Page 56 of Nica
“You’re absolutely right,” Nica said, and she saw surprise flash across his face.“What happened to your fiancée is something that should never have happened.Melissa didn’t deserve to die.And I am truly sorry for your loss.But you’re still refusing to see the whole picture, to know there weretwovictims in that operating room that morning.You know what happened, and you are refusing to accept the truth.”
Banner went very still.“What did you say?”
“You heard me.”Nica leaned forward slightly, ignoring the sharp pain in her chest.“Gabe was drugged without his knowledge.Someone—and if you followed the investigation held by both the hospital and the California Medical Board, you know exactly who—slipped ketamine into his coffee before the surgery.Gabe was a victim, just like Melissa.”
“That’s a lie.”But Banner’s voice lacked conviction now.
“Is it?Did you even bother to read the full investigation report?The toxicology results?The testimony from the anesthesiologist who stopped the procedure the moment he realized something was wrong?The director of nursing who reported the findings of the OR nurses present in the operating room?”Nica’s voice gained strength as she spoke, fueled by anger and determination.“Or did you just latch onto the first part—the part where Gabe was found to have drugs in his system—and stop reading?”
Banner’s jaw worked silently for a moment.“He was responsible—”
“He was drugged by someone else!Dr.Marcus Richardson, a man who took shortcuts and was lazy with his records and with his procedures.Made mistakes and blamed others.He wanted a scapegoat, and because Gabe was the new man at the practice, he thought he could sabotage Gabe, tarnish his image and maybe get him fired from the practice.Dr.Richardson drugged Gabe’s coffee before he went in to operate on Melissa.If you’d read the reports, you’d know there was a witness who saw him do it.The California Medical Board cleared my husband of all charges.The hospital’s internal investigation found no fault with his actions once they realized what had happened.”Nica’s chest was burning now, but she pushed through it.“Gabe lost his career, his reputation, everything he’d worked for his entire life.He left the state, left everything behind, and came to Shiloh Springs to start over.But that wasn’t enough for you, was it?”
“Melissa is dead.”Banner’s voice cracked slightly.“Nothing will change that.”
“Yes, she is.And I’m sorry for that—I truly am.Losing someone you love is devastating.But destroying an innocent man won’t bring her back.It won’t make your pain go away.It just creates more pain, more victims.”
“You don’t understand—”
“I understand perfectly.”Nica cut him off.“You’re so eaten up with grief and guilt that you can’t think straight.You’ve allowed it to guide all your actions from the moment you lost Melissa.Allowed the hate to build until it consumed you, leaving you hollow inside.You need someone to blame because the alternative—accepting that sometimes bad things happen to good people for no reason at all—is too hard to bear.”
Banner’s face contorted with rage.“You don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“Don’t I?”Nica’s voice softened slightly.She knew she’d poked and prodded enough.It was time to change tactics.“Tell me about her.Tell me about Melissa.”
The request seemed to catch Banner off guard.For a moment, his mask slipped, and she saw the raw pain underneath.“She was…she was my everything.We were supposed to get married right after the surgery.She had the dress picked out, the flowers, everything planned.”
“She sounds wonderful,” Nica said genuinely.“How long were you together?”
“Three years.”Banner’s voice was barely above a whisper now.“I proposed on her birthday, and we started making plans.We were going to be a family.I was going to adopt her two children.”His voice caught at the mention of Melissa’s kids, and he took a deep breath before continuing.“She got sick.The gallbladder attacks were so bad she couldn’t even stand up straight.The surgery was supposed to be routine, simple.She was supposed to come home the next day.”
“But something went wrong during the surgery,” Nica prompted gently.
“She had a reaction to the anesthesia.The anesthesiologist said they did everything right, that there was no way to predict it, but…”
“I know.Unlike you, I did read all the records you sent me.The problem with the anesthesia was corrected immediately.The issue was with the incisions.I understand Gabe was impaired, but the incisions were too deep, causing massive blood loss.Every effort was made to correct this, including calling in another surgeon.They tried everything, but they couldn’t save Melissa.And ever since you’ve blamed Gabe.He became the target for your anger.”
“He took drugs!He was high as a kite and still went into the operating room!”Banner exploded suddenly.“His reflexes were slowed, his judgment compromised.If he’d been operating at full capacity, maybe he would have caught the signs sooner, maybe—”
“Maybe nothing would have changed,” Nica interrupted firmly.
Banner stared at her, his chest heaving.“She bled to death.That’s all on your husband.”
“You’re right, Melissa bled to death.There was nothing that could be done to save her.But nobody knew Gabe had been drugged, including Gabe.Nobody noticed the signs he was impaired until it was too late.And that’s the point—if they couldn’t tell at the time, in the operating room—you cannot blame him.But instead of accepting that fact, you’ve let the loss eat at you like a cancer, until the only thing that made sense to you was vengeance.You needed to make Gabe pay, because that was the only thing that made any of it make sense in your mind.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.Gabe might have you fooled, like he fooled the hospital, twisted the facts until the medical board cleared him, but he is a monster.A murderer who took away the mother of two innocent children.Children I can no longer see.Can no longer read bedtime stories to.I lost not only the woman I loved but the children I loved too.All because of your husband.”
“And your answer was to spend months terrorizing an innocent man and his wife.You’ve had people stalk me, break into my home, had me shot—”
“The shooting was supposed to be a warning,” Banner said quickly.“You weren’t supposed to be hurt that badly.”
Nica knew deep in her gut that he was lying.He’d meant to kill her, but she’d play along, let him believe she was actually buying the lies he spewed.
“Oh, well, that makes it so much better,” Nica said acidly.“My lung thanks you for your restraint.”She shook her head, not sure she was getting through to him, but she had to try.At the very least, she had to stall, because maybe Dusty would wake up and get word to Gabe or Rafe.“I’m not sure your shooter got the message, because I’ve been assured the trajectory of the bullet was a kill shot.The only reason I’m not in the morgue is because I moved at the last second.”
Banner had the grace to look ashamed.“I never wanted—”
Another lie.
