Lincoln Hospital (Trauma #1)

by Cassia Brightmore

  “You just gotta stay focused and positive and keep your eye on the prize. Me, I can just feel it—today’s the day, you’ll see.” Clarence explained without really explaining. Sabine rolled her eyes behind his back and the three continued working in silence for several minutes.

  “I bet that asswipe, Dick gets booted from the program before he even gets a chance to cut,” Sabine said, looping her last stitch and cutting the string. “Bam. Cross stitch in the bag, bitches.”

  Athena giggled and went back to concentrating on practicing the new technique she was trying to master. If her big shot did come up, she wanted to be ready; no matter what. All three of their pagers went off at once before she could respond and glancing at hers, she saw she was being paged to the ER. A quick look at Sabine and Clarence told her that their pages were the same, which could only mean one thing. A trauma was coming in. Dropping their utensils, they hit the door at a run, eagerness and anticipation spurring them forward. Getting there first meant potentially getting assigned to a resident or attending that might end up in surgery, which would give them a chance at scrubbing in with them. Now that there were potential surgeries on the line, friendships were tossed aside as the three of them fought for the lead on their sprint to the emergency room.

  Webster was waiting for them when they arrived and ordered them into the white trauma gowns that fit over their scrub uniforms. “There was a building collapse over on 32nd. We don’t know how many injured yet but it’s serious and we need all hands on deck. This is it,” she turned to face them, her red hair swishing around her shoulders as she ushered them to the trauma entrance doors. “This is the biggest shot you’ll have at proving you’re not complete imbeciles and can be useful as doctors. Don’t make me regret bringing you all down here,” she raised her voice so that Bianca, Oscar and Dick who’d just joined them could hear.

  Two ambulances pulled into the waiting bays at once, both sirens blaring. Paramedics leaped out, shouting out reports and rushing inside with the doctors that eagerly stepped forward to jump on the cases. Feeling intimidated, Athena hung back, unsure of herself. A few more arrivals and Sabine, Dick and Oscar had patients and were heading inside to better assess and treat the victims of the building collapse.

  “You’ll never learn anything dancing from foot to foot out here,” a voice from behind told her. She knew from the light shivers that travelled down her spine who it was. His presence sent awareness tingling through her that she desperately tried to ignore. Her reaction to him was an unwanted distraction. The man was affecting her more than he should.

  “I know. I just...well, the next one is mine. I was waiting—” Cian cut her off before she could say any more.

  “Waiting doesn’t do anyone any good, Payne,” he leaned in closer, noting her sharp intake of breath and the way her olive eyes lit up. “If you see something you want, you’ve got to take it.” Silence stretched between them as she stared up at him, chest heaving as her breath came in fast little beats. Are we still talking about traumas? she wondered to herself, the sneaking suspicion that their conversation had taken a turn into something more niggling at the back of her mind.

  The next ambulance pulled in before she could pull together a reply, not that she was sure her brain was even functioning enough to form coherent words. Cian’s dark eyes and sexy smirk were permanently burned in her memory. The man was too drool-worthy for his own good. She gave herself a small shake, ignoring the chuckle she heard behind her at her behavior, and snapped on a pair of gloves. The paramedic burst out of the ambulance, her right hand pumping hard on the oxygen mask fitted over a woman’s mouth and shouting out information as they all rushed inside.

  “Female victim, Samantha Chambers, thirty-two years old. Was crushed in the first wave of the collapse, rescue workers almost didn’t find her. Several broken bones, severe damage to the chest area and we lost her in the bus on the way here. Got her back just as we pulled in. Pulse is holding strong now at sixty; but it was touch and go there for a minute.” Cian nodded and then ordered her taken to trauma room two. Athena hung back, unsure if she should follow.

  “You with me, Payne?” he called over his shoulder, not glancing her way. Excitement bubbled through her and she quickly jogged to catch up.

  “Yes, sir. I’m with you. Are you worried about internal bleeding?” she asked.

  “It’s likely. I’m more worried about the stress her heart took under that concrete.” Jenson, one of the newer residents was already in the room, calling out medications and barking orders at the nurses. Cian took over when he stepped in.

  “Book a CT and let’s see what’s going on under there.” He walked over to lean over Samantha’s head. “Ms. Chambers, can you hear me?” her head was strapped down to the backboard to keep her still, but her eyes were wide with shock and fright.

  “Yes. Yes, the building! Oh, God. The screaming. Did everyone make it out? Am I going to be okay? I can’t feel my body at all, is my body still there?” she tried to glance down but was unable to due to the restraints. “I’m missing aren’t I? Oh, God, oh, God.” The alarms on the monitors blared as Samantha’s eyes rolled back in her head and her body began to quake.

  “She’s seizing!” Athena yelled out and everyone rushed around at once, pumping medications and talking to each other at once.

  “Call and book an OR now,” Cian ordered Athena.

  “Yes, Dr. O’Reilly,” she replied, moving to do just that.

  “And then get back here, you’re scrubbing in.”

  Thrilled, she dashed through the ER to the nurses’ desk and snatched up the phone, securing the OR as ordered. Looking around, the department was alive with screams and wails of the injured, crying from visitors as they were reunited with missing loved ones and doctors giving orders to nurses and interns alike. There was nothing like the feeling of pride that went through her for being a part of something so magnificent. The power to save lives, to heal, to help people when they needed it most. That’s what she had now. What she was a part of. A warrior in a pair of scrubs and gloves, she was determined to keep pushing herself until she became the best of the best. A doctor that families trusted and colleagues respected. For now, there was a young woman in there that was fighting for her life and it was her job to go and make sure they saved it.

  Some ten minutes later, they were scrubbed and in the OR, ready to begin. She hung back at Cian’s elbow, off to the right so that she could still observe everything that he did. When the cut area was prepped, he shifted his feet and called out for a scalpel. Placing the blade to her skin, he suddenly stopped and stepped back.

  “Payne.”

  Payne? That was her name.

  “Um, sir?”

  “Get over here. You’re making the first incision.” Gasps echoed around the room as his words sunk in. Never before had Dr. O’Reilly handed over the knife. For him to allow someone else to make the first incision was unheard of, especially an intern. Dumbfounded, Athena stayed rooted to the spot, unsure if she’d actually heard him correctly.

  “Move it, Payne. We don’t have time to waste here.”

  She shuffled forward and stood to Cian’s left, looking at him with questions in her eyes. He handed her the scalpel and with his hand on top of hers, guided her to the correct starting place on Samantha’s chest.

  “You’re going to press down here. Skin is tough, so you need to apply a little bit of pressure, but not a lot. Just enough to break through. Keep your hand steady and move in a horizontal line to here,” he indicated where she needed to stop with his other hand. “You’ve been practicing in the labs, correct?”

  “Yes, Dr. O’Reilly. Everyday.”

  “Good. That’s good. Well, Payne, it’s time to take the training wheels off, you ready?” She nodded profusely, more ready than anything ever in her life. With his hand lightly on top of hers, she pressed down with the scalpel exactly how he’d instructed and then slowly moved it down. Blood immediately sprang to the surface and coated both
their fingers as she completed the first cut of her career.

  Looking up at him for approval, something passed between them in the clash of her olive eyes to his dark. Standing in a room where life met death, both their hands coated in blood; it was a powerful moment. He’d just given her something she’d always remember, her first cut as a surgeon. No words were exchanged between them, yet their connection grew in just those few seconds.

  “Good work,” he muttered and indicated for her to step back as he took over. Athena complied and after putting the scalpel in the sterile container, moved to the side to give herself a few moments to find her composure. She was in trouble where he was concerned. Deep fucking trouble.

  “I can’t fucking believe it!” Sabine slammed her sandwich down on the table before taking her seat beside Athena. “Not only did you get in the OR before me, you got your first cut before me too! Who do I have to fuck around here to get some goddamn recognition?”

  “That’s not how it works, Sabine, you know that. We just have to wait for that right opportunity to come along, I guess. Who knew that Clarence would actually be right and today something big would happen to get a few of us in the OR. I just never thought it would be Cian that would give me my first—”

  “Wait just a fucking minute! Cian?! He’s the reason you got your first cut today? Jesus fuck, your pussy power knows no bounds, girl! He actually gave you the scalpel? Fuck me, I need to spend more time with that man.”

  “Ugh, that’s not how it happened. I don’t even know how it happened. He was just there, encouraging me and the next thing I knew, I was cutting for the first time. As much as I’m grateful he gave me the chance, there’s something about him, Sab. Something off. There’s a darkness in him and I’m not sure what to think about that.”

  Frustrated that her best friend was making light of a situation that truly had her conflicted, Athena stood up and tossed her remaining soup in the trash; her appetite gone. She knew Sabine was only teasing about her ‘pussy power’, but it didn’t make it any easier of a pill to swallow. The rumors would begin to fly again like they had been since her first encounter with Cian, she had no doubt about that.

  “I know that isn’t how it happened, Thene. I’m just giving you shit. I’m jealous as fuck and dying for you to move things along with Mr. Dark and Dangerous.”

  “There’s nothing to move along. He’s my boss. He’s your boss. He’s our boss’s boss. I want him to teach me to be the best cardiothoracic surgeon I can be...that’s all I want from him.”

  “Well anyone with eyeballs can see that’s not all he wants from you. Mark my words, Athena, he’s coming for you.”

  THE MOST DIFFICULT part of the hunt was choosing his victims. As despicable as it was, there were hundreds of criminals who escaped punishments for their crimes every day. His wife’s murderers were among that group and it was an injustice that burned in Cian’s blood with every breath he took. When he re-awakened in the hospital after finding her body, he’d been enraged to find out that the two fuckers that stole his beautiful wife from him had gotten away. Despite the investigation and the large reward he’d offered, the police never apprehended them. They got away with their crime just as so many others did. It was his mission to one day find them and get them both on his table; he’d relish in the kill and sending them to the hell they deserved. Flipping open his notebook, he reviewed the information on their next victim.

  Lana Fraser, age 27

  906 Carver, Queens

  Former nurse at Lincoln Hospital

  Accused of overdosing and poisoning patients. Arrested on charges of assault to a body on

  deceased patients. Suspected in the suspicious deaths of over fifty patients. Released on

  insufficient amount of evidence after her arrest

  He remembered Lana, a snotty, dark-haired cunt that rubbed almost everyone in the hospital the wrong way. She looked down her nose at patients, residents, even attendings’. Her smartass attitude was not appreciated and definitely earned her more than one enemy. She upset families almost every shift, the complaints about her a mile long. He recalled one family in particular that just wanted their mother to have a sip of water after having a test and drinking that horrible tasting dye. She refused to call the doctor and have the patient taken off the nothing by mouth order, ignoring the family when they explained they had been told water would be fine for her to have after the test. The family was in a state of shock after just learning their mother had stage four cancer, when they were only in hospital for routine tests. The complete lack of compassion Lana showed was enough to have the youngest daughter, a little firecracker, take the issue all the way to the nurse manager on the floor. It was her complaints about Lana’s behavior and treatment of other patients that finally had the hospital looking at her more closely and discovering what she’d done.

  She’d been immediately fired and the police had been informed, but without hard evidence, it was nearly impossible to get the D.A.’s office to file charges. In the end, Lana was set free, but the hospital maintained its position on firing her. A fact that she was now suing them over on the grounds of wrongful dismissal.

  Tonight, she would finally answer for her crimes, he would show her no mercy and she’d know what it was like to be on the receiving end of no compassion. Everything was set and ready to go. He’d created an online dating profile after stalking her Facebook page and discovering that she used one of those sites to look for men. It was sickeningly easy the way he’d been able to make a fake profile and used it to connect with her. If he ever had a daughter, he’d make damn sure—

  The deep stabbing pain at his innocent thought sliced through him. Having a daughter wasn’t something he had to worry about now, not since...not since Hannah had been murdered. Her face swam before his eyes and the agony at recalling her smile and the way she used to laugh just about broke him.

  Furious with himself for letting her memory slip through the walls he had up, he slammed his notebook closed and headed to his bathroom to shower and get ready to pick up the package and get to the hospital. It was a change of rotation in shifts, so they’d be starting their day with Lana’s disposal, instead of ending it like usual. This would be the first time of them trying this on the new schedule and everything had to be perfect to avoid any problems. He was keyed up, antsy and ready to get started, the need to kill was slowly eating him alive from the inside out.

  Keeping up his facade was starting to wear on him. Cian was not a man used to denying himself any of his wants and needs. And what he wanted, what he craved, was to strip away the layers of his humanity; the disguise of profession. The monster within was clawing at him from the inside, desperate to be unleashed.

  Hunt.

  Maim.

  Kill.

  The bitch was going to suffer before she met her end.

  A few hours later, Cian sat parked in his car across from the pub where he’d arranged to meet Lana. He could see her seated at a table by herself through one of the big windows. Every now and then she checked her watch, a telltale sign to everyone in the bar that she’d been stood up. Chuckling, he took a moment to enjoy the extra little bit of torture he was inflicting on her. No woman wanted to be stood up and he felt a twinge of pity for the poor waitress that had to suffer her wrath every time she stopped by the table to check on Lana.

  When she finally gave up and stepped out of the bar, it was time for Cian to make his move. He climbed out of the car and quickened his pace to catch up with her. When he was a foot behind, he slipped the needle from his pocket and reaching her side, smoothly slid it into her bare arm. After a few steps, she began to slump down and Cian immediately put his arm around her to prop her up into his side. A few curious onlookers stopped to glance their way, but he flashed a dazzling smile and put them at ease.

  “My girlfriend’s had a bit too much tonight, time for me to put her to bed, I think. These damned girl’s nights out,” he laughed, giving off the attitude of a caring boyfrie
nd. A few of the men shared knowing glances.

  “You need a hand with her, man?”

  “Nah. I got it. Thanks though, I appreciate it. Come on, sweets. Let’s get you home.” He steered Lana in the direction of his car and once she was seated safely in his passenger seat, a devious grin spread across his face. That had been way too fucking easy. Lana moaned and her head lolled on her shoulder, giving the impression to anyone that passed them that she was asleep. Pleased with himself, Cian pulled away from the curb and headed in the direction of the hospital. At the rendezvous point, he steered off the road and into an abandoned parking lot. Reynolds was waiting there with his car and if he’d followed instructions, it would be lined with plastic and ready to go.

  He cut the engine and rounded the hood to the passenger side to pull Lana out and dump her unceremoniously onto the asphalt. Reynolds handed him the knife without a word and Cian lifted Lana’s head up, trying to bring her around. When he was unsuccessful, he shrugged and in one powerful thrust, stabbed her in the gut. Lana grunted but otherwise made no other movements.

  “That outta get things rolling,” Cian commented and together he and Reynolds lifted her and put her in Reynolds’ car.

  “Now, just as we discussed. Dump her a few feet from the entrance and I’ll come out and find her while you circle back and come in the hospital from the other side. Patricia and Lorna should have everything set in the OR, I’ll text now and be sure.”

  “I got it. See you there in ten.”

  Cian pulled out his phone and sent a quick message to Patricia. Ever since the meeting they’d had at his apartment a few weeks ago regarding the vigilante reports on the news, he was more sure than ever that it wasn’t a member of his team that was leaking information. Either Rae Kelley was just really fucking intuitive, which was highly unlikely, or someone knew their secret. Now the question was, why weren’t they saying anything?