Attempted Abduction

by Sommer Smith

  Once the baby was in triage, Lauren explained that she worked as a NICU nurse and what she believed the symptoms pointed to. The hospital staff contacted the pediatrician on call and began paperwork to check Lily into the PICU. It was a small hospital, but they were proving to be professional and efficient.

  Grayson noticed Lauren watched them closely. He was beyond relieved to have her there, knowing how to take care of things for the tiny baby. The whole thing scared him witless.

  Lauren must have read his anxiety, for as soon as the other nurses cleared the room, she put a hand on his arm. “She will be okay. She just needs good medical care—care that she couldn’t receive without access to the equipment available at a hospital.” She gestured at the machines and monitors the staff was already beginning to use for the baby. As soon as they had noted Lily’s low pulse ox, the nurses had supplied her with oxygen to bring her levels back up again.

  “I’m sure you’re right. This is all just new to me.” As he looked around at all the hospital equipment, flashes of memory came to him. He had been in a small hospital much like this one when he’d learned that his mother had nearly died in a car accident. Her injuries had been extensive, leaving her with lasting damage. She had taken painkillers for a long time after multiple surgeries and ended up addicted. That addiction had sent her into a downward spiral that had eventually taken her from him altogether.

  Emotion pressed in on him now—all the shortcomings he had felt as a fourteen-year-old boy, knowing he couldn’t do anything to help his mother, and again later, that he couldn’t make her love him enough to give up the pills. He and his brothers had argued more than once about which one of them had driven her to her addiction. He hadn’t lost hope that she would one day come back until he was much older. As he matured into adulthood, however, he finally realized the bitter truth. And even when he’d understood that there had been nothing any of them could have done to save her from her dependence, it hurt terribly knowing she had been released from prison and never come back to them.

  Looking at Lily’s tiny form, struggling to breathe, he felt that same helplessness. He couldn’t help her. He wasn’t enough. He was just fooling himself if he thought he would ever be enough for her or for Lauren. All he could do was protect them with his life. That was all he should be trying to do. Where had he gotten this image of them as a family that kept trying to resurface in his mind?

  He had to get this case back on track, and he had to do it now.

  * * *

  Lauren watched Grayson leave the small hospital room and had to force back her questions. It was apparent from his expression that he needed a moment, and as much as she wanted to know what was wrong, pushing him for answers wouldn’t help. Besides, she needed to focus on making sure the baby received the best treatment possible until she was well.

  A few other members of the hospital staff ventured in and out, but Grayson never returned. Curious, she finally stuck her head out the door.

  He hadn’t left them after all. He was leaning up against the wall right outside, watching every person who came and went. It wasn’t lost on Lauren that he was occupying his nervous energy by being extra protective. She just had no idea what was making him so apprehensive.

  “Is everything okay? Lily—” He sprang to attention when he saw her.

  “Everything’s fine.” Lauren smiled to back up her words. “I just didn’t know where you were. They are taking her to a private room soon and I wanted to be sure you knew.”

  “Thanks. I finally heard back from Shayla and Cole. They still haven’t found the other car, but the search for it has been called off for the time being. The marshals were found safe, bound in the woods, but the men who took their car drugged them. They don’t remember much aside from the all-black clothing they wore. Shayla and Cole are back at the safe house.”

  “Why do you think they took their car? What would be the point of that?” Lauren looked confused at the idea.

  “I can’t be sure, but I assume they have some plan that involves impersonating law enforcement. They took their badges and US Marshal Kevlar vests from the trunk.”

  “Oh. That isn’t good.” Lauren’s face blanched.

  Grayson nodded. “All the more reason we need to be on constant watch.”

  At that moment, a tall, red-haired physician strode down the hall toward them. Pausing at Lily’s door, she stretched out a hand to Lauren. “Hello. I’m Dr. Claremont. Are you the mother of the infant?”

  “No, we are her temporary guardians, actually.” Lauren gestured between herself and Grayson. “It’s complicated.”

  Dr. Claremont looked from Lauren to Grayson in surprise. “How so?”

  Grayson stepped forward and showed his badge. “The baby is in the protective custody of the US Marshals Service. It’s a sensitive situation. We wouldn’t be here if she wasn’t very sick. I called and spoke to someone before we arrived.”

  “Of course.” Dr. Claremont leaned in, assessing him as well as the badge. “It was my colleague Dr. Shaw you spoke to. Everything is ready for you. We’d better get to it.”

  The doctor took them into an exam room. She began looking over the baby and, when she had finished, sat at a computer to enter information into Lily’s charts. “It’s a good thing you got here when you did. Respiratory illnesses like this one can be deadly in a newborn.”

  “Lauren is a NICU nurse in DC.” Grayson’s voice held an odd note of pride and Lauren’s cheeks warmed. “She knew what to watch for. She probably saved her life.”

  Dr. Claremont looked up at Grayson, then over at Lauren. A knowing smile curved her lips. “Well, this little one is grateful, I’m sure. Let’s get her into a private room. I see the nurses have started breathing treatments at the behest of the ER doctor?”

  “Yes, her pulse ox levels have already risen significantly.” Lauren gave the doctor some information on Lily’s vitals previous to their arrival and they collaborated a moment on the baby’s overall health and treatment options. Grayson looked a little lost.

  A young nurse burst in, breathless and looking a little harried. “Dr. Claremont, there’s a...a man at the front desk demanding to be shown to the newborn’s room. He says he knows she’s here. He’s wearing a jacket that says US Marshal, and he flashed a badge, but there’s something odd about the way he’s acting. He’s getting impatient. What do I do? The receptionist needs help. We’ve called security.”

  Lauren’s heart began to race. Romine’s men had found them.

  Grayson answered before the doctor could respond. “Call the police. Try to keep him calm until the police can get here.” The nurse nodded and scurried out. Grayson looked at Lauren. “You help get Lily to a private room ASAP. Make sure it is as secure as possible.”

  Dr. Claremont paged in as many members of the ER and PICU staff as she could reasonably gather. “Get this baby to room 406 in the PICU stat. Secure the area. No one goes in or out without my express permission. Tell any staff members that aren’t here. Go, people. Now.”

  Before Lauren could get Lily moving in the direction of the private room, yelling in the corridor spurred everyone into action. A child in the waiting area started to cry and a woman tried to calm him. Lauren had moved to the door of the exam room, looked in that direction and froze.

  One of the nurses took Lily from Lauren and headed toward an elevator.

  Grayson turned to look in the direction of the yelling. The man was heading their way. He wasn’t anyone Grayson knew, and he suspected he wasn’t even a marshal. He wore a determined expression as he closed in on him. Grayson had his hand on his gun. His hesitation was visible. He turned to Lauren and motioned toward the nurses following Lily out of sight.

  “Go with her, Ms. Beck. I’ll send your marshal to you as soon as he gets the situation under control.” Dr. Claremont urged her toward the baby being taken onto a private elevator. Lauren’s fe
et still didn’t want to cooperate. Her marshal? What had given the doctor that idea? The ruckus in the corridor continued. Lauren stretched and strained her head to see what was happening around the corner where the reception desk was located. She couldn’t see Grayson anymore, so she made her way out into the hall a little farther. A woman down the corridor screamed.

  “He has a gun!”

  “Everyone down!” Grayson’s voice issued the command.

  A gunshot fired about the time Lauren felt a vicious bite in her upper arm. Pain seared through her flesh, sharp and unrelenting. Darkness clawed at her and she stumbled, clutching at her arm.

  The faint sounds of a struggle came to her as if from far away and she caught the wall to her right to help brace herself. People began to surround her, talking and asking questions, none of which quite penetrated her fog.

  Confusion swam around her. She pulled her right hand from the flaming left arm and looked down. She knew the sight of blood. It was familiar. But it was everywhere. And this time it was her own. Reality finally began to penetrate. It wasn’t a dream. It hurt too much.

  She had been shot.

  EIGHT

  Grayson saw Lauren stumble into the wall, clutching her arm as a red stain spread over her sleeve. His throat constricted. Rage filled him and he had the gunman secure in one fluid movement. By the time the police arrived, he had the man cuffed and on his feet. He did little more than shove him in the direction of the officers before sprinting for the area the medical staff had taken Lauren.

  Reassuring himself first that the nurses had Lily’s care well in hand, he stuck his head in every door until he found Lauren, sitting up on a hospital bed behind a blue curtain. An ER doctor was prodding at her arm, yet she offered him a smile when she saw him, then winced slightly.

  “Lauren.” He looked her up and down, making sure she was truly okay.

  “I’m fine, Grayson. It just grazed my arm. Dr. Stover numbed it to ease the pain and he’s going to get me bandaged up.” She still looked pale and frightened, despite her words. He wasn’t sure she was really fine.

  “Actually, it might need a couple of stitches, just to close up this deep spot in the middle.” Dr. Stover was a young guy with blond hair and glasses.

  Grayson looked her over one more time. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

  “She’ll be fine.” The doctor smiled at Lauren, and Grayson felt a twinge of jealousy, despite his earlier conversation with himself. He also kind of wanted to tell Dr. Stover that he was talking to Lauren, not him, but he snapped his mouth shut on that remark.

  Instead, he did what he had to do. He was on the job. “Then I’m going to go check on Lily. She’s been without the two of us for too long.”

  Lauren nodded. “I’m sorry. This is my fault. I should have been with her. I couldn’t get my feet moving. I don’t know what happened. I just froze.”

  “I’m sure she’s fine.” He turned and almost fled the room.

  He was suffocating. She should have stayed out of the corridor, but he was too angry to confront her in front of Dr. Goo-Goo Eyes in there.

  And what was wrong with him that he didn’t want the young doctor admiring Lauren’s beauty? It didn’t matter to him. Did it?

  He strode to the elevators but then took the stairs instead. He needed to do something physical to help work this off.

  When he arrived at the PICU, the new nurse he encountered made him show her his badge and ID, which made him feel a little better about Lily’s safety. He entered the private room to find the infant connected to a host of machines and monitors. She looked even tinier in the high-slatted crib with the various wires and tubes surrounding her. She was asleep, but he needed to make sure she was really fine.

  “Can I touch her?” The question was for the petite nurse standing behind him.

  “Sure. We encourage parents to keep physical contact. It comforts the babies and speeds healing.” The nurse seemed to remember hearing something about the baby’s situation then. She paused, as if not quite sure how to proceed. “I mean, even if you aren’t her father, you’re probably the closest she has right now.”

  Grayson considered that. Lily really didn’t have anything closer to a parent right now than him and Lauren. It made his heart ache for the beautiful little baby. Her full pink lips puckered in sleep as he laid a gentle hand on her tummy. Sure, she frightened him a little, but it was only because she was so tiny and seemingly fragile. He thought of how easily Lauren handled her and felt a pang. She should be here with Lily. That man should have never been able to get off a shot. The idea that Lauren had been injured because he hadn’t secured the gunman sooner made his chest seize; he couldn’t even consider how he would feel if something worse had happened to her.

  The door creaked open and he turned to see a nurse wheeling Lauren into the room.

  Lauren gave him a slightly loopy grin. “They wouldn’t let me walk.” She shrugged in an exaggerated motion. “I don’t know why. I got shot in the arm, not the leg.”

  The nurse with her rolled his eyes. “Maybe because you were running into walls after we gave you that pain medication.”

  Lauren giggled. “Just one.”

  The nurse gave Grayson a look that said Lauren had run into more than one wall. Instead of arguing, however, he helped Lauren into a chair near Lily’s crib. She stumbled a little and practically fell into the seat.

  “Oops!” She giggled again as she flopped into the chair.

  “She’s all yours. Have fun.” The nurse shook his head before wheeling out the empty chair.

  “Wow, Lauren. What’d they give you?” Grayson couldn’t quite suppress his smile.

  She stopped examining something interesting on the ceiling tiles and looked at him. She grinned. “The good stuff.”

  He couldn’t keep from laughing then. “I guess you would know.”

  She poked clumsily at her arm. “I didn’t feel a thing.”

  He pulled her hand away gently. “Easy. You might feel it later.”

  She blinked, then looked at the crib. “How’s Lily?”

  “About the same. She’s sleeping.”

  “Hmm.” Lauren dragged the sound out and nodded slowly.

  “I think you should also probably rest.”

  But his words were wasted. Her eyes had already drifted closed and her head slumped against the back of the chair.

  “A shame.” He chuckled to himself. “This could have been pretty entertaining.”

  * * *

  Lauren woke a little disoriented, with a crick in her neck, but that was mild compared to the flaming pain in her upper arm. She started to rise and gasped.

  Grayson raised his head and looked her way, a little sleepy-eyed, as well. “Lauren, do you need something?”

  “It just hurts pretty badly.” She tried to keep her face serene, but she couldn’t hold back the wince. She pressed her lips together.

  “I’ll have them bring you something else for the pain.” Grayson stood from his place in the other chair by Lily’s crib.

  “No, no. I’ll be okay.” Lauren shook her head.

  “I’ve been shot before. Trust me when I say you’re going to need meds. You don’t wanna try to tough this one out.” He went to the door before she could protest any further, but she caught the expression of pain that flashed across his handsome features.

  What was that about?

  Lauren realized, watching him go, that there were a great many things she didn’t know about Grayson. He revealed little about himself to her, and she found she was curious. Why had he chosen this dangerous profession? Where had he grown up? What did he do when he wasn’t working? Why wasn’t he married?

  Whoa. Where had that last thought come from? That was way too personal for her to wonder about a casual acquaintance. And despite the close quarters they had found themselves in f
or the last few days, that was still really all they were—right?

  When he returned, Lauren dismissed the thoughts. If she were truthful, her thoughts had scattered on their own at the sight of him. Though he wasn’t smiling, she had come to recognize the stern expression he wore as relaxed for him.

  “They should be here with your meds in just a few minutes.”

  Before she could respond, there was a little squeak from Lily’s crib, and the baby began to fuss. Lauren started to get up, then winced again. Grayson strode to the crib and began to soothe the baby, talking to her in a quiet voice. Lauren watched in awe as he stroked her little belly and the baby calmed.

  Lauren hadn’t heard the nurse enter, but she spoke quietly from behind her. “He got her to sleep doing that before you got here.”

  Lauren turned to look at her. “Really?”

  The petite nurse nodded and handed her a small plastic cup with a huge white pill in it. “He’s good with her.” She moved past Lauren to the crib. “Let me check her vitals while she’s awake.”

  After a few moments of working on and around the baby, taking her temperature and reading monitors, the nurse, named Hannah, nodded at them. “Her fever’s down. She’s already showing signs of improvement. Keep up the good work.”

  When she was gone, Lauren took the pain medicine with the water the nurse had handed her. Grayson watched her a moment before speaking his thoughts. “I know Lily is pretty safe here right now, but we have to get her out of here soon.”

  “I’m sure the kidnapper’s men will be waiting for us to leave. The longer we stay, the more we put innocent people in danger. But do we take her back to the cabin?” Lauren’s face twisted into a frown.

  “I haven’t decided. But we do have to get her out of here before they get any more desperate. Do you think she is healthy enough to manage outside of the hospital now that we have her meds?” Grayson looked doubtful.