. Who sent a nine-year-old to boarding school? Especially barely a year after losing her father? “That sounds rough.”

She sighed against him. “Yeah. And when I came home for the holidays, Richard made it clear that he and my mother were too busy to spend time with me. They were always heading off to parties and events, leaving me home with a babysitter.”

Okay, now he was really starting to dislike the guy. No wonder she hadn’t jumped to forgive him. “I’m sorry, Gabby.”

“Eventually, I stopped coming home.” She sniffed again and reached up to wipe her eyes.

“Staying at school with your friends must have been a little better than going home,” he said.

She shook her head against him. “No friends. All the kids at the Einstein School of Brilliance were in competition with each other for the best grades and the best scholarships.”

No friends? No family? He couldn’t imagine such a thing. How on earth had she survived? He reached down and put his finger beneath her chin, tipping her face up so he could look into her eyes.

“Gabby, you are the most amazing and incredible woman I’ve ever known,” he said huskily.

The corners of her lips turned up in a semblance of a smile. “I’m not, but thanks for saying so.”

Since words didn’t seem to be getting through to her, he slowly bent his head, giving her plenty of time to back away, before he tenderly kissed her.

* * *

Gabby was caught off guard by Shane’s kiss and for a fleeting moment, she enjoyed the sensation of his mouth on hers before old memories flooded her brain, causing her to stiffen and pull away.

Shane’s eyes were full of apology. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.”

“No, really, it’s just...” Her voice trailed off, as she couldn’t bear to tell him the truth. “You took me by surprise. I’m not used to being with a man like this,” she finished lamely.

Shane reached up to tuck a stray curl behind her ear. “I only wanted to offer comfort, Gabby, nothing more. I shouldn’t have overstepped my boundaries.”

“You
have
given me comfort,” she admitted shyly. Being with Shane like this didn’t scare or frighten her. It was just the memory of Damon’s actions that had flashed in her mind, causing her instinctive reaction. A response Shane didn’t deserve. “More than anyone else ever has.”

“Oh, Gabby,” Shane murmured, drawing her close again and tucking her head under his chin. “You tear me up when you say things like that. I don’t know how you managed to get through your lonely childhood to become the woman you are today.”

She closed her eyes and breathed in his familiar woodsy scent. “I had a teacher, Mary Jane Pollard, who took me under her wing. She was an amazing teacher and mentor. I told her that I wanted to be a trauma doctor when I grew up and she never once tried to talk me out of it. She was a huge support and inspiration for me, even after I left Einstein’s to attend medical school.”

“I’m glad you had someone like Mary Jane in your life,” Shane said softly. “Is she still around? Maybe we should go visit her.”

“She’s in a nursing home now,” Gabby said with a sigh. “She suffered a stroke several years ago. The last time I saw her, she didn’t seem to remember me. She was a huge part of my life, but I was just one of many students she taught.”

“I bet you were special to her, too,” Shane said. “It sounds as if you two bonded for a while there.”

Gabby smiled against Shane’s broad shoulder, touched by his determination to make her feel better. She wished she could stay in his arms like this forever.

“Gabby?”

Reluctantly she pulled away from Shane to glance up at Bill Mullen. “Yes?”

Bill cleared his throat awkwardly. “I’d like to do an autopsy, with your permission, of course. I think we need to understand what happened.”

She nodded. “I wholeheartedly agree. Maybe we’ll find it was a blood clot, or maybe it was something else. I would like to know one way or the other. And I’d appreciate a call when you get the preliminary results back.”

The neurosurgeon nodded. “Will do. Unfortunately, we’ll need to know the funeral details as well.”

Gabby gave him the name of the same funeral home that they’d used when her mother died.

“All right, let me know if you need anything more,” Bill said before he turned and walked away.

Shane’s phone rang and he answered it, staying right beside her rather than going someplace more private. She tried not to eavesdrop, but it wasn’t easy.

“Extended leave of absence, huh?” Shane said, glancing at Gabby. “That is interesting. Can you get me the make and model of the car he drives and the license plate number? Great. Thanks, Nate.”

“Who’s on an extended leave?” she asked, hoping desperately that he wasn’t talking about Damon Keller. She thought she’d put her past behind her.

But her reaction to Shane’s kiss had proven otherwise.

“Eric Ambrose,” Shane said in a grim tone. “Nate found out that he was working on the East Coast, in Baltimore. And it sounds like he might have gotten himself in trouble, too.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“Nate found that Ambrose has a pending medical-malpractice lawsuit against him.” Shane’s keen blue gaze bore into hers. “Do you know anything about that?”

She shook her head. “No. How could I? You said yourself that he’s been out on the East Coast. And you have to understand that filing a lawsuit doesn’t take much. People do that all the time. Almost a third never get past the initial filing, mostly because the burden of proof is on the plaintiff.”

Shane looked surprised. “You sound like you’ve had experience with this type of thing.”

“Not really, at least not on a personal level. But we had an ethical/legal class in med school that I found very interesting.”

“Hmm. So basically, you’re telling me this lawsuit doesn’t mean much,” Shane said with obvious disappointment.

“It’s hard to say for sure without knowing the details about the case.” Gabby was tempted to stop there but knew he deserved to know her suspicions. “When we were residents, Eric was all about being the best. He wanted the position of senior resident for the trauma program very badly. There was a salary advantage as well as the prestige of the role. He and I were the main two in the running, so he did whatever he could to sabotage me.”

Shane scowled. “Sabotage you, how?”

“He and Joe Chasco would give me wrong information during handoffs, trying to make me look bad in front of the attending physician.” Gabby still couldn’t believe Eric and Joe had risked harming patients just to make themselves look better. “Luckily, I was super conscientious and always looked at my patients’ charts for myself. So I was able to avoid their pitiful attempts to humiliate me.”

“That’s crazy,” Shane muttered darkly. “Why would they put patients at risk?”

Gabby shrugged. “Most physicians truly care about their patients. But there is a small minority who go into this career because they care about the money, prestige and power. Eric Ambrose is a prime example of the latter. He was awarded a full scholarship to college, the same way I was. But he wasn’t satisfied unless he was the first in his class. And if working hard didn’t get him what he wanted, he wasn’t above cheating. He couldn’t stand the thought of being beaten out for the senior resident position, especially by a woman.”

“He sounds like a jerk,” Shane said. “Do you think it’s possible that he still resents you, all these years later?”

“Considering I was awarded the position of senior resident four years ago, it’s a stretch,” Gabby admitted. “However, the fact that he has a pending lawsuit is an interesting twist. And not just the litigation itself, but the fact that the hospital put him on a leave of absence. That’s not normal protocol unless they’re thinking of taking some sort of employment action against him.”

“I see,” Shane murmured. “In other words, the lawsuit might have merit.”

“Yeah. And if so, it’s possible that a hospital defense attorney would dig into Eric’s background, looking for ways to discredit him.”

“No offense, Gabby, but I can’t imagine any attorney risking kidnapping a witness at gunpoint.”

“No, not an attorney,” she agreed. “But we’re talking about a guy who would do anything to keep his reputation intact. I wonder if Eric has been in touch with Joe Chasco.”

“Nate found Joe in Chicago and verified that he was working the night you were kidnapped.”

“So then it’s just Eric we need to worry about. I still think it’s possible he believes I’d testify against him in some way.”

Narrowing his eyes, Shane tapped a finger against his chin. “You think Eric hired Creighton? Who in turn hired three guys and then killed them all when they failed to turn you over?”

The doubt in Shane’s tone made her feel foolish. Logically, she knew this theory wasn’t likely. But then again, in her mind, the entire kidnapping was a crazy idea, too. “Maybe.”

“I disagree. It doesn’t make sense that Eric would go after your stepfather,” he pointed out.

“No, it doesn’t. Although he could have been looking for my notes.”

Shane’s head shot up and his gaze pinned hers in an intense glare. “Notes? What notes?”

She tried not to squirm in her seat. “Notes on what he and Joe Chasco did in an attempt to discredit me,” she admitted.

“Wait a minute, are you saying Joe and Eric knew you documented what happened?” Shane asked.

“Yes. In fact, I used the notes to threaten them.” When Shane’s eyebrows levered upward, she sighed. “Look, I needed them to stop, right? I told them I had proof that they lied to me to make me look bad and that I had notes describing every incident that occurred. I told them I kept my notes locked up in a secure spot and that if they didn’t knock off their ridiculous antics I’d get them kicked out of the program.” She lifted her hands palm upward. “It worked, they left me alone from that point on.”