Surrender My Love

by Lisa Eugene

Susan sat forward and regarded her seriously. “Listen, we know you’re not allowed to tell us what’s going on, but if there’s anything we can do, just let us know. We’re here for you.”

  Justin’s face screwed up. “What’s with this Nigel person? You seemed so upset the last time we saw you.”

  Chloe shrugged and regarded her friends. “I’ve seen him on the unit. I thought he worked there.”

  “Do you want us to try to find him for you? Would that help you? Maybe he’s from another department or something?” Paul said.

  “Yeah, we could ask around the hospital. I’m sure someone’s seen him,” Justin said.

  Chloe chewed her bottom lip, wondering how much she could tell her friends. The administrators didn’t want her saying anything, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t use their help to find Nigel—hopefully he was still around. Or even if they could find others who’d seen him, that would corroborate her story and prove she wasn’t crazy. She was sure he was the key to this whole mess.

  “Well, if you can ask around that would be great.”

  She gave them a description of Nigel. Paul, who’d taken some art classes in college, helped to sketch a passable likeness. Her friends didn’t stay long because she had to put her laundry away and get ready to go to her mother’s, but she appreciated the time they took to visit and their willingness to help. They gave her a renewed sense of hope and she prayed that they’d at least find someone who’d recognize the sketch of Nigel. That, along with Brad speaking to the administrators, should hopefully restore her position and get her back to doing what she loved.

  CHAPTER NINE

  It was late Friday morning by the time Brad got to his medical suite. Upon seeing him, Bea quickly hung up the phone and followed him into his office. The office was quiet and reception was empty. He knew it would be, since he was not scheduled to see patients and had been expected to be out of town. Bea had come in to do paperwork and make appointments. Before coming to his office, he’d gone to Madame LaFontine’s room to try to talk her into leaving. He’d written her discharge papers almost two weeks prior.

  Of course upon seeing him, she suddenly developed chest pain. Not in the mood for her antics, he ordered an EKG and left the room. What he really wanted to do was order an enema, or a colonoscopy, perhaps that would persuade her to leave. He and the hospital’s case managers had been strategizing on how to get her to vacate the hospital, but so far no luck. He hoped to God the hospital didn’t need the bed for someone who was really sick. Sitting at his desk he made a mental note to contact case management again, after he straightened out this situation with Chloe.

  How could someone so amazingly wonderful be dealt such horrible cards in life? He had a strong desire to take her away from her problems. He wanted to protect her and see the happiness sparkle bright in her golden eyes. He wanted her in his arms, pillowed against his chest. If only the stubborn little hoyden would allow him! Perhaps he shouldn’t have intervened with her brother. It really wasn’t his place, but there was no way in hell he was going to stay quiet in her room and listen to him abuse her. He’d seriously wanted to hurt the little punk.

  “Well?”

  He looked up to find Bea standing in front of his desk, her dark eyes staring expectantly.

  “Well? How’s Chloe?” she asked again.

  Brad sighed and returned her concerned gaze. “She’s hanging in there. She’s stubborn and determined.”

  She smirked. “She sounds like someone I know.”

  “Thank you for contacting me,” he said softly.

  She nodded, and he grinned at her, wondering about her apparent affection for Chloe. “What’s the word on the meeting with the administrators? Any chance of moving it up?”

  “No. They’re saying they have commitments until Wednesday.”

  He cursed under his breath. It usually took weeks to get an audience with this elusive group and knew they were doing him a favor by scheduling the meeting on such short notice, but it just wasn’t good enough! He felt like he was spinning his wheels and getting nowhere. He was a man who was used to getting his way.

  “Your father has called twice. Diane called again. She’s driving me crazy! If I have to listen to her whiny voice one more time, I’m gonna reach through the phone and rip out her vocal cords.” Bea huffed and rolled her eyes, and he had to bite his tongue to contain his laughter.

  “I’ve just finalized the details for your lecture at Harvard Medical School for the end of next month, so I don’t know when you’ll be able to reschedule the conference at the Cardiovascular Center with all the surgeries scheduled. I suppose you can combine the two.”

  Brad listened with half an ear, groaning at the message about his father and Diane. Both were relentless. His father he planned to call back, but Diane was becoming a problem. She’d left him several messages which he hadn’t returned. He hoped she’d get the message that their relationship was over.

  “Senator McMillon called. His uncle just had a heart attack. He wants to know if you’ll take him on as a patient, and I still need to get back to the College of Cardiothoracic Surgeons about the symposium.”

  He held Bea’s gaze, his thoughts elsewhere. “We’ll discuss all that in a sec. I know you don’t like to get involved in my personal business, but there’re a few things I need you to do for me.”

  Bea stared at him, one brow pulling cautiously into her forehead.

  “It involves Chloe,” he elucidated. At that her face relaxed and she nodded affirmatively.

  Fifteen minutes later, Bea stood to leave his office when Larry pushed open the door and walked in. Brad immediately noted his blush when his green gaze landed on Bea.

  Brad shook his head, but smiled, reluctantly thinking he understood a bit of what his friend was feeling.

  You don’t do relationships, remember? Chloe’s poignant words echoed in his head. He had said that to her, hadn’t he? That was his mantra, his line…he’d said that to every woman he’d ever slept with. Funny that Chloe was the one to throw the words back at him, and the honesty behind them had almost toppled him.

  “What brings you by, Larry?”

  Brad tried to divert his friend’s attention. Larry was avidly perusing Bea’s form as she walked past him towards the door. Brad quirked his brow, noting that there was an exaggerated swing to Bea’s hips as she left the room. Mmmm…interesting.

  He made a theatrical clearing of his throat and was finally able to usurp Larry’s attention. He took hold of a pen and tapped it against his desk.

  “I don’t want to hear any more crazy ideas.” He held a hand up in warning as Larry was about to speak.

  Larry’s grin was all teeth. “I’m moving on to plan B.”

  Brad fixed him with a direct stare, thinking he was more likely on plan W. “Just leave me out of it.”

  “You are supposed to be in Boston, aren’t you?” Larry asked, ignoring him.

  Brad shrugged and reclined in his chair as Larry took a seat. “I had something urgent to attend to. How did you know I was back?”

  “Dr. Smith saw you running from Madame LaFontine’s room a while ago.” His face wrinkled with curiosity. “What urgent business would make you piss off Dr. and Dr. Markson?”

  Brad felt his face harden at the mention of his parents. Larry was right. His parents had put this conference together, had made sure that prestigious people would attend. And when Dr. and Dr. Markson requested your presence, it was unheard of to not make an appearance. That was the power and influence they wielded. They were the elite of the academic elite. That was what he’d had to live with his entire life. His parents judged him with a measuring stick that kept lengthening by infinite degrees.

  “I thought maybe you’d come back to check on your patients considering all the excitement around here,” Larry remarked casually.

  Brad frowned. “What excitement?”

  Larry’s green eyes grew round with disbelief. “Are you kidding me? Haven’t you heard? It’s been
a mad house here!”

  Brad’s eyes narrowed and he felt the fine hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. His office was in a different wing of the hospital and didn’t get much of the house gossip. He schooled his expression and motioned to Larry to continue.

  “God, Brad. There’s a nurse here they suspect of harming patients…There’s even been whispers of murder! It’s crazy, really!”

  Brad blinked, the pen in his hand almost snapping in two.

  “What are you talking about?” He didn’t recognize the voice that issued slowly from his lips. It was thick and marbled, and congealed with apprehension.

  “I suspect it’s all bullshit, but I hear the hospital is conducting an investigation. The administrators so far have been able to keep it under control to avoid a panic, but with the way news spreads around here, they’ll be lucky to keep it off the six o’clock news.”

  “Shit!” Brad buried his face in his palms and listened to Larry continue.

  “The police were here all morning. I heard from Don Accardo that they went through her locker and found something.”

  Brad’s head snapped up, a steady pounding beating his cranium. “What could they possibly have found?”

  Larry’s eyes held his seriously. “I’m not one to spread rumors, Brad, but I think they found a syringe filled with something. Don told me in the strictest of confidence.”

  “Oh my God.”

  “Apparently they’ve been concerned about her for some time now. The police were called in on the investigation a few weeks ago.”

  Brad forced himself to breathe as air became scarce in his lungs. Weeks? The incident with Mr. Kaplan was just a week ago. Could they have started an investigation before then?

  “Do you know who this nurse is?” Brad asked, his voice like industrial steel.

  His friend shrugged and shook his head gravely. “No, he didn’t say, but I’m sure it will soon get out. I know the nurse is a she and she works on Four West. The police were all over that ward this morning.” His brows scrunched thoughtfully. “Hey, that nurse who was here a few days ago, Chloe, she works on Four West. If you’re truly interested, maybe she can give you more information.”

  Brad swore under his breath. “These rumors are absurd! Why would any nurse want to harm a patient?”

  Larry frowned, now apparently noticing his billowing rage. “I don’t know. They’re saying she has a lot of issues at home and that she may have a psych problem.”

  Brad sprang up from his desk, his heart skipping wildly. He punched the button for Bea and leaned over the speaker.

  “Bea! I need you to get the head of O&S, Mr. Accardo, on the phone now! I want to speak to the CEO of the hospital, and the head of the nursing department. I want that meeting moved up and I don’t give a shit what excuses they give you. You tell them if they don’t move up that meeting, I’ll be resigning my appointment at this hospital and taking all my benefactors with me!”

  He clicked off the phone and looked over to stare directly into Larry’s stunned eyes. Looking around, he now noticed that all the charts from his office were gone. Holy fuck!

  “Brad, what the hell is going on?”

  He blew out a deep breath and sank into his chair, his hands scrubbing up and down his face as he tried to slow his racing heart.

  “I don’t know, Lar. I just don’t know.”

  Chloe finished packing clothes and toiletries into her backpack, then slung it over her shoulder. She was planning on spending a few days at her mother’s apartment and although she kept a few items there, she wanted to make sure she’d have everything she needed. Grabbing the stack of mail she’d retrieved from downstairs, she shoved it into the backpack along with the notes she’d collected from Brad’s office. While at her mother’s, she intended to catch up on her bills and review the information she’d gotten from the charts.

  She’d been giving her situation a lot of thought and was becoming more certain that the deaths at the hospital had to do with Omega and Memoram. She just didn’t know how or why. She needed to find out more about the drug. The documentation she had regarding the patients’ symptoms was interesting, but didn’t mean much in itself and could be easily dismissed. She needed real proof. She still didn’t know what to make of Nigel. Every time she’d seen him, he’d been carrying vials of blood. He’d obviously been drawing blood from patients. Why would he do that if he didn’t work there?

  He’d been at the Stark’s conference. Did he work for Omega? Were these deaths not an accidental mix up in drugs as she’d previously thought? Oh God… No wonder it was so hard to convince Brad. Just the idea that it might be something else terrified her. She slipped her feet into her sneakers and headed towards the door, still trying to figure out Nigel’s place in this confusing puzzle. She knew part of the key to this mystery was finding him. But, how did one go about finding someone who didn’t exist?

  Chloe opened her door and choked back a scream, startled by the figure with a fist raised, poised to knock.

  The man was tall, dressed in a wrinkled, ill-fitting jacket and tie. His thinning hair was slicked back tight against his head with a day’s growth of a patchy beard sprinkled along his jaw. It wasn’t so much his gruff appearance that caused the fluttery apprehension in Chloe’s belly, but the three uniformed police officers standing stoically behind him.

  The man flashed a badge in front of her face and shot her a smile she found anything but reassuring.

  “Chloe Bennett?”

  “Yes?”

  “Hi, I’m Detective Sullivan.”

  Chloe frowned, confused as he introduced the officers. “What is this about?”

  She noticed the detective’s gaze slip past her to delve into her apartment.

  “We’d like to have a word. May we come in?”

  Baffled and somewhat shocked, Chloe robotically pulled open the door and the four men walked into her tiny apartment. The first thing she thought of was her brother. Was he in trouble? Two officers slowly skimmed the perimeter of her living room while the other stood at her door. Detective Sullivan turned to face her with that same cagy smile on his face.

  “Miss Bennett, we are conducting an investigation and believe you may be able to provide some information that may help us.”

  “Is this about Richard?”

  The detective shook his head. Chloe’s pounding heart ebbed and resumed a somewhat normal pace. This must have to do with the investigation at Washington Memorial Hospital, though, she was surprised that the hospital would alert the authorities. They’d been so insistent about keeping things quiet until they’d concluded their own investigation. Perhaps they’d found some more information and had no choice but to call in the police.

  Chloe tried to blow away her nervousness and sense of foreboding, telling herself she had nothing to fear. She wondered if Brad had been able to move up his meeting with the administrators. He certainly would have shown them the proof of her innocence. He’d already gone through her charts and there was nothing there that demonstrated any wrong doing on her part. She had no need to worry. She knew the hospital was doing whatever they could to get to the bottom of the cause of these deaths and the police needed her help.

  “This has to do with the deaths at Washington Memorial?” she asked the detective.

  He nodded smoothly, his gaze locking on her stuffed backpack.

  “Where are you off to, Miss Bennett?”

  She followed his motion to the heavy bag she’d placed on the floor in front of her. “I’m going to stay with my mother for a few days.”

  “Where does your mother live?”

  “Down town. Lower east side.”

  At that, he nodded. “Yes. This is about what’s happened at Washington Memorial.”

  Chloe let out a deep breath. “I’d be happy to cooperate any way I can and tell you what I know.”

  “Good.” Detective Sullivan’s craggy face split into an uneven grin and he looked back to the other officers. He scratched at hi
s meager beard and turned to face her, pulling some papers from his jacket. “Ms. Bennett, we have a warrant to search the premises. My officer will take you down to the station, where we’ll have a little chat”

  Chloe felt her heart grind to a skidding halt. She replayed what Detective Sullivan had just said, but her sluggish brain kept convincing her head that she had heard wrong. Warrant? To search her apartment? What could they possibly expect to find? Why would they even need to search her apartment?

  Chloe stared open-mouthed at the detective, then finally convinced her brain to function and her tongue to follow suit.

  “What are you talking about? Why do you need to search my apartment? Am I a suspect?”

  Detective Sullivan gave her a friendly smile and shook his head. “We are checking out all possibilities, Ms. Bennett. In an investigation like this, we scrutinize everything. We may find something that may give us a clue or help us find the suspect.”

  “But…but I have nothing here! This is crazy!”

  He shot her a shrewd look. “Are you concerned that we may find something?”

  “Of course not!”

  “Then we don’t have a problem. A few minutes ago you said you’d cooperate in any way you can.”

  The detective’s dark gaze steadily held hers. Chloe didn’t like the look he was giving her, no matter how friendly he pretended to be. She certainly didn’t like them going through her apartment, but what choice did she have? She had nothing to hide, and to protest would only make her seem guilty. She’d meant what she’d said about cooperating with the investigation. She intended to answer whatever questions he had. Chloe inhaled a stuttering breath and tried to stay calm, her shaky fingers fluttering to her throat. Two of the three officers were now moving around her apartment, shifting and examining her belongings. Chloe’s gaze returned to the detective now taking long-legged steps towards her.

  “Don’t worry, everything will remain as is. You won’t even know we were here.”

  Chloe’s face wrinkled, her anxiety spiking as she watched the officers methodically move from one area to the next.