Healing Her Heart (Crystal Lake Series Book 1) (7 page)

Gabe realized that Tommy was a lever they could use, and hopefully the deputies knew that, too. Because right now there wasn’t much between him and Larissa and the madman with a gun.

And Kurt could easily shoot them both before the deputies would have a chance to stop him.

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Larissa had prayed almost non-stop since Kurt had cornered her in the trauma bay. And the fact that Gabe was here, too, made her feel even worse.

She didn’t doubt for a minute that Kurt had been driving the car that slammed into his wife. Annie had clearly been trying to get away from him. Hadn’t Kurt admitted that much already?

This was her fault, Kurt was right about that. She should have spent more time with Annie the night she’d come in for her broken wrist. She should have convinced Annie to get away from Kurt right then and there. She could have taken Annie to a safe house, at least for the night.

But she hadn’t. And now she and Gabe were both in danger. Trapped in a corner where Kurt could easily kill them. The fact that Kurt hadn’t shot either of them yet was nothing short of a miracle. Maybe his being intoxicated was actually working in their favor. He didn’t seem to be thinking too clearly.

The door leading in from the trauma bay was slowly opening about an inch or so, and she realized one of the sheriff’s deputies was standing there. From the angle of the door, he wouldn’t have a good shot at Kurt, but just knowing the deputy was there helped steady her nerves.

“It’s not too late, Kurt. Put down your gun and come outside. We understand this is all just a big understanding.” The voice outside sounded like Deputy Armbruster. “Come out while you still can.”

“No! If you come in here, I’ll kill them both!”

The door from the main part of the ER opened even wider, and Larissa tensed as she saw Deputy Thomas kneeling there, wearing full SWAT gear. Despite the awkward position, he pointed his handgun at Kurt. She thought she was prepared for the sound of gunfire, but the blast made her jump.

Kurt screamed and swung around, shooting wildly before he went down hard. The next few seconds passed in a blur, but suddenly the gunfire stopped and the nightmare was over.

“I have him,” Deputy Thomas said as he stood over Kurt, who was bleeding profusely onto the floor. Kurt’s gun was on the other side of the room far out of reach.

“Get him up on a gurney,” Gabe said. He shoved the metal tray aside and rose to his feet, pulling her up, too. “Are you all right?” he asked in a low tone, his warm, brown eyes gazing down at her.

“I think so.” Her hands were still trembling, so she clutched them together.

Thank you for saving us, Lord!

“Run and get Julie to come and help me with Kurt,” he said, moving away. “He needs medical attention. You can cover the patients on the teams until we’ve finished.”

She could barely wrap her mind around the fact that Gabe was going to help fix Kurt’s gunshot wound. But then she realized they simply couldn’t let him die, no matter how much he might have deserved it. So if Gabe could do it, so could she. “I’ll help you.”

“You don’t need this, get Julie,” Gabe repeated, heading over to where the sheriff’s deputies were handcuffing Kurt Hinkle to a gurney. There was so much blood that she knew there wasn’t time to waste.

She went over and grabbed IV supplies, knowing that they’d need access in order to give badly needed blood and fluids. The rest of the ER staff poured in to assist once the deputies had given the all clear. Soon she and Julie were working as a team, pumping four units of O-neg blood in at a time through a rapid infuser.

“Call the trauma surgeon on call,” Gabe ordered. He stared down with obvious concern at the open wound on Kurt’s lower abdomen where Deputy Thomas’s bullet had penetrated deeply into his flesh. “I can’t stop the bleeding, and he needs to get to the OR stat!”

A nicked artery certainly explained the massive blood loss. Larissa didn’t allow herself to think about anything that happened before, focusing solely on saving Kurt’s life. Even though she knew he’d end up in jail if they managed to succeed.

She heard Julie making the call to the surgeon. “Dr. Rausch is on his way in.”

Gabe grimaced and began packing the wound. “I hope he gets here in time.”

“Do you need a suture tray?” Larissa asked after she finished hanging four more units of blood. Kurt’s vitals were low but stable, at least for now.

Gabe gave her a grim nod. “I’ll try my best to patch him up at least until he can get to the OR.”

She pulled a sterile vascular tray off the shelf on the back wall and quickly opened it up as Gabe pulled on a new set of sterile gloves. The vascular tray wasn’t really equipped for a large-vascular injury, but it was better than nothing.

Larissa handed Gabe instruments and lap sponges as he worked to stem the bleeding enough to see what he was doing. He placed a few sutures, and the blood gushing out slowed to a trickle. He put more sutures in and then stepped back. “That’s all I can do for now.”

Fifteen minutes later, Dr. Rausch strode in and took command of the situation. Within moments, she and the transporter wheeled Kurt over to the OR. Deputy Armbruster followed alongside, unwilling to let his prisoner out of sight.

“I’m afraid you can’t go in there,” she warned, putting a hand on the deputy’s arm. She wasn’t sterile, either, and neither one of them would be allowed any farther. “You’ll have to stay out here if you really want to wait.”

“You can be sure I’ll wait for him,” Deputy Armbruster muttered. “Although, frankly, it’s a waste of time patching him up since he’ll be spending the rest of his life in jail.”

She didn’t have an answer for that and was ashamed to admit she’d had the same thought earlier. But the source of the injuries didn’t matter; as health care professionals, they were obligated to save lives to the best of their ability. Even Kurt’s. “There’s a coffee machine over there. Help yourself,” she murmured.

“Thanks. I’ll have to take your statement later, okay?”

“I’ll hang around after my shift is over,” she promised.

“Tell the doc I’ll need to talk to him, too.”

She nodded to indicate she’d pass the message. “Take care.” She turned and made her way back to the ER. She felt bad that Julie and Debra had been covering her patients all this time. But when she glanced up at the clock, she stared for a moment, unable to believe that only an hour had passed since Kurt had trapped her in the trauma bay.

The rest of her shift passed by in a blur. After she gave report to the oncoming nurse, she headed outside, surprised to see the bright sun. The rain from the night before had passed, giving way to a new day.

As much as she wanted to go home, she knew the police still wanted to talk to her and to Gabe.

Just then, Gabe joined her outside. Wordlessly, he crossed over and pulled her into his embrace. She leaned against him, relieved and glad to be alive.

“I’ve never been so afraid in my whole life,” he murmured in her ear. “I’m thankful you weren’t hurt.”

“Me, too,” she said, her voice muffled by his shirt. “I mean, I was terrified he was going to shoot you.”

“Deputy Thomas saved the day.”

She couldn’t argue that one.

The parking lot began filling with cars, members of the hospital leadership team and the public relations department arriving to take charge of the situation. As they streamed past, she felt distinctly self-conscious and tried to pull away, knowing Gabe wouldn’t want to be seen hugging her like this in public.

But he refused to let her go. His arms tightened around her, and when she glanced up at him questioningly, he simply smiled, lowered his head, and kissed her in full view of anyone who cared to watch.

And she reveled in the sweetness of his kiss.

Chapter Seven

Gabe barely noticed the various pairs of eyes boring into him as he kissed Larissa. Only when he needed to breathe did he break away and lower his forehead to rest on hers. His pulse thundered in his ear, and he realized he didn’t want to let her go.

“I prayed for your safety,” he confessed in a low voice. “And God answered my prayers.”

“Me, too,” she admitted. “I prayed for us and for Annie.”

“At least Annie is safe from Kurt now,” he said. “Kurt will be stuck behind bars for a long time.”

“I know.” Larissa ducked her head and leaned back as if trying to put more distance between them. “Gabe, we’re attracting too much attention.”

“I don’t care.” And he was surprised to realize he truly didn’t care. Larissa wasn’t Rebecca, and no matter what happened, he knew Larissa would never spread lies about him. It was ridiculous it took him this long to realize that. Or maybe he was just hiding behind the idea because it was a good excuse. “I care about you, and I don’t mind if the whole world knows it.”

Her green eyes widened in surprise. “But Gabe, you never date any of the ER nurses. Ever.”

He couldn’t help but smile. “Until you.”

She looked flabbergasted by his response, but Deputy Thomas interrupted them. “Dr. Allen? Larissa? Do you have time to give your statements?”

“Of course,” Larissa said.

He didn’t want to let her go but had to be content with holding her hand. “Could we sit down somewhere? It was a long night, and I’m sure Larissa is exhausted.”

“No problem. Let’s head over to the patio outside the dining room.”

Once they were seated at the picnic table, Deputy Thomas took out his notebook and pen. “Larissa, why don’t you start at the beginning?”

“After we transferred Annie to Madison, I needed a moment alone, so I went outside and stood beneath the overhang just outside the ambulance doors. I guess I must have been out there longer than I thought, because when I came back in, the trauma bay was already clean, and everyone was gone. I was about to head back to my team of patients when Kurt came in.”

“Did you see him outside?” Deputy Thomas asked.

“No, but I probably wasn’t paying attention. I will admit I thought he was the one who drove into his wife, but I never expected that he’d come looking for me armed with a gun.”

Gabe couldn’t bear the fear underlying her tone, and he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Then what happened?”

“I tried to talk him into putting the gun down, but he just kept coming closer and closer. I didn’t have a way to call for help, but then the door leading from the arena opened, and I saw Gabe standing there.”

“And you went inside?” Deputy Thomas asked, a deep frown furrowing his brow. “You’re lucky he didn’t kill you.”

“I couldn’t just stand there while he took a shot at her,” Gabe said. “Besides, I figured I could get him to talk. I needed to try and stall long enough for you and your guys to get there.”

Deputy Thomas didn’t look happy, but he spared Gabe a lecture, asking a few more questions before he closed his notebook. “I appreciate your time. Thanks.”

“That’s all you need?” Larissa brightened. “We can go home?”

“Yes, you’re free to go home.”

Deputy Thomas walked away, and Gabe glanced at Larissa. “How about I drive you home?” he suggested. “We’ll pick up your car later.”

“I’d rather just drive my car home now, if you don’t mind.” Larissa tucked her hair behind her ear and avoided his direct gaze. “But thanks again, Gabe. For everything.”

He didn’t want to let her go, but he couldn’t very well force her to allow him to stay, either. He frowned as she walked to the parking lot alone.

Why was she was pushing him away?

Maybe after everything that had happened, she needed some time alone. So he’d give her a few hours to sleep and to recharge.

Then he was going to make his feelings known by asking her out on a proper date. And he could only hope and pray she wouldn’t say no.

____________

Larissa dragged herself out of bed after five hours of sleep, determined to get back on a regular schedule since she had day shifts scheduled after her day off. Her ankle was a little sore, so running was out of the question.

A boat ride would have been great, but she quickly veered away from thoughts of Gabe. She was still struggling with everything that had happened with Kurt. The way he’d accused and threatened her brought back terrible memories of life with George.

She hadn’t told anyone about the abuse her mother had suffered. Larissa hadn’t mentioned the time George had broken her arm, either, since that one injury had been nothing compared to everything George had put her mother through.

She’d prayed for the strength to forgive George, but seeing Kurt in the trauma bay made her realize she really hadn’t forgiven George. Or Kurt. Or Rolland, who hadn’t hurt her physically but who’d tried to control her just the same.

And she needed to forgive all of them.

Or she’d never be able to move on from her past.

When her buzzer went off, she dragged herself over to the intercom. “Yes?”

“Larissa? It’s Gabe. Can I come up?”

She hesitated but then acquiesced. “Sure.”

The apartment wasn’t too messy, and she smoothed her hair back, wishing she’d put on a touch of make-up. When Gabe knocked at her door, she took a deep breath and opened it.