Dangerous Intentions

by Anna Leigh Keaton

  Shelly smiled at her friend who had been at the hospital, by her side, until early into the morning. “Hey,” she called before Celeste cleared the door.

  Celeste stopped and turned back.

  “Thank you.”

  Celeste just smiled and gave her a little wave before turning the corner.

  “This is good,” Dex said as he dug into his breakfast.

  “It’s about the only thing I can cook,” Paul said with a little chuckle as he pulled a micro cassette recorder out of his jacket pocket before shrugging out of the coat and tossing it onto the recliner. He hit a button and held the recorder up to his mouth. “Detective Paul Jensen interviewing Doctor Shelly Newman case number one-eight-five-three-four. Please state your name.” He set the recorder on the bed tray in front of her and gave her a small nod.

  “Shelly Jane Newman.”

  “Could you please tell me about your relationship with the accused, Richard Santana?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Shelly licked her lips and reached for the travel mug of coffee. “He was a patient of mine when I first started working here at Cooper Valley Memorial a little over three years ago.” She took a sip of the coffee.

  “Did your relationship with him go beyond doctor and patient?”

  She glanced at Dex. He watched her with those expressive blue eyes, not bothering to hide his curiosity.

  “Yes. Somewhat. He was fifteen and came to me for rehab for a broken collarbone. He claimed he fell out of a tree house. I didn’t think much of it until I started noticing bruises on him during our sessions. What looked like hand marks on his upper arms, a bad bruise on his lower back. When I questioned him about them, he had an excuse for every single one of them. But when he tried to tell me he got a black eye from walking into a door, I called the police.

  “His stepfather was arrested and charged with child abuse. Apparently he wasn’t the first man in Ricky’s life who had abused him, but Ricky had always kept his mouth shut because he didn’t want to upset his mother.”

  “And that was the extent of your contact with him?” Paul asked.

  “The only contact I had with Ricky was during his therapy sessions, but…” She sighed. “I took it as hero worship.” She took a sip of coffee. “One day he told me he loved me and wanted to marry me. He was fifteen, confused. Feeling safe for the first time in his life, I think, partly because of me. I explained to him that he was my patient, and I couldn’t be personally involved with a patient, and that even if I could, he was very much too young for me.” She glanced at Dex, then back to Paul, then at the tape recorder. “When we were done with therapy, I didn’t see him much until he got a job as delivery boy for the local deli. He’s at the hospital a lot, because the deli is the only place in town that orders out, and doctors aren’t known for packing lunches for themselves. I had no idea he still harbored feelings for me.”

  “What do you remember about what happened yesterday when you were shot?”

  She turned her head and met Dex’s eyes again, wondering how he’d take her admission of their relationship when he’d so clearly stated she shouldn’t say anything.

  He pressed his lips together into a flat line, then glanced away.

  Shelly closed her eyes and said, “I’d just gotten some disturbing news from one of the nurses, and Pete Dexler was there for his session, and I was crying and sitting on his lap when Ricky came in. Ricky had one of those envelopes. At first, I thought someone had asked him to deliver it to me, but then he accused me of cheating on him—uh—betraying him, I think he said. And then he pulled a gun and pointed it at me. I tried to talk him into giving it to me or putting it down, but he kept saying how I’d cheated on him with Pete, and…and uhm…” She swallowed hard and looked up at Paul. “He’d seen me with Pete over the weekend. He said he’d turned eighteen and tried courting me; that was why he’d left the notes. He said he was trying to woo me with romance….” She rubbed her fingers against her forehead. “I had no idea it was him. I see him here a couple times a week when he does deliveries. He’s always just been a sweet kid.”

  “Is there anything you can think of,” Paul said slowly, “that would have led him to believe you had feelings for him?”

  “No. Hell, no. I’ve never—” She looked at Dex then gritted her teeth. “I never, under any circumstances, made any motion toward him. He’s a kid, and he was a patient of mine, and until Pete Dexler, I’ve never, ever been involved personally with any patient.”

  Dex reached out his hand and took hers. “It’s okay,” he mouthed silently.

  Paul shut off the recorder. “I’m sorry, Shelly. I had to ask the questions.”

  “I know. It’s okay. What’s going to happen to Ricky?”

  “He’s going in front of the county judge in…” He glanced at his watch. “…about two hours. The DA is charging him with attempted murder. I’m sure he’ll be adding stalking and breaking and entering to the charges at a later date.”

  Shelly dropped her head forward. “God, the kid can’t get a break.”

  “He tried to kill you,” Dex said in a harsh tone. “What kind of break do you think he deserves? I tried to stop the first shot but wasn’t fast enough. I tried—”

  She squeezed his hand. “It’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not okay,” he stressed. “If he hadn’t been so focused on you, if I hadn’t knocked him out when I did, he would’ve succeeded. He could’ve killed you.”

  She couldn’t think about that right now. She surely couldn’t think about the fact that Dex could have taken a bullet in defense of her. She shrugged, then hissed at the pain the attempt at motion caused in her left shoulder. “Damn, that hurt.” So she sighed and looked at the men on either side of her bed. “Check with social services. They opened a case back when I reported the possibility of abuse. That kid had broken bones going back to when he was five, and you can’t tell me he was so clumsy he kept doing it on his own. His mother had been married four or five times, and when she was between husbands, apparently she brought home every stray, drunkard, and druggie she could find in the county. He had a fucked up childhood. I almost can’t blame him for clinging to someone who treated him right.” She rolled her eyes. “Almost. Getting shot sucks.”

  Dex squeezed her hand. “Yeah, it does. Do you need me to get you your nurse?”

  “Not yet. Anything else, Paul?”

  “No.” He picked up the recorder. “I’ll let you know what happens in court.”

  She nodded. “Thanks.”

  Paul grabbed his jacket and headed for the door just as Dorothy Bells knocked on the open door.

  “Hello, Detective,” she said as she stepped aside when he passed.

  “Ma’am.” Paul nodded as he left.

  Dorothy approached the bedside with a warm smile. “How are you doing this morning, Shelly?”

  Shelly kept hold of Dex’s hand when he tried to pull away from her. “I’m doing well, all things considered,” she said, though the pain was starting to get to her. Burning, pinching pain in her shoulder and spreading down her arm. She hoped the surgeon would be in before she let the nurse drug her into unconsciousness again. “I’m glad you came by,” she said to Dorothy, “I wanted to talk to you.”

  Dorothy came over to the bed and looked at the bandages. “You had us terrified for a while yesterday. You sure you’re okay? Your eyes look a little glassy.” She laid the back of her hand on Shelly’s forehead. “Don’t seem to have a fever.”

  “It hurts, but I’m…okay for right now. I need to give you my resignation.”

  “What?” Both Dorothy and Dex said at the same time.

  “No. Oh, Shelly, don’t resign over this. I’m sorry we didn’t do more to protect you. I tried to get someone in here yesterday, but—”

  “Chief Bells. No. Listen. This has nothing to do with me being hurt on hospital property, I assure you.” She took a deep breath and held on to Dex’s hand tightly. “I’ve broken rules, and I…” She clo
sed her eyes and let out a breath.

  “Shelly, don’t,” Dex whispered.

  “I’m involved with a patient.” She tipped her head toward Dex. “I crossed a line, and it can’t be uncrossed, and my conscience won’t let me stay on here as a doctor.”

  “She’s been on morphine all night,” Dex said. “Don’t listen to her. She doesn’t know what she’s saying. There might have been some hanky panky, but it wasn’t her fault; it was mine. I take responsibility for that, and it’s over.”

  Dorothy looked down at their clasped hands, and Dex jerked away from Shelly’s hold. “I see,” the chief said. “Some hanky panky?” She raised her eyebrows at Shelly.

  “No, not hanky panky. I’m in love with him. We made love, at least in my mind we did, so…so I’m turning in my resignation, and you’ll have one typed up once I can get out of this bed.”

  Dorothy turned her attention to Dex. “Mr. Dexler, would you give me a few minutes alone with Doctor Newman?”

  “Of course. Shelly, you’re being stupid. Don’t throw away your career on me. I’m not worth it. I can’t walk, I can’t work, I—” His words cut off, and Shelly saw the slight brightening in his eyes that looked like tears. “Don’t be stupid. I told you before not to be stupid.”

  Shelly scowled at him until he turned his wheelchair away from the bed and left the room. Dorothy followed him and shut the door. When she returned to the side of the bed, she pulled the molded plastic chair away from the wall and sat down.

  “You know I worked at Virginia Mason in Seattle before I went to the Columbia teaching hospital, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I’d heard that,” Shelly responded, wrinkling her brow in confusion. That, and her shoulder was becoming almost unbearable.

  “Well, what no one in the world knows except for me, my husband, and the chief of staff at Virginia Mason is that I was asked to leave there, or I would have been fired. I, too, fell for a handsome, wounded, incredible man who stole my heart.”

  Shelly stared at her, unable to believe the woman who until yesterday had always seemed so tough just confessed something she probably should never have revealed to anyone.

  “That’s right. Bitch Bells fell for her patient.”

  Shelly’s lips parted in surprise. She’d heard one of the surgeons call Dorothy that once. Dorothy was always so stern, but as far as Shelly knew, she’d never been the slightest bit bitchy.

  Dorothy laughed. “Yes, I know what some of the staff think of me. You become a bitch when you say no to something someone wants. No, the surgeons don’t get special treatment by getting their own parking spots close to the building. No, we’re not going to bring in a gourmet chef because a couple of our patients don’t like hospital food. I have to answer to the board of directors, and there are some things that are just not that important.”

  “I see.” But Shelly really didn’t see where this was going.

  “I left my position at Virginia Mason because of the man I’d fallen in love with. He was a cancer patient and might not have even survived, but to me, he was the one. And if he only had six months left, then I was bound to spend those six months doing everything in my ability to make him as comfortable as I could, not as his doctor, but as his companion. Luckily, his cancer went into remission, and we’ve been married fifteen years.”

  Shelly smiled.

  “Now, tell me, is Mr. Dexler the man that you feel you will love forever and that you would gladly spend your days with him instead of being a doctor, if that was what it took to be with him?”

  “Yes,” Shelly answered without one second of hesitation. “He’s the man I’ve spent my adult life hoping for. He’s brave, and beautiful, and…” She sighed. “He has no idea what he has to offer, even if he never walks again.”

  Dorothy nodded and grinned. “Well, here’s the deal then. I don’t want to let you go, so I’m not accepting your resignation. You’re much too big of an asset to CVMH. Besides, I can’t see you leaving those kids, who, by the way, want to come see you as soon as you’re ready for them.”

  “But…”

  She held up her hand. “Just listen. There are only ten thousand people in the greater metropolitan area of Cooper Valley—”

  Shelly laughed, and Dorothy chuckled.

  “That being the case, I know it’s damn near impossible to meet people here unless you have a reason to be thrust together for periods of time. It is perfectly natural that you’d grow close to one of your patients, since as far as I can tell you spend most of your waking hours right here in the hospital. And most of the men around here of your age are all married.”

  Shelly nodded.

  “So. This isn’t Virginia Mason,” she said as she stood up. “And I don’t always say no. As long as none of that hanky panky went on under this roof…” She pointed up at the ceiling, and Shelly shook her head in the negative. “…and you don’t make a habit of moving from one man to the other, which I don’t believe you will, I don’t see why you can’t have your beefcake and eat it, too. This once.”

  Shelly burst out laughing, then groaned and grabbed her shoulder, which didn’t help the pain any.

  Dorothy smiled and patted her good arm. “You need some painkiller.”

  “Yeah, I do,” Shelly said as tears filled her eyes. “Thank you, Dorothy,” she said, using the chief’s first name, something she’d never done before.

  “You’re welcome. Get some rest. I’ll send Mr. Dexler back in to you so you can give him the good news. You’re on full medical leave until your doctor releases you, of course. I’ve got calls in to the nearby hospitals to see if we can get someone here to fill in for you for a few weeks.”

  Shelly nodded. “I appreciate everything. You have no idea how much.”

  “You’re a good woman. And you’ve been through a hell of a lot. I promise by the time you come back to work, we’ll have security beefed up around here so this doesn’t happen to anyone again. I’ll check on you before you go home.” She headed for the door. “He really is a handsome devil.”

  “I know,” Shelly said, grinning.

  Dex wheeled into the room just moments after Dorothy left, and the door slowly shut behind him. “Please tell me you came to your senses.”

  She held up her index finger. “One question.”

  He moved next to the bed. “What?”

  “Right after I was shot, and you were there, did I imagine it or did you cry over me and tell me you loved me?”

  He looked down at his hands clamped together in his lap.

  “Pete. Answer me.”

  “Yes.”

  “And did you mean it?”

  “We’ve only been together for… Fuck, Shelly, we only spent the weekend together. You have a career. A life. I don’t have either right now and don’t know when or if I ever really will. So why the hell—”

  “Did you mean it?” she shouted over his rambling.

  “Yes, I meant it! I love you more than I ever thought possible to love anyone. You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever met, but there’s no fucking way I’m letting you throw away your life for some goddamn cripple.”

  “Excuse me,” the nurse said as she opened the door. “I have your morphine. Chief Bells said you were ready for it.”

  “Yes, I am.” Shelly closed her eyes and waited for the hot/cold tingling to commence. The nurse took her blood pressure then quietly left the room.

  “I’ll leave town before I let you throw away your career.”

  She turned her head toward him and licked her lips. “I’ve been given permission to have my beefcake and eat it, too.” She grinned, the drugs starting to kick in and dull her pain and her brain. “In other words, I still have my job, and I can have you, too.” She giggled a little. “And besides, I’m going to need someone to take care of me for a while when I get out of here. I’m kind of fucked up.”

  “Shelly…”

  “Shh,” she said with a sloppy grin. “I love you, Pete Dexler. And you said you love
me. Where I come from, we’re now going steady.”

  Dex laughed and wrapped his big hand around hers. “I’m honored that you want to go steady with me, sweetheart. And I do love you. I always will.”

  “Good. Check on the kids for me.” She couldn’t hold her eyes open a moment longer. “And make sure Celeste doesn’t stay around here too long. She’s got a man to go home to.”

  “Why don’t you worry about you for a little while? You deserve it.”

  “Love you…” she whispered as she slipped back to sleep gripping Dex’s hand.

  The End

  Author Bio

  Anna Leigh has been reading and penning romance for as long as she can remember. After she met and married her very own real-life hero, romance took on a whole new meaning. She now knows married life can sizzle and romance can be erotic—even in her own home. Now her writing has taken on a spicier flavor and, while hubby’s off at work, she lets her imagination soar….

  Anna loves to hear from her readers. You can email her at anna@annaleighkeaton.com or visit her website at www.annaleighkeaton.com for all her upcoming and previously published works, and meet her alter ego at www.leannekarella.com.