Wanted: Parents for a Baby! (11 page)

Trammel's expression darkened further.
“Look, Dr. Murphy, I can't discuss the details of my investigation with you.”

“Can't or won't?” Ryan challenged, refusing to give up. “I'm not asking for a full report on your investigation, I just want to validate the physician's name on the prescription bottle. Was it Oliver Stevenson?”

The uniformed cop standing beside Detective Trammel jerked his head around in surprise, giving away the truth. Ryan couldn't help feeling a surge of satisfaction when Trammel looked irritated for a moment, but then gave a brief nod.

“I knew it,” Ryan muttered. Oliver Stevenson was the same physician who'd ordered the pain meds for Victoria. But her surgeon had been a different guy by the name of Dr. Geoff Avery. At the time, that knowledge had haunted him and he'd looked high and low for Stevenson.

Without finding a single trace of him.

“Before you get too excited at the connection, remember that we weren't able to find this alleged doctor anywhere,” Trammel said dryly. “If you recall, the address of his so-called doctor's office turned out to be nothing more than a vacant building at the end of a strip mall outside Madison. And there
was no one listed in the state of Wisconsin by that name.”

Ryan scowled. “Yeah, I remember. But at least you know this young man's prescription is fraudulent, too. There has to be some sort of group coordinating getting these scripts into the hands of people who are willing to pay for them.”

“Maybe, but that doesn't mean we're going to have an easy time tracking down the source of the fraud,” Trammel argued. “This could be a legit pain doctor who happened to move to a different office building or it could be someone who has stolen this physician's DEA number.”

His brief satisfaction evaporated quickly, because Trammel was right. Ryan found himself leaning toward a stolen DEA number, but how on earth would they prove it? “I could help,” he began to offer, but Trammel lifted up his hand to stop him.

“I understand your personal interest in this case, Dr. Murphy, but since I don't tell you how to take care of sick babies, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell me how to run my investigation.”

There wasn't a rational argument against
his request, so Ryan forced himself to nod before turning away.

“Dr. Murphy?” Trammel called.

He turned to face the detective. “Yes?”

“I will let you know the outcome of our investigation,” Trammel assured him, “once we have proof.”

“Thanks,” he murmured. Ryan knew he'd never be able to find closure related to Victoria's and his unborn son's deaths until he could help bring the perpetrators to justice.

But right now the best way to do that was to allow the detective to do his job. After all, he himself wasn't a cop. Ryan understood that Trammel had resources he didn't.

Ryan carefully made his way back around to the other side of the room to where Gloria was watching the resuscitative efforts being performed on her brother. The fact that she was here at all was unusual, but obviously being a nurse in the ER worked in her favor.

“Is there someone I can call for you?” he asked, his tone full of sympathy.

She slowly shook her head. “No, my parents are outside in the waiting room, but I can't talk to them yet. Not until I know more. Not until I know if Trey's going to be all right.”

“What happened?”

Gloria sniffed and swiped at her tears. “He plays sports, football and baseball. I knew he hurt his shoulder late in the football season and was seeing one of the orthopedic surgeons, but he never had surgery, so I thought he was fine. But then one of his friends mentioned how he reinjured that same shoulder playing baseball last weekend. I think he must have been taking pain meds all along without any of us knowing.”

Ryan's gut twisted. Trey's story was all too familiar. “Which surgeon?”

“Dr. Francowitz,” she said.

Not the same orthopedic surgeon Victoria had used, which wasn't surprising, since orthopedic surgeons who worked on shoulders didn't normally also do Achilles tendons. He glanced back at the young man in the trauma bay, silently willing him to make it.

He couldn't bear the thought of losing another young life to an overdose of narcotic pain medication.

* * *

Cassie found a nurse to cover her two patients so she could dash briefly down to the ER to see Trey. When she arrived in the trauma bay it appeared the staff were finishing their resuscitation efforts. The rhythmic beat of
Trey's heart on the monitor over his bed was reassuring. She swept her gaze over the room, finding Gloria standing well out of the way, with Ryan at her side.

“Gloria,” she said, rushing over to give her friend a hug. “How is he doing?”

“They're getting ready to transfer him up to the ICU,” Gloria said, returning her hug.

Cassie glanced up at Ryan with a questioning gaze. She wasn't sure why Ryan had come down here—did he have a previous relationship with Gloria? Was Gloria the nurse he'd been seeing when things hadn't worked out? She tried to squelch the flash of jealousy. “Then his condition has been stabilized, right?”

“Yes, from what I can tell,” Ryan agreed.

“They intubated him and gave him charcoal to help get rid of the pills that might be still in his stomach,” Gloria said in a low tone. “The biggest question is whether or not he'll wake up. It could be that he's suffered brain damage.”

“He's young, Gloria.” Cassie put a reassuring arm around her friend's shoulder. “I'm sure he'll be fine.”

“I hope so,” Gloria said in a strained voice. “He has his whole life ahead of him. He's
supposed to attend college in the fall…” Her voice trailed off and her eyes filled with tears.

“I know,” Cassie said, glancing up at Ryan helplessly. Ryan didn't offer Gloria physical comfort, which gave Cassie a small measure of relief. Still, Ryan's reaction to the situation was odd.

They stood for a few minutes until the trauma team wheeled Trey out of the room.

“I guess I better go talk to my parents.” Gloria's tone was grim.

Cassie nodded. “I'm sorry, Gloria, but I have to run back upstairs to my patients. I'll check on you again during my lunch hour. In the meantime, keep me updated on how he's doing, okay?”

Gloria sniffed and dabbed her eyes again. “Okay, thanks, Cass. You're a great friend.”

Cassie gave her another quick hug before turning away.

“I'll head back upstairs with you,” Ryan said, falling into step beside her.

Cassie waited until they were far enough away that Gloria couldn't overhear their conversation. “Do you really think her brother will be all right?”

Ryan hesitated and shrugged. “I honestly don't know. He has youth on his side, and he
was given very good medical care. But the result will depend on how long his brain went without oxygen.”

Cassie knew he was right. “Such a waste,” she said under her breath. “I just don't understand how this kind of thing can happen.”

Ryan's gaze was grim. “Me, either.”

As they waited for the elevator, she glanced up at him curiously. “Ryan, why did you rush down here, like that?” she asked. “Did you go out with Gloria in the past? Do you know her younger brother?”

He shrugged but didn't meet her gaze. “No, I never dated Gloria and I don't know her brother, Trey. But I do have a special interest in narcotic-overdose cases,” he finally said.

He did? Why? Cassie was ridiculously relieved to know he hadn't asked Gloria out, but she found she was more curious than ever. She wanted to ask more about why he cared so much about narcotic-overdose patients but two other staff members joined them, and when the elevator arrived the car was half-filled with people. They all rode together up to the third floor. She led the way into the NNICU, using her badge to get through the door, and then hurried over to Emma's warmer.

“How are Emma and Daniel doing?” she asked Christy, the nurse she'd asked to watch over them. “Any problems?”

“None at all,” Christy assured her.

“Good, thanks for covering.” Cassie glanced back at Ryan, wondering again why he had such a keen interest in narcotic-overdose patients. And even more strange, why he didn't seem willing to talk about it? Unless seeing Trey's young face had only reminded him of losing his wife?

It wasn't easy to focus on the issues at hand. Ryan's personal life wasn't any of her business. Hadn't she vowed to keep her distance? After all, he'd been the one who'd pulled away after their kiss.

So why was she still so drawn to him? The magnetic pull shimmering between them was so strong she doubted she'd be able to break the invisible bond.

And if she wasn't careful, he'd break her heart. Worse than Evan had.

“How is Daniel doing postextubation?” Ryan asked from behind her.

Once again, her pulse leapt at the husky sound of his voice. “He's doing great,” she assured him. She moved away from him toward Daniel's warmer. “It's been about an
hour since we pulled the tube. Do you want me to get a set of blood gases?”

“Yes, please.” Ryan sat down at the computer and quickly entered the order.

Cassie busied herself with getting the supplies she'd need for the arterial blood gases. She didn't like having to poke the babies for lab work, but she knew the tests were needed to make the right medical decisions.

Thankfully she was able to get the arterial blood on the first try, although listening to Daniel's crying when she poked him wasn't easy. As soon as she'd finished holding pressure on the puncture site, she sent the blood off to the lab and then went over to lift him into her arms.

“There, there, big guy, you're fine. No more ouchies,” she promised.

She could feel Ryan's penetrating gaze watching her with Daniel and it took every ounce of willpower she possessed not to turn around to face him, fearing her turbulent emotions would be reflected on her face.

Thankfully the arrival of Daniel's parents broke the tense moment. As Cassie handed over their baby, Ryan gave them a quick update on Daniel's medical status.

Cassie slipped over to Emma's warmer, focusing her attention on the baby girl.

Emma was all alone in the world, just like
she
was. Oh, she had friends, but no family. Her parents had died when she was young and her grandparents had raised her. They'd passed away when she'd been in college. Being alone and vulnerable, she had been easy prey for Evan's fake charm.

Staring down at Emma, she knew she didn't miss Evan at all. But she missed the babies she hadn't been able to carry to term.

Emma F. Safe Haven was like a miracle dropped into her lap. A chance to have the family she'd always wanted. A chance to start over.

Maybe they weren't bonded by blood. But that didn't matter. The little girl was already the daughter of her heart.

* * *

Ryan tried to keep busy, but no matter what he was doing he found himself searching for Cassie. For a brief moment he'd considered telling her the truth about how he'd lost Victoria and his unborn son, but placing his burden on Cassie didn't seem fair. Especially as she was working.

Or maybe he was subconsciously avoiding
the horror he might find in Cassie's eyes once she knew the truth.

He spent his downtime searching for Oliver Stevenson on the Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing website, but of course there was no physician listed by that name. Just like there hadn't been three years ago.

Was this guy practicing without a license? Or was he practicing in another state? The DEA number had to be real or the pharmacy wouldn't have filled the script.

But what about out of state? Victoria's prescription had had a Madison address, so he hadn't broadened his search. But now he decided to check the bordering states of Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois. He found a couple of providers by that name, but none of them were pain specialists. Still, he wrote down their names and DEA numbers, determined to ask Trammel to verify if the number on both Trey's and Victoria's prescriptions was a match.

Cassie came over to stand beside him, and he quickly minimized the website. He noticed she glanced briefly at the names he'd written down, and shifted so that he partially blocked her view.

“How's Emma?” he asked, hoping to distract her.

She smiled. “Great. I was wondering if we couldn't start weaning her from the ventilator a bit?”

“I'm not sure that's a good idea,” he said, true regret in his tone. “I want to see her come off that vent as much as you do, but I normally don't do much weaning after seven o'clock in the evening.”

“I understand,” Cassie murmured, her gaze full of obvious disappointment.

“If she's doing this well by tomorrow morning, I'll write the weaning orders,” he promised. “That gives her another twenty-four hours of antibiotics.”

She forced a smile and nodded. “Okay, that sounds like a good plan. The last thing I want is for her condition to take a turn for the worse.”

When she turned away he reached out to grasp her arm, preventing her from leaving. “Have you figured out what your next steps are to becoming a foster parent?”

She glanced down at his hand, and then brought her gaze back up to meet his. “There are twelve classes I need to take once they approve my application.”

“Twelve classes? That seems like a lot.”

“I know. Too bad all parents don't have to take parenting classes, huh?” she said with a wry smile.

He nodded, thinking about the cases of child abuse they'd seen, thankfully not often.

“I can't sign up for the first class until tomorrow. The website won't accept sign-ups on the weekend,” she added. “And I'm hoping that they'll approve my application fast.”

“Can you sign up for all twelve classes right away?”