A Knight for Nurse Hart

by Laura Iding

  “Yvonne?” she called out to the middle-aged female tech working on their team. “Will you run this to the lab? I don’t want this one to get lost, too.”

  “Sure.” Yvonne willingly took the blood tube from her hands.

  “Thanks.” She took another sip of her white soda, before logging into the system to document the latest set of vital signs. In the lull of waiting for the lab results, she escaped for a few minutes, seeking refuge in the staff lounge.

  Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on staying calm. But the more her nausea plagued her, the more she tensed up. She took several deep breaths, pulled up her legs and rested her forehead on her knees.

  She couldn’t keep up the pretense much longer. She needed to know if she really was pregnant, and soon. She shouldn’t have put it off as long as she already had. She should know by now that denial didn’t work.

  Hadn’t Caleb’s dad said something to that effect? About how denial was a powerful thing? After everything she’d gone through, she should know by now that denial was a death-trap. Better to face the things you were afraid of head-on.

  Dr. Frank’s heart attack had distracted her from her personal problems. Being with Caleb had certainly helped. She missed being with him, more than she’d ever imagined she would. Had she made a mistake in not confiding in him? Would their relationship have survived? Maybe. But even the thought of telling him made her nausea spike. No, it was better that she’d broken things off.

  Her fault, not his. And there was no going back. Thinking about what might have been was nothing but foolish fantasy.

  Even if Caleb could learn to trust her. Which was doubtful.

  Especially now that the damage had been done.

  “Raine?” Yvonne poked her head into the staff lounge. “There you are. Dr. Stewart is looking for you.”

  She pasted a smile on her face, hoping she didn’t look as awful as she felt. “Okay, I’m coming.”

  Caleb glanced up when she approached. “We have her blood gases back and Margaret Jones needs to be transferred up to the medical ICU. You need to make the arrangements.” His face was drawn into a slight scowl. “Next time I’d appreciate you telling me who’s covering while you’re on break.”

  “I was only gone ten minutes,” she snapped. The surge of anger was a welcome respite from soul-wrenching desperation. “But, rest assured, I’ll be sure to tell you every time I need to use the restroom so you’ll know exactly where I am.”

  He stared at her for a long moment, before he let out a heavy sigh. “You’re right, I was out of line. I’m sorry. Just call up to give report, will you? Our patient in room two, Jerry Applegate, with sutures over his left eye, is also ready to be discharged. I need you to move fast. I’m being asked to clear our patients out as the waiting room is full.”

  His apology diffused her annoyance. She needed to pull herself together.

  She didn’t want to lose the collaborative working relationship she and Caleb had managed to maintain in spite of their break-up. Especially not when their friendship seemed a bit tenuous.

  She worked quickly to get Mrs. Jones transferred up to the medical ICU. As soon as that transfer was completed, she discharged Jerry Applegate, the man who’d had a few too many beers at the local tavern and had fallen and cut his eye. He’d sobered up the moment Caleb had placed the first suture. She began to ask him about the possibility of alcoholism, but he mumbled something about a retirement party, looking so embarrassed she ended up giving him the teaching materials on the subject rather than her usual spiel before sending him on his way.

  The disinfectant used to clean his room wasn’t even dry when the triage nurse called.

  “We have a female assault victim,” the triage nurse informed her. “I’m bringing her back to room two right away.”

  Raine didn’t remember dropping the phone, but soon she realized the buzzing in her ears was actually the phone beeping because it was off the hook. Glancing down, she saw it was lying on its side. She fumbled a bit with the effort of picking up the receiver and placing it back in its cradle.

  A female assault victim. Her mind could barely comprehend the news. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Surely this wasn’t the same circumstances. No, it was more likely a result of some sort of domestic dispute. Like poor Becca. Tragic, yes, but not the same situation at all.

  Yet she couldn’t seem to make her feet move. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t. Her stomach tightened painfully. She needed to find someone else to care for the patient. Anyone. If only Elana hadn’t called in sick, her friend would have taken over in a heartbeat.

  “Raine?” Yvonne poked her head out from behind the doorway of room two, her eyes wide with compassion and alarm. “I need you. Right away.”

  Oh, God. A quick glance at the other teams in the arena proved everyone was busy. There was no one to take her place. Four weeks had passed but at this moment it seemed as if it had only been four days.

  Dread seeped from her pores as Raine forced herself to walk into the room. A young woman, about her age, was seated on the hospital bed, clutching the edges of a blanket she’d wrapped tightly around herself.

  Numbly, Raine took the clipboard Yvonne shoved into her hands and glanced at the paperwork. The girl’s name was Helen Shore and she was twenty-five years old. Dragging her gaze back to her patient, she noted the girl looked disheveled, her blonde hair tangled up in knots, her face pale and her mascara smudged beneath her eyes.

  Pure instinct and compassion took over. Ignoring her own feelings and the persistent nausea, she stepped forward, keeping her tone low and soothing as she addressed the patient. “Helen, my name is Raine, and I’m a nurse. Can you tell me what happened?”

  The girl’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t know what happened. I can’t remember. I can’t remember!”

  “Shh, it’s okay.” Raine crossed over to put a supporting arm around the girl’s shoulders. She knew, only too well, exactly how Helen felt. The void where your memory should have been threatened to swallow you whole. Her own horrific experience had happened a month ago, but she was suddenly reliving every detail.

  She pushed the fears away, trying to keep focused on Helen. The girl was her patient. The poor young woman had come here for help. “Do you have bruises? Do you hurt anywhere?”

  Helen nodded, tears making long black streaks on her cheeks. “When I woke up…my clothes were off. And…was hurt. I think—I might have been raped.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  THE room spun dizzily and Raine’s knees buckled. She grabbed the edge of the bed, holding herself upright out of sheer stubbornness. But her mind whirled, drawing parallels matching the horrific experience she’d endured with this poor girl’s situation.

  She swallowed hard and tried to gather her scattered thoughts. She needed to get a grip. This wasn’t about her. She needed to focus on the patient. Helen.

  “Yvonne, please find Dr. Stewart, will you?” Raine wasn’t sure how she managed to sound so calm. “I need him to approve some orders.”

  “Of course.” Yvonne ducked from the room.

  Helen tightened her grip on the blanket, her eyes wide and frightened in her face. “Is Dr. Stewart a man? Because I don’t want him to examine me unless he’s a woman.”

  The disjointed protest didn’t make much sense, but Raine understood exactly what Helen was trying to tell her.

  “Dr. Stewart is a man, but he won’t examine you,” she explained gently. “We have nurses, female nurses, who have special training as sexual assault experts to do that. Dr. Stewart does need to write the orders, though. We’ll need to draw some blood so we can run lab tests, to see if you have any drugs in your system.”

  “Drugs? I don’t do drugs. Oh…” Helen’s face paled and her eyes filled with fresh tears. “You mean he gave me something? Is that why I can’t remember?”

  Rohypnol was the drug they’d found in her bloodstream. But there were various date-rape drugs on the streets. She’d
spent hours searching through the information on the internet. Even alcohol could be used to encourage a woman to do something she normally wouldn’t do.

  There were plenty of men who would take advantage of the opportunity.

  Her skin felt cold and clammy, and she tightened her grip on the edge of Helen’s bed in an effort to keep her mind grounded in reality. Thankfully the patient was too traumatized to realize there was something wrong with her nurse. Raine tried to speak calmly through the dull roaring in her ears. “We won’t know until we get the test results back. When did this happen?”

  “Last night, late. We closed the bar. But I didn’t wake up until a couple hours ago. I slept all day. I never sleep all day.”

  Most likely because of the drugs. Especially if they were mixed with something else. “And were you drinking alcohol, too?”

  “Yes.” Helen dropped her chin to her chest, as if she couldn’t bear to make eye contact. “Cosmo martinis.”

  The potent beverage may have been enough, but Raine didn’t think so. Helen’s total lack of memory sounded more like a date-rape drug than just alcohol alone. Men used it specifically so that the women they preyed upon couldn’t remember anything incriminating.

  To hide the extent of their crime.

  “We need to contact the police,” Raine said softly, knowing Helen wasn’t going to like having to retell her story to the authorities. She wanted to say something reassuring, but couldn’t think of a thing.

  She knew better than most, there was no easy way to get through everything facing Helen from this point forward. Especially if there were long-term ramifications, like becoming pregnant.

  Her patient didn’t have a chance to respond to the news because at that moment the glass door slid open and Caleb walked in.

  “Dr. Stewart, this is Helen Shore,” Raine said, maintaining her professionalism with an effort. “We believe she’s been sexually assaulted. We need an order for a drug screen and the SANE nurse.” She stared at a spot over his left ear, hoping he couldn’t tell how she was barely hanging onto her composure.

  “Already done,” he said. “Yvonne filled me in and the SANE nurse has already arrived. As soon as you’re ready for the exam, she’ll come in.”

  Raine froze. Oh, God. No. There was no way she could stay, not for this. She forced herself to meet his gaze. “Will you ask Yvonne to accompany Helen during the exam?”

  He flashed a puzzled look, but nodded. “Sure.”

  Thank heavens. Raine released her death grip on the bed and walked towards the door.

  But she didn’t quite make it to the opening before her world went black.

  Caleb reached out and grabbed Raine, hauling her upright before she hit the floor.

  She was out cold, her head lolling against the crook of his arm, her dark red hair and smattering of freckles creating a stark contrast against her pale skin.

  “What the—?” He swung her limp body into his arms and carried her to the only open bed they had on their team, room five. There was a minor burn patient from the waiting room slotted to be admitted in there, but he didn’t care. At the moment Raine took priority. Gently, he set her on the bed.

  Within seconds her eyelids fluttered open and she stared up at him in confusion. “What happened?”

  “You tell me,” he muttered, his voice grim. He was glad she’d come round so quickly, but couldn’t help the sharp flash of concern and annoyance at how she obviously wasn’t taking very good care of herself. He hadn’t liked the awful way she’d looked awful earlier in his dad’s room and now this. “You fainted. When’s the last time you had something to eat?”

  She winced and avoided his direct gaze. “I…um…ate before my shift.”

  He didn’t believe her. “Take a break. Now.” Caleb dragged a hand through his hair. She’d taken ten years off his life when she’d crumpled like a rag doll.

  “I’m fine,” she protested, pushing up on her elbows to sit upright. She ran a hand over her forehead and he could see the faint sheen of sweat dampening her fingertips. Her pulse was racing and her blood pressure was probably non-existent. “I never faint.”

  “Could have fooled me,” he said, stepping forward to put a hand on her shoulder to keep her in place. “Give yourself a few minutes’ rest before going back to work, would you? I’d rather arrange for someone to come in to give you a full physical exam. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but you look like hell.”

  Her eyes widened in horror at the suggestion. “No. I’m fine. I don’t want an exam.”

  “Raine.” He stared at her until she met his gaze. “I’m not kidding. Tell me what’s going on. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” She avoided his gaze in a way that made him grind his teeth in helpless frustration. Why wouldn’t she open up to him? Talk to him? “I swear I just had a physical exam not too long ago. I’m fine.”

  He stared at her, willing her to open up about what was going on. But she sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed as if to prove she was fine. “I’ll be all right in a few minutes. In the meantime, I’ll ask Ellen or Tracey to cover for me.”

  He couldn’t force her to stay, but that didn’t mean he was particularly happy when she stood on shaky legs. He stayed within reach, watching to make sure she didn’t fall again.

  It was ridiculous to be hurt by her decision. Raine couldn’t have made her feelings any clearer. She didn’t want or need his help.

  There were no second chances. At least for him.

  Biting back a curse, he told himself to let her go. Raine’s issues, whatever they entailed, weren’t his concern. She was making it clear they didn’t have a personal relationship any more. And he had plenty of his own problems to deal with. Like his father, who was almost as stubborn as Raine.

  Gingerly, she walked toward the door as if testing the strength in her legs, still looking as if a mild breeze would blow her over.

  “Raine,” he called, as she crossed the threshold. She glanced at him over her shoulder. “I’m here if you need to talk. Or if you just want someone to listen.”

  Stark desolation flashed in her eyes, but just as quickly it was gone. “Thanks, but I’m fine. Really. I’ll be back in twenty minutes.”

  This time when she left, he didn’t bother trying to stop her.

  In Raine’s absence, Caleb took control of the patients in their team, including taking on the job of calling the police for the young sexual assault victim.

  Their patient care tech, Yvonne, had remained glued to the young woman’s side throughout the rape kit exam and even when the police arrived to question her. He didn’t complain, even knowing that without Yvonne’s help, patients moved slowly through the department.

  He kept his distance from Helen Shore, knowing from past experience that most assault patients were far more comfortable with female caregivers. But as he worked, he couldn’t get the shattered expression on the young woman’s face out of his mind.

  Victims of crimes were the most difficult patients to care for. Sexual assaults were right up there next to child abuse, at least in his opinion. Getting angry wasn’t exactly helpful to the patients, though, so he schooled his features so that his true disgust and rage toward the assailant didn’t show. None of this was the victim’s fault.

  He could only hope the evidence they obtained would help the police find the bastard who’d hurt her.

  When Raine returned, she looked marginally better. Maybe she had finally eaten something. Her face was still lined with exhaustion, though, and he couldn’t help wondering why. She looked much worse tonight than she had the night she’d stayed with him in the waiting room. Telling himself that he’d done all he could to open up to her, and that the next move was hers, didn’t help. He had little choice but to turn his attention to the matter at hand.

  She jumped into the fray without hesitation, quickly picking up on the patient care issues that still needed to be addressed.

  “Have we had the drug screen results b
ack yet on Helen Shore?” he asked, when Raine brought him the discharge paperwork on their burn patient.

  Her eyes darkened momentarily. “I don’t know. I’ll check.”

  He signed the paperwork and then glanced towards Helen’s room. The police were still in there, taking her statement. He wasn’t sure how much longer they would be, but it didn’t really matter since he wasn’t about to hurry her out the door.

  “Drug screen is positive for flunitrazepam,” Raine said, returning to the workstation with a slip of paper in her hand.

  Flunitrazepam was the generic name for Rohypnol, the infamous date-rape drug. They wouldn’t have the results from the rape kit for several days, but this pretty much sealed poor Helen’s fate. There was no doubt in his mind that her rape kit would turn out positive. He sighed and took the results from Raine. “All right. I’ll let the patient know.”

  “I’ll go with you.” Raine hovered near his elbow as he entered the room. The police officers, one male and one female glanced up at him curiously.

  “I have your drug screen results,” Caleb said, ignoring the police and focusing on the patient. “Would you rather the officers leave, so I can tell you privately?”

  The male police officer looked like he was about to protest, but he needn’t have worried, because Helen was already shaking her head.

  “No, go ahead,” Helen said in a voice barely above a whisper. “They’ll need to know either way.”

  “I’m sorry, but you tested positive for Flunitrazepam, also known as Rohypnol.” He handed the drug result to Helen, who barely glanced at it before handing it to the female police officer.

  “So there’s no mistake,” Helen whispered. “He did this on purpose.”

  “I’m afraid so.” Caleb wished there was something he could say or do to make her feel better.