Dead On Arrival

by Lori Avocato

  Real flowers.

  Real flowers? Dano had real flowers in his house? Man. This was almost creepy. I turned to see him standing in the doorway. Whoops.

  “Hey,” I mumbled.

  He nodded. “I’m beat. Going up to bed. Remember, not too close when you annoy the hell out of me.”

  I smiled. “Um, Dan. These flowers are beautiful. Did you arrange them?” Now if there was one thing I just knew ER Dano would not want to talk about, it would be flowers.

  But he looked at them and said, “My therapist had me take a freaking course in floral arrangement.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, right. Really. Did you do them?”

  He walked over to them and poignantly took a brown petal from a rose much like he’d done outside. “My old lady had a greenhouse. She taught my sister, and I used to watch-as a kid. And, the therapist part is true.” He turned and looked past me as if his mom and maybe sister were in the doorway. “Helps. They help.” With that he walked out of the room and up the staircase.

  I stood there and thought, I’ll bet it does. Anything to take his mind off the daily tragedies of life that ER and the crew of TLC faced.

  My eyelids fluttered. The annoying buzzing tickled my ears, and I opened one eye to look at the digital clock on the bedside table. Midnight. Geez. I thought it was time to get up for work. I turned over and shut my eyes-then realized this wasn’t my bed.

  I sat bolt upright and I looked around the old Victorian room where I’d been sleeping. Oh, right. D-day. Time to take my life into my hands and check on Dano. I’d peeked in on him just before I’d gone to sleep myself, but he’d been awake and growled the date and time as I’d said good night.

  As I rolled out of bed and slipped on my shoes, I had to smile. I’m sure he was fine, since his attitude never adjusted one second.

  When I padded down the short hallway, I noticed light coming from under his door. Hmm. Maybe Dano couldn’t sleep and was up reading. I slowly eased the door open despite the squeaking sound the old thing made.

  Dano was fast asleep. The Tiffany lamp on his bedside table was still lit. Oh well. Guess he dozed off and forgot to shut it off. I only hoped he hadn’t gotten too tired because of the head injury. Purposely I walked to the edge of the bed, reminding myself of my nursing days. It almost felt as if I were making my rounds on the unit where I used to work.

  “Ah. No. No!” Dano mumbled.

  “Are you-” I started to say until I realized he was sound asleep.

  Dano talked in his sleep. But the thing was, he sounded disturbed by something. Suddenly he lashed out with a left jab.

  I stepped back. Geez! He could have knocked me out with that one. I remembered what he’d said about not getting close. Dano must have known that he was a restless sleeper. A very restless sleeper.

  He tossed and turned, still mumbling, so I got as close as I could, thinking I could move back fast if need be, and said, “Dano. Dan, it’s Pauline.”

  I stepped back as Dano suddenly sat upright.

  “Dan?” I asked.

  But he merely looked my way in a glassy stare. Not a word, and he was out of bed and walking toward the door. Dressed in black boxers and no tee shirt, Dano looked hunky, but when I realized he was sleepwalking, I had other things on my mind other than how hot he looked.

  What should I do?

  My sister Mary had a child who walked in his sleep and the doctor had told her never to try and wake him. Dano was out the door already! So I hurried to follow him but found him standing in the hallway, rubbing his head as if in pain.

  “No. No. I should have. I should have given the epi. She died because of…” His eyes locked on me. He paused, blinked. “What the hell?”

  Dano had woken himself up with some nightmare that sounded like an ambulance run gone bad. It wasn’t any that I’d been on with him, as I didn’t remember a patient needing epinephrine. No. Dano must have relived a case from the past.

  Standing there, looking at this hunk of a guy appearing so confused and upset, I had to wonder how long it had taken for him to burn out from such a stressful job.

  Soon enough to commit fraud for money?

  “I’m fine,” he growled and headed into his room.

  When I went to the doorway, he was already under the sheets with eyes shut. “Good,” I said.

  “Thursday. It’s freaking Thursday, Nightingale. Go to sleep.”

  I nodded and mumbled, “Technically, it’s already Friday.”

  “Semantics,” he said, and I knew his head was fine.

  But what demons did ER Dano face on a nightly basis?

  I tossed and turned in the bed with the too-soft mattress, knowing that I couldn’t fall into a deep sleep, or I might not get up to check on Dano. Then again, I also knew he might show up at my doorway in a sleepwalking state.

  That one kept me awake the longest.

  But I reminded myself that I worked tomorrow, or later today, and had to get some rest or not be in any shape to assess or treat patients. With my luck, I’d get a helicopter run.

  “Aye!”

  I flew up to the sound of shouting coming from ER Dano’s room. Damn! Thank goodness I’d had the common sense to wear real clothes and not pajamas. I jumped out of bed and ran down the hallway.

  He wasn’t up but was flailing back and forth in the bed, arms swinging as if in a fight, and pillows flying.

  “Oomph!” One hit me in the stomach and, if it were heavier, it would have knocked me over. As it was, it knocked the wind out of me. The damn feather pillow weighed more than Spanky!

  Dano continued on until I could no longer stand watching. I cautiously stepped forward, remembering how the patient had hit him today. If I got knocked out, I’d be no good to Dano.

  “Hey. Dan. I’m here. It’s all right. You’re dreaming,” I said in the softest yet clearest voice I could manage. Enough to wake him up, yet quiet enough not to startle him.

  I knew I had to rescue ER Dano from his dreams, his nightmares…himself.

  I got close enough to touch his arm, all the while using soft words to calm him down. I grabbed it until he quieted and stopped fighting me.

  As if a switch turned him off, he stopped immediately, looked me in the eyes and shut his.

  He was awake.

  I sat on the edge of the bed and said, “You’re all right now. It was only a dream.”

  His opened his eyes again. “A dream? It was a freaking nightmare, Nightingale. A nightmare. A nightmare that comes each time I go to sleep.”

  Not being able to help myself, I sat on the edge of the bed, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and hugging him to my chest.

  Dano was apparently fine as far as the head injury was concerned, but his mental-health status was in question as long as he worked his job, tried to save lives and sometimes lost them.

  He moved closer to me, his head pressed against my chest, and I tightened my arms around him. It seemed like hours that we lay there, me trying to comfort him yet knowing that I couldn’t do anything to release the demons from his memory.

  I brushed his hair back behind his ears and he looked up at me. Not sure exactly what happened next, but knowing his head was fine, I gave in to his lips when they touched mine.

  And we kissed as if starving for each other.

  “I’m all right. Just a nightly occurrence, Nightingale. I’m all right,” he repeated.

  I returned his kisses, and with my lips pressed against his cheek managed to say, “I know you are fine. I’m glad.”

  With one swift motion he’d reversed our positions, and now I was lying next to him, his arms straddling mine, and his lips covering mine-and it felt so good.

  Dano slid his hand beneath my top, running his hands across my breasts-and I was so glad I could never sleep with a bra on. When he touched my hardened nipples, I moaned.

  He then lifted my top over my head and the last coherent thought that I had was, we are two adults. Two consenting adults, sex was a natural desi
re and…oh, man, did I want to consent to ER Dano.

  So I did.

  Since we both needed some semblance of sleep, I went back to the guest room, telling myself I’d be able to sleep. Ha! After such a pleasurable ride, I could barely shut my eyes without reliving parts of it-no, all of it.

  This was going to be a futile effort, I told myself, until I felt my eyelids close.

  When I opened my eyes to the sound of the shower running, it again took several seconds to orient myself to my surroundings.

  ER Dano’s guest bedroom.

  Yikes. Was that a fantastic dream that I’d had or the real thing? I turned over, hugged the pillow and smiled.

  Then I looked at the alarm clock and groaned. Damn. A half hour to get to work, so I jumped up and grabbed my makeup kit. I’d at least get my teeth brushed in the downstairs bathroom until he was done with the shower. Ignoring the fact that I could join him…but knowing there wasn’t time, I hurried out-and told myself to stop those kinds of thoughts.

  Thank goodness the stairs were carpeted, as I’d forgotten to shove on my clogs and hated walking barefoot. At the bottom of the stairs, I stopped at the end table and noticed myself in the mirror.

  Raccoon eyes. Smudged mascara. Great. Did I look like this last night when…? Naw. Besides, it was dark. Still, I couldn’t go to work like this, so I reached into my bag for a tissue. Stella Sokol would be shaking her head right now. No tissue. Here I’d broken one of her golden bring-a-tissue, go-to-the-bathroom, and make-sure-to-wear-clean-underwear rules.

  I chuckled, as I’d often wondered if the ER staff really cared or noticed anyone’s clean undies. Still in the afterglow of last night, I walked much lighter, nearly prancing, and headed into the bathroom. No tissues there either. Apparently ER Dano’s mom did not practice the same words of wisdom as Stella Sokol.

  Laughing, I walked into the kitchen to look around, as there wasn’t even toilet tissue in the bathroom. Despite the Victorian setting, this was still a guy’s house. On the counter was a tissue box-empty.

  “Damn.” There might be some in the cabinet above, so I opened it-to a pile of papers that cascaded out at me.

  I shook my head and started to grab them to shove back in when the words caught my eye. TLC. Overcharge. Carry deceased. The fake list of EMT and paramedic’s names were listed as receiving cash from the undertakers, and no real names were given.

  My eyes blurred. I didn’t need to read any further.

  ER Dano had the papers that proved the fraud at Tender Loving Care Land and Air so nonchalantly piled up in his kitchen cabinet-as if he didn’t give a care in the world about them.

  Dano was involved in the fraud.

  Nineteen

  After my “find” at ER Dano’s house, and knowing he was physically all right-after he insisted as much-I had showered, dressed and headed off to work, where the first thing I did, even before my morning tea, was to seek out Jagger. I found him sipping his coffee in the parking lot.

  Jagger leaned back on the hood of his SUV. When I told him about my discovery and that I had been there to nurse Dano, he said, “Interesting.”

  “Interesting? That’s all you’ve got? Interesting?” I leaned against the fender, as my lack of sleep was already taking a toll on me. “Come on, Jagger. Obviously ER Dano is involved. He was hiding evidence in his kitchen cabinets!” And damn, how I hated that. I mean the sex was great (great!) and I really cared for him-however, those words would never pass my lips to Jagger’s ears.

  “If you talk a bit louder, all the employees will be able to hear,” he said.

  I curled my lips. “I’m just so pissed.” I was really pissed at fate. Here I find a hot guy I liked, who seemed to like me, and he’s a criminal. I looked up to the clouds and shook my head. Saint Theresa must have been very busy last night and my “needs” didn’t qualify for prayer answering.

  Jagger said, “Look, you don’t have any proof of why they were there. We need that.”

  I bit my lips. “Are you saying you don’t think Dano is guilty? That he’s not covering up the fraud?” Please. Please say it because I believe whatever you say since it’s always true.

  But Jagger merely responded, “I’m saying we need proof. Can’t close a case on assumptions. Right ones or wrong ones.” He looked past me. “Here he comes now. You’ll need to get into his house again tonight and find out more. I’ll go with you.”

  “No!” I said way too loudly. He glared at me. “No need. I can handle Dano. You maybe should go see if Pansy’s any more alert.”

  Suddenly I wished I could have swallowed those words.

  Had I really just given Jagger an assignment? An order? Or something close to being an order?

  Yikes!

  He looked at me, got up off the car and walked away.

  I watched his butt moving from side to side as he swaggered off, and I didn’t even get hot. Okay, I did get a wee bit warm.

  I had way too much on my mind between fraud and getting back to ER Dano’s house, where who knew what would happen…again.

  I hoped to hell that I wouldn’t get hot at some inopportune time.

  Heading for the entrance I wondered if Jagger had agreed to my “order,” or would he show up tonight?

  Dano smiled at me as we poured ourselves the usual morning drinks. The tea bags at TLC always tasted a bit stale, but I chalked that up to cheap management.

  “Any word on Pansy?” I asked Dano.

  He shook his head and winced.

  “You shouldn’t move like that.” I sipped my tea and then I winced. Really stale.

  “Damn it. I’m fine. Just the external shit hurts when I move too much. No mental problems, Nightingale.” He leaned closer. “But thanks for last night,” he said way too loudly.

  Everyone in the room gave a collective stare!

  I muttered, “Last night…we…Dano…ER Dano…Dan…I…” After a fast sip, which now tasted delicious, I said firmly, “You all know I had to wake him up to check his pupils and sanity.” I turned to walk out of the room and over my shoulder said, “That last part is still in question.”

  The room roared.

  As I reached the door I heard Dano growl-in an amazingly sensual way.

  In order to get away from the embarrassment, I had headed for Lilla’s desk.

  She sat there filing her nails, and I knew that all her work was already done and now her day would consist of answering the phone, directing visitors and snooping. Lilla was a dream!

  “Hey,” I said, sitting down opposite her. “What’s going on?”

  “Morning, chéri.” She leaned closer and smiled. Very sexy, but I knew it wasn’t as if she were flirting with me. Nope. It was more as if she knew something.

  “What? What’s going on? You have some info?” I set my tea on the edge of her desk.

  “No, but you do.”

  “Hmm? What do you mean, Lilla?”

  With her sexy smile switching to a sexy grin, she whispered, “I see you have made love.”

  I blinked. Had to. Maybe her accent was confusing me, so I chuckled. “This is funny. I thought you just said I’d had sex-”

  Waving a bright red polished handful of long nails in the air, she said, “You heard correctly, my chéri. Which one?”

  “Huh?”

  “Dano or Jagger?”

  I choked on nothing. My hands, sans any long nails or bordello polish, flailed in the air, sending my tea mug spilling over. “Geez! Sorry!”

  Lilla laughed, pulled several tissues from her container and said, “Relax. It only shows to women like moi, who are astute in those matters.”

  “Oh, yeah. That makes me feel much better.” I took some tissue and wiped the desk. Luckily the mug had only been half full and there were no papers nearby to get soaked. The closest one only got a beige splash of a stain. “Sorry.” I picked it up and couldn’t help but glance at it. Oh, boy. I was correct.

  Dano had a similar run sheet to this one-only a few of the medicati
on charges were different-and I could swear the date, times and names were the same. I explained what I’d found to Lilla, and she showed me all the papers that recently had come in to be filed.

  One more was the same. Identical information except for the final numbers-so one had to have been doctored.

  “I have to go back to Dano’s tonight-”

  Before I could finish, Lilla was up and wiping vigorously at my scrub’s top, which wasn’t even wet.

  “What are you-” I asked.

  “Don’t worry, chéri, that will come out. You use some…”

  I know she kept talking, kinda wildly actually, but then I looked up to see a reflection in the glass partition behind Lilla’s desk.

  “That’d be okay with Dano,” ER Dano said, standing behind me, “but he wonders what for.”

  Oh, no! I smiled, Lilla wiped and then I said, “We had a date, silly, or did you forget?”

  Thank goodness for Lilla’s fast actions and my quick mind!

  I slowly turned around, pushed Lilla’s hand away because she was so flustered she kept wiping at nothing, and I didn’t want Dano to notice. “Oh, hey. I’ll bring dinner. How’s that? Sure. I’ll bring the eats.”

  That implied I’d cook it, but before I could clarify it’d be takeout, Dano agreed and hurried past us.

  I flopped backward in my chair and said, “I have to call my mother to make my dinner.”

  Lilla laughed, but I wasn’t feeling very jovial.

  I sat in the back of #456 while Buzz drove at top speed. Premature labor. That was the call, and I prayed the baby would calm down and decide a Friday was not a good day to be born. Specifically this Friday.

  At least I’d had some time to call Stella Sokol before we got the call. It took several minutes to clarify that I didn’t have time to stay and eat, but would she make me a take-out dinner for two? Mom made the same menu on the same day of the week forever. Even before I was born. That’s how far back forever went.