A Time To Protect. Lois Richer

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СКАЧАТЬ fingers from the mayor’s arm, carried her to the side of the room. She blinked a couple of times, stared at him.

      “IV’s contaminated,” she murmured, then closed her eyes.

      “Wait,” he yelled as Theresa struggled to reinsert the tube. “Chloe said it’s been contaminated. Get another bag.”

      “I hooked this one up while she was on break. There’s nothing wrong with it.” Theresa ignored him.

      Brendan chewed his lip as the crash team came rushing down the hall. Maybe Chloe was confused?

      What do I do, Lord?

      He glanced around, saw the needle still dangling from the plastered wall and moved to close his hand over the nurse’s.

      “Get a fresh bag,” he ordered. “There’s a needle in the wall and I’m betting you didn’t put it there.”

      She saw it, blinked, then went racing out of the room for fresh supplies.

      “I’d like that empty bag,” he told her when she came back with a fresh bag and tubing. “For testing.”

      “The hospital will want it, too,” she warned but handed it over.

      Once it was safely tucked into his coat pocket, Brendan gathered up Chloe and carried her out of the crowded room.

      “What’s wrong with her?” Dr. Robert Fletcher asked, pausing on his way into the room and motioning the other doctor ahead.

      “I’m not sure but I think she was attacked. She came to a minute ago then faded out.” There was a stretcher sitting by the wall and Brendan gently laid Chloe on it, then stood to one side as the doctor did a swift check.

      “Skin’s starting to bruise at the back of her neck and she’s got a large contusion on the top of her head. She’s going to have a headache. Vitals seem okay.”

      A picture of that hypodermic needle flickered through Brendan’s mind.

      “You don’t think she was given something, do you?” he asked.

      “Given something? Like what?” Dr. Fletcher checked her pupils. “Everything’s returning to normal. I think she’ll be fine.”

      “Can you stay with her a second?” Brendan raced back into the mayor’s room and grabbed one of the plastic gloves that lay on the crash cart. He removed the needle from the wall, checked the vial. Still fluid inside. Good. He grabbed his phone and dialed. “Somebody attacked the mayor. He’s gone into cardiac arrest. They got his nurse, too, but I think she’ll be okay. There was a needle left at the scene. The nurse Tanner came to long enough to tell me the mayor’s IV bag was contaminated. Her getting it undone probably saved his life. The mayor’s guard is down, too. I need some help. Now.”

      He listened to his instructions then returned to Chloe.

      “She’s coming out of it.” Fletcher checked her pulse once more, nodded, then jerked a thumb toward the mayor’s room. “Mind if I join them? You can yell if you need me.”

      “Before you do, check the stairwell. There’s a cop there who might need you.”

      “Okay. Sounds like someone wanted to get to Max. It’s a good thing she was working tonight.” Dr. Fletcher measured Chloe’s pulse again while staring at the auburn glory of her hair spilling around her shoulders like a silken shawl. “She’s beautiful. I envy you, Brendan.” He smiled, then moved to assist the injured cop.

      Brendan realized he should have made it clear that there was nothing between him and the nurse, but Fletcher was busy in the stairwell so he let it go for now, choosing instead to keep his attention on Chloe, who had begun to utter soft sibilant moans.

      “It’s okay. You’re safe. Whoever it was is gone.” He repeated the words, squeezing her hand as her irises began to clear and she focused on him.

      “The mayor?” She licked her lips, blinked twice.

      “They’re working on him now. Your quick thinking probably saved him.”

      “The needle. There was a needle.”

      “I know. I got it.”

      “A man was injecting something into the IV.” She struggled to sit up, grasped his outstretched hand until she got her bearings. “He told me to stay out of his business.”

      “This guy spoke to you?” Brendan whipped out a notebook as soon as she released his hand and began scribbling. “What else did he say?”

      “That’s it, I think. I hit my head on the bed rail.” She touched the back of her head gingerly. “I shut off the IV pump but when the cardiac machine went off I knew some of what he’d injected must have gone through so I had to get the tube out. After that it’s a blank.”

      “The stairwell door was closing when I came,” he told her. She didn’t react. “You didn’t see the guard outside the mayor’s room?” She shook her head. “Can you describe what this guy was wearing?”

      Her blue eyes expanded, grew darker. “He had on scrubs and a mask. But it was the boots I noticed. The same ones we saw earlier. Combat boots.”

      Like a video, he replayed the scene from earlier, but he couldn’t put a face to the figure he recalled. “What kind of a mask?”

      “Surgical. And a cap.” She nodded, winced, her eyelids squeezing before she spoke. “I could really only see his eyes.”

      “Okay.” Brendan paused, studied her face. “Anything else?”

      “He had a tattoo on his wrist. A black spider.” She rethought it, nodded. “Left wrist. He was talking to the mayor when I found him.”

      “Talking to the mayor?” His gut lurched. “Max has been awake?”

      “No. I said he was talking to the mayor, not that the mayor was answering him. I should help get him stabilized.” She eased herself off the gurney, smoothed down her clothes then grabbed his arm. “Oh, my. The floor keeps moving.”

      “Sit down and wait it out. Dr. Fletcher says you have a large contusion. And you were unconscious for a few minutes.”

      “I can feel the bump. But I’ll be fine.” She drew her fingers away from her head, pushed her hair back. “I need an elastic band. I can’t work like this.”

      “Your hair looks lovely, but I don’t think you can work at all. You need to rest, let your body recover.” Brendan turned his head as the elevator doors opened. Two of his co-workers burst through the door, followed by a stout man in a three-piece suit who did not look pleased. Some sort of hospital official, Brendan guessed, noting the way the man marched down the hall as if he owned it.

      “What’s been going on here, Chloe?” The officious tone smacked of condemnation, his glare suggesting she’d deliberately sabotaged the hospital.

      “Someone attacked the mayor.” Brendan didn’t like the looks of this character and figured it was about time he learned the facts. “Mrs. Tanner stopped him and was СКАЧАТЬ