Page 85 of Bite the Bullet

“I just heard what happened.” His eyes scanned my body worriedly, looking for any signs of trauma.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t do that,” he snapped. “You were attacked here and then Smith grabbed you hard enough to leave bruises?”

His voice boomed through the ER. Everyone stopped and stared at us, which was bad enough, but it also drew the attention of Denise. I knew she was going to be trouble the moment she saw Pete with me.

“Can we not do this here?” I asked quietly, urging him with my voice to let it go.

“We’re going to do this now. Why didn’t you call me?”

“Nurse West,” Denise bit out, giving me a dirty look. “Can you please restrict your personal relationships to outside the hospital?”

“I’m very sorry?—”

“No, you’re not sorry,” Pete snapped. He turned to Denise, clearly in cop mode. “Are you aware that someone attacked one of your staff in the break room?”

“No, and I wouldn’t be aware unless she told someone.”

“She told the police,” Pete spat.

“And how was I supposed to know that? Besides, with this one, it’s more likely that she made it up.”

“This was why I didn’t want to discuss this here,” I hissed.

“You were attacked,” Pete said slowly. “You should have reported it to your boss.”

“And you should mind your own business,” I snapped. “This is my job. You can’t come barging in here, demanding that I give you answers when I’m trying to work.”

“If I don’t do it, who will?”

“Sir, you need to leave,” Denise said snidely. “You’re distracting my staff and impeding our work.”

“I’m here on official police business,” Pete said. “I need to see the cameras from yesterday in the hallway outside the locker room.”

Denise shot him a sarcastic smile. “Of course. Will there be anything else?”

“Yes, and I’ll let you know when I need it.”

He gave me a look that said this conversation was far from over, then followed Denise down the hall. With that out of the way, I got back to work, but it was impossible to concentrate, knowing that he was in the hospital on a crusade for me.

I was able to spend an entire hour free of Pete. I spent the time checking on patients and making notations in records. But when I returned to the nurse’s station, he was waiting for me, and Denise didn’t look too pleased.

“You need to come with me.”

“I’m busy,” I said angrily.

“We need you down at the station,” he said, his tone brooking no arguments.

With one look at Denise, I knew this would mean disciplinary action would soon be taken. Pete thought he was helping, but this could cost me my job.

“I’ve already called someone in to cover the rest of your shift,” she said, shoving out of her chair. “We’ll discuss this tomorrow,” she said in a low voice as she passed.

I didn’t say anything to Pete as I headed to the locker room to gather my things. He followed me the whole way, staring at me like I was the problem. He even stood outside the door, refusing to give me an ounce of privacy. It wasn’t until we were walking to his car that I finally snapped.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

“Yes, I found the person who attacked you.”

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