Lincoln Hospital (Trauma Series Book 1)

by Cassia Brightmore

  Patricia messaged back that everyone was in place and satisfied, he got back in the car and headed to meet his first patient of the evening.

  Walking into the ER, he stopped by the nurse’s desk to flirt with the pretty receptionist he’d never seen before. He was close to charming her number out of her when the squeal of tires outside caught his attention and he ran out the doors to investigate. Finding Lana laying crumpled on the pavement, he called out for help while silently cheering on the inside. The plan had worked perfectly. In seconds, she was on the gurney and being transferred to his playground.

  “Page Reynolds and get him to meet me in OR-B!” he yelled as they hurried down the hall, she really was losing a lot of blood fast and they had to hurry if he was going to be able to accomplish what he had planned for her.

  Athena stepped into the hall a few feet behind him, watching the scene with interest. She found it curious that he didn’t call for a resident or an intern as was his norm when he had an emergent case. She’d been observing him for weeks now and knew that was his usual habit. So for something this serious to come in and him to handle it on his own, pricked at her curiosity. Intent on following him and observing the procedure from the scrub room, she started down the hall after them only to skid to a halt when her name was yelled out.

  “Payne! Get over here,” Webster shouted from across the department.

  Cian heard her as well and turning his head, locked eyes with Athena. For a split second she thought she saw something like guilt flash in his eyes but then it was gone and he shut down. His brown eyes turned black again and he gave her his back without so much as a word.

  “The patients in rooms 7B, 22A and 16A need to be checked in on and 32B needs a drain changed. Mysteriously, all of our other interns have disappeared so you have them to thank that all those jobs are yours. I hope you have a good memory as I don’t—”

  “Repeat yourself. I got it, Dr. Webster. I’ll take care of it.” Disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to lurk around Cian’s surgery and see what the deal was, she headed off to follow Webster’s orders. She was going to kill Sabine and the others for ducking off who knew where and leaving her with all the work. What a way to start a shift.

  Cian finished scrubbing and entered the OR. Everyone was in place and except for the almost hiccup with Athena following them, it had all gone according to plan.

  Lana was awake if her trashing on the table was any indication. Her grunts of pain from behind the gag increased with every push of her body off the table as she struggled to get free. All she was doing of course was worsening her own pain as she caused the slash in her abdomen to enlarge.

  “Ah, Lana, good to see you again. You remember me, I hope?” Cian asked as he peered at her from his place at the side of the OR table. Lana shook her head wildly, her moans getting louder. The glazed look in her eyes and the pool of blood on the floor told him they had even less time than he thought before she bled out.

  “Peroxide,” he ordered and took the bottle from Lorna when she passed it to him. “So, Lana. I hear that poison was your choice way to murder patients in this hospital. What a way for those poor suckers to go. Tell me, why? Why did you do such a thing? Were you just born without a heart?” Not waiting for a reply, he poured a generous amount of the peroxide into her open wound watching as her blood sizzled and her skin seemed to burn.

  “I particularly remember a story of you being cruel to a family that had just received devastating news. I bet they’d love to see you suffer like this now, they way you made them suffer back then. Pliers.”

  He accepted the pliers from Patricia and spreading open the large gash in her stomach, grasped a piece of her large intestine and pulled, stretching it until it was almost out of her body. Lana jerked once and then went completely still, the monitor indicating that she had flat-lined.

  “Goddammit!” Cian swore, furious. “Get her back,” he ordered Reynolds.

  “Cian, be reasonable. It’s done and we’re short on time as it is.”

  “Fuck. Fuck, fuck!” It had barely been long enough for him to feel his need satisfied. The devious part of him raged at being cut short and before he did something he would later regret, he stomped out of the OR, ordering them to take care of things.

  Athena had just stepped out of a patient room when Cian came charging down the hall. Spotting her, he barreled forward, latching onto her arm and not stopping, dragging her behind him in his wake. Pure rage was in every step he took and Athena could barely keep up with his long-legged stride. When he reached the on-call room, he threw the door open, shoved her inside and then slammed and locked the door behind them.

  “Cian? Um, I mean, Dr. O’Reilly. What’s going on?” Completely bewildered and a tad terrified at his behavior, she backed away from him a few steps. He stalked forward for every step she took back and they ended up in a dance around the small room until her back hit the wall, leaving her no more options to avoid him.

  “Um...” she bit her lower lip nervously and wondered what the fuck was going on. Had she done something wrong? Made a mistake? Maybe—

  All thoughts flew out of her mind when with a brutal growl, his mouth swooped down on hers to claim her lips in a soul-consuming kiss. It was a kiss not about passion; but about possession. His hands dug into her waist painfully as he dragged her against his chest, fusing their bodies together. His tongue wasn’t going to be denied as he pushed past her lips and tasted every inch of her mouth. Her head spun and her pulse raced. Such a devouring kiss stole every part of her she’d tried to keep for herself. He was taking over; owning her and branding her as his. In that moment, she had no idea where he ended and she began. As much as she was scared, her body felt alive and she began to respond to his touch.

  Her hands found their way around his neck and into his hair as she raised on her tiptoes to get closer. She met him head on, riding on the power of their connection and the taste of him on her tongue. She’d never known that vulnerability could be such a high endorphin. And that’s what he was whether he chose to admit it or not; he was vulnerable and looking for something to latch on to.

  His hand traveled under her scrub top and found her breasts, pinching and tugging her nipples through her bra as he ground his hips against hers. Without realizing it, she hoisted herself up and wrapped her legs around his trim waist, desperate to feel more friction between her legs. The second she felt his hard cock against her pussy with only their thin clothes separating them; she moaned into his mouth and rocked against him slowly. Cian brought one hand up and tugging her hair, exposed her neck to him. He dragged his mouth from hers and sank his teeth into her tender flesh, intent on marking her as his.

  “Cian,” she breathed out his name and he stilled, his body freezing. He let her drop down to the ground and then stepped back, his own breath coming in shallow pants.

  She looked at him with questions in her eyes, not sure why he’d stopped when they both so clearly wanted to continue.

  “Get out.” he barked and she flinched at his tone. Shame filled her along with embarrassment as she hastily straightened her clothes. Maybe she was a terrible kisser or had done something he didn’t like. Whatever the reason, he obviously wanted her out of his sight.

  She rushed to the door, misery in every step. She needed to get as far from him as she could.

  “And don’t ever fucking think of following me again.” His parting words cut like a knife and cleared all fog of desire from her brain.

  Cian O’Reilly wasn’t a good man at all. He was a monster, plain and simple.

  “I’M JUST SAYING, Thene, you two have danced around each other for almost three weeks now. When are you going to get over it and call him out on his asshole move?” Sabine asked in a low voice one morning as they followed behind Webster and the other interns. They were doing their routine rounds and next for them to see was Sebastian, the little boy who’d stolen her heart the first time she’d met him.

  “I’m not, Sab. It was a mom
entary lapse in judgement on my part and I won’t let it happen again. All dealings between C—Dr. O’Reilly and I will be strictly professional. I need him to be my teacher; nothing more.” Sabine had switched from team get-Cian-in-Athena’s-pants to team I-want-to-kill-him-for-hurting-Athena in a matter of seconds after finding out about what had happened in the on-call room. It’d taken everything Athena had to talk her down and get her to cease and desist before she hunted Cian down and cut off his balls like she wanted to. That was what Athena loved about Sabine, her fire and her loyalty. She couldn’t have asked for a better best friend.

  “Good morning, Sebastian, Mrs. Harris,” Webster greeted them as they stepped into the five-year-old’s room. They had been rounding on the Harris family every morning and Athena had formed a tight bond with Sebastian. He was the sweetest little boy, a real sports nut and had a love of the outdoors. Mrs. Harris was a widow; her husband had been killed the year before in a car wreck. She spent every waking hour at the hospital, only taking a break when she needed to tend to some matters at their home. Athena couldn’t imagine what the stress of worrying about her child dying was doing to her, especially on the heels of the fresh grief of losing her husband.

  She often snuck in on her down time to bring Sebastian new coloring books or play a quick game of Crazy Eight’s, his favorite card game. He somehow had it in his head that it was actually poker and she didn’t have the heart to set him straight.

  “Good morning, Dr. Webster. Hi, team,” Mara Harris greeted them the same way she did every morning. The toll of waiting on a new heart for Sebastian was starting to show in the dullness of her hair and the worry lines around her eyes.

  “Athena!” Sebastian exclaimed when he saw her. His voice lacked its usual enthusiasm and his coloring was more gray than usual. He was growing more and more sick by the day and if they didn’t get him a heart soon; Athena feared their worst nightmare was going to come true.

  “Hey, little man,” she greeted him. He grinned but it didn’t quite reach his eyes this time, a fact that broke her heart. He was only five, he should be out playing t-ball and chasing frogs—not lying in a hospital bed waiting on a miracle just so he could live.

  “Can we play poker later when you’re hiding from work?” he asked, earning her a raised eyebrow from Webster. She laughed nervously and twirled a lock of her hair. Dick snickered and she wanted to kick him.

  “When I’m on my break, yes we can definitely play poker.” she corrected him.

  “Maybe instead of teaching children to play poker you should be worrying about their medical care,” a voice called out from the doorway. She knew it was him, she’d know that voice anywhere, despite her best efforts to forget he existed.

  “Poker is code for Crazy Eights,” she answered without meeting his eyes. If he wanted to think she wasn’t prepped on Sebastian’s case; let him. She’d answer any damn question he threw at her. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and paid attention to the update on Sebastian’s care. When they were finished, she told Sebastian she’d see him later and since he was the last patient they had to round on, used the free moment to escape into the unusually empty lab.

  Damn him. He had a way of affecting her like no other. He’d made it clear he didn’t want anything to do with her so why did she care what he thought?

  Pacing the room, lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice the figure behind her until a shadow fell over her and arms encircled her; clamping down and trapping her arms to her sides.

  Hot breath whispered in her ear and sent a chill of fear down her spine. “Well, well, what do we have here? A hot as fuck piece of ass doctor all by herself,” the voice was unfamiliar and full of malice.

  “H—” she started to scream but was cut off when his hand slapped over her mouth and pulled her head back against him roughly. His other hand worked its way down the front of her body and into her scrub pants, rubbing her pussy roughly over her panties.

  “You don’t want to go screaming and ruining our fun now do you, lady doc?” His tongue licked her ear and she recoiled away from him, struggling as much as she could to get out of his hold.

  Terror gripped her, but she knew she had to fight if she wanted to get away unharmed. She stomped down hard on his foot and then drove her elbow into his stomach, elated when he loosened his hold enough for her to get free and make a break for the door. Just as she reached for the handle, he latched onto her again, this time grabbing her hair and dragging her back. She stumbled and landed in a heap on her ass, crab-walking backwards to try and escape. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet. Shoving her down on the lab table, he grunted as his actions sent glass crashing to the floor around them.

  “Please. What do you want?” she asked, hoping to keep him talking. His blue eyes were manic and his long dirty hair hung over his face as he stared down at her.

  “You fucking people cut off my medication and I need it. I can’t survive without it; don’t you see?” He pulled a large cutting knife from the waistband of his jeans and waved it in front of her face. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if you don’t give me what I need.” He pressed harder between her legs and Athena felt tears drip from her eyes his erection rubbed against her.

  “Please. Please don’t do this,” she begged as he pushed the knife to her neck and started fumbling with her pants managing to drag them and her panties down to her knees.

  “You want it. They all fucking want it, fucking whores,” he mumbled. He got his jeans down to his ankles and no matter how hard she bucked, she felt the tip of him at her entrance and she began to scream, not caring if he cut her.

  Suddenly, his weight was lifted off her and a gush of cold air hit her. She had a second to sit up and see Cian there struggling with her attacker. The man swiped out with the knife once and Cian jumped back to avoid the slash. To her amazement and horror, he rushed forward, taking the man by surprise and in one swift movement, snapped his neck. The attacker fell to the ground, his neck bent at an odd angle and his cold, dead eyes locked on her.

  “Oh, God, oh, God! You...you killed him! He came in here and I was in here and then I ran but I fell and then the knife and my pants but you...you killed him,” she babbled, shock starting to set in.

  Cian approached her slowly and pulled her pants up her legs, covering her. “Athena. It’s okay. You’re safe, I promise, it’s okay now.” Hearing those words broke the dam and loud, choking sobs ripped from her throat as she threw herself forward into his arms and cried into his chest.

  “Thank you. Thank you,” she mumbled against him. Her tears soaking his shirt did something to Cian. The coldness around his heart began to crack and thaw a little as this brave woman broke and clung to him for support. She was a fighter and would have kept fighting even if he hadn’t heard the commotion and investigated. The pure violent fury he’d felt when he saw that fucking cocksucker on top of her had been enough to propel him forward and end his life. He wished now that he’d had more time with him, but the deed was done and Athena was safe. That was what mattered.

  He helped her stand and together the left the lab, Cian ordering the receptionist at the main desk to call the police. He led Athena to the attendings’ lounge and got her a cup of water before paging Sabine. She’d want her best friend there to lean on while she gave her statement to the police.

  Twenty minutes later, two detectives entered the lounge, one male, one female. The female was an older woman with hair just starting to gray pulled back in a low bun. The male was much younger, probably early thirties and handsome with dark hair and blue eyes. He approached Athena first and sat down in a chair across from her.

  “Dr. Payne? I’m Detective Seth Holloway and this is my partner, Detective Janet Babb. We need to ask you a few questions about what happened, are you feeling up to that?” His tone was kind and his eyes full of compassion as he watched her. Something about him immediately put her at ease and she nodded, not trusting herself to speak at that moment for fear s
he might burst into tears again. She needed just a few more minutes to compose herself.

  The door banged open and Sabine flew in like a hurricane. “Where is he? Where is the fuck that hurt you? I’ll kill him, I swear to God I’ll tear his limbs off like chicken bones and feed them to the dogs,” Sabine spit out, her eyes darting all around the room as if she expected her attacker to materialize at any second.

  “Sabine,” she croaked, her throat raw from holding back the tears. “I’m fine. He’s...” her eyes met Cian’s, “he’s gone.”

  “You’re damn right he better be gone. In handcuffs carted off to prison where he belongs,” she glared at the two cops and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well? Why aren’t you carting him off?” she demanded.

  “Because I fucking killed the son-of-a-bitch,” Cian told her, exasperated with the entire situation.

  Sabine sank down on the sofa beside Athena. “Well okay then,” she replied, calm for the moment.

  Detective Holloway cleared his throat. “Can we get started now, Athena? Tell me what happened when you entered the lab.”

  She recounted everything she remembered, wrapping her arms around her stomach and rocking slightly when she explained in precise detail how he’d assaulted her. Cian’s blood boiled hearing what he’d done and tried to do and he severely wished he could kill the fucker all over again. Thank fuck he’d got there when he did.

  “And that’s when you came in, Dr. O’Reilly?” Holloway asked. The man was regarding him with intelligent eyes and a friendly smile. Cian was no fool though and while it may have been justified, he’d still killed a man and needed to be sure he was as accurate as possible in his re-telling of the events.

  “Yes. I found the assailant on top of Dr. Payne...”

  Athena tuned out Cian’s explanation of what he’d done, not needing to hear the words. The image would be forever burned in her memory; she saw the man’s face every time she closed her eyes.