The detective grunted, and she thought he said, ‘We’ll see about that,’ but right then her patient began kicking and waving his arms in the air, the pain obviously becoming unbearable.
Cody caught an arm inches from slamming into Harper’s stomach. ‘Easy, Mick. We’re all here to help you. We need to get you onto the bed, okay?’
She nodded thanks at Cody. That fist would’ve hurt if it’d reached her.
The transfer was fast and awkward as everyone tried to hold those flailing limbs without dropping their patient. The paramedic handed over the Patient Report Form and was gone with his stretcher, no doubt glad to have got shot of his aggressive pick-up.
‘Check for a medic-alert disc on his arm,’ Harper instructed Cody. She was running out of other options but could not afford to overlook anything, including an existing medical condition. Truth? She didn’t want this young guy dealing with what was becoming apparent to all of them.
‘Nothing,’ Cody noted as he took a hit on his upper arm. ‘Mick, steady, man. You’re in hospital. We’re the good guys.’
Harper leaned as close as she dared, one eye on those flailing arms. ‘Mick, I’m Harper, a doctor, and I want to help you, but I need to know if you’ve swallowed any drugs.’
The young guy groaned, opening and closing his eyes rapidly.
‘Yes or no?’ she persisted.
A brief nod was his only reply.
‘Balloons or capsules?’
Mick twisted his head to the side and stared briefly beyond her, fear and hatred blinking out of his stricken eyes. ‘Balloons,’ he croaked.
So the detective was right. The detective. She looked up, right into Cody’s eyes, and saw her own uncertainty there which gave her the determination to get rid of the stranger. Turning around, she growled, ‘I asked you to leave, Detective Strong.’
‘So you did.’ He sounded so smug a trickle of apprehension ran down her spine.
Cody said in a ‘don’t fool with me’ tone, ‘You will do as Dr White says.’
Nice as it was to have the nurse backing her, Harper had a definite feeling their visitor wasn’t going to take any more notice of Cody than he had her. She glanced at Cody and nodded thanks again, appreciative of his attempt to help her with this horrid man. She didn’t know why she thought him horrid, but she did. Probably something to do with those arctic-blue eyes that bored into her relentlessly. The complete opposite to the warmth she found in Cody’s brief green gaze on the rare occasion he looked at her for an answer to some question. Shivering, she glanced at the nurse now, not wanting to focus on that other man. But she still had to get rid of him. He was a hazard in the emergency room.
‘Call security,’ she mouthed at Cody.
Mick wheezed out some words.
‘What did you say?’ Leaning down to hear him better, Harper felt the heat radiating off his body. ‘Jess, get the fan going as fast as possible.’
‘Not cop. Supplier.’
‘Mick? Really?’
He nodded. At least, that was what she thought his erratic head movement was.
Harper hoped against hope the man behind her hadn’t heard or seen any of that. He wouldn’t be pleased that she now knew for sure he wasn’t a detective but a criminal. She thought fast. What to do? They had to work on saving Mick’s life, get the so-called detective out of here and call in the real police, all at the same time. And she’d sent Cody out of the room. Squeezing the young man’s hand, she whispered, ‘Okay,’ before straightening up.
Of course it was not okay. It was a minefield.
Cody was still there. Thank goodness. His presence and calm manner gave her strength. Catching her eye, he nodded once, tightly. Had he heard what their patient had said? Whatever message he was trying to send her, she wasn’t understanding, and they were wasting time if Mick stood any chance at all of surviving the poison streaming through his body.
With a shaky breath she turned to the man causing her problems. ‘This is an emergency department. Anything you want to ask my patient will have to wait until we’ve treated him.’ If he survives. ‘So please head out to the waiting area. Now.’
‘Or what?’ A rapid movement and a gun appeared between them.
‘What are you doing?’ she gasped as that trickle of apprehension became a torrent of fear. She was unable to stop staring at the weapon pointed directly at her chest, where her heart was beating the weirdest, sickest rhythm against her ribs. Definitely not a detective, then. Glancing out of the wide opening of Resus One, she could see only one person at the desk, and he was rapidly removing himself from sight. ‘Call the police,’ Harper begged silently.
‘Hey, what do you think you’re doing?’ Cody moved around the bed fast, stepped up close to her so his arm touched hers and eyeballed her aggressor, anger darkening his face. ‘Put that away.’
‘You want to argue?’ The man smirked as he waved the gun at Cody, taunting him to take a crack at him. ‘I’m here to collect what’s mine.’
That gun mesmerised Harper as it was moved between her and Cody in a very deliberate, menacing way. One little squeeze and someone could die. Just as simple, and horrific, as that.
She had to do something. Drawing what she hoped was a calming breath, but felt like an asthma attack, she said in a voice that didn’t sound like hers, ‘Stop this. Now. Our first priority’s to save Mick’s life. So get out of the way while we do all we can.’ She glanced sideways to her patient. Damn. ‘Cody, oxygen. Now. Jess, bring the fan closer. We need to get his temperature down fast.’
The girl was paralysed with fear. ‘Sorry, yes, Harper.’
With Mick fighting him all the way, Cody struggled getting the mask on.
‘Matilda, the water.’ No reply. ‘Matilda?’ Harper glanced around but there was no sign of the junior nurse. When had she snuck away? Now they were down to three. Not enough to help their patient, but fewer to be confronted with that gun. Hopefully it also meant they could expect help in the form of security or, better yet, armed police, shortly. Then what would Detective Strong do? Her skin lifted in goose bumps as she struggled to tamp down the fear threatening to rage through her and flatten her thought processes. Would they find themselves in the middle of a shooting match? She had a patient to care for; other staff to try and keep safe.
‘The oxygen’s flowing.’ Cody’s calm voice cut through her panic.
Her eyes met his and the fear backed off a few notches. Darn, but he was good. Cool as. She straightened her shoulders and dipped her chin to acknowledge she was on her game, however shakily.
Cody nodded back. ‘I’ll get the water.’ He caught Mick’s flying arm and tucked it down against the young man’s body. ‘Steady, mate. Think we’ll strap you down for a bit, okay? Can’t have you knocking out your doctor, can we? Jess, maybe you should get the water.’
Harper took the end of a strap he handed her. He had it all together—seemed completely unfazed about their unwanted spectator. She drew more strength from him. ‘You and Jess do this while I go get some drugs.’ She turned to come face-to-face with their interloper, and felt the cold, hard reality of a gun barrel poked into her stomach.
‘I don’t think so.’ Those chilly eyes fixed on her. ‘No one’s going anywhere.’
‘I am trying to save this man’s life—a life that you mightn’t care about—’ she stabbed his chest without thinking