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He didn’t seem very commanding just now. Fear dulled his normally bright blue eyes. His lost expression, combined with his messed-up hair and bruise on the side of his forehead, made him seem almost...fragile.
Kind of like Maddie after she’d been abandoned. Again.
She shook off the thought. Even a capable man like Dr. Spencer would be rattled after being assaulted by a lunatic in the mountains. Yet Dr. Spencer had been so worried about Gwen that he had managed to ignore his head injury long enough to successfully intubate her.
“Amazing,” she whispered to herself. Even if she didn’t particularly care for the doc’s overconfidence and bravado, she could definitely appreciate his skills. She hoped those skills wouldn’t be affected by his head injury.
She stepped outside into the misty rain and paced the hospital’s front walkway. Pulling her rain jacket closed in front, she struggled to forget the image of the doctor’s expression as he’d gripped her hand resting on his shoulder. As a paramedic, she recognized the expression—fear mixed with vulnerability—because she’d seen it on her patients’ faces.
Yet this was different. It was vulnerability, sure, but an edge of confusion dulled his eyes. She’d seen that look on Aunt Margaret’s face when Uncle Jack had suddenly died of a heart attack years ago. The same look had pinched Dr. Spencer’s forehead when he’d awakened from his nightmare calling out a name: Bobby. Maddie suspected Dr. Spencer had lost someone close to him and that emotional wound had yet to heal.
Aunt Margaret said the only thing that kept her going after her husband’s death was the support and love of family. Maddie glanced back at the hospital. Dr. Spencer had no family, at least none in Echo Mountain. Instead, he was surrounded by a hospital full of admirers, people who propped him up on a pedestal and adored him. They completely bought into the Dr. Charming act he performed every time he showed up for work.
Would they be able to see past their admiration and realize how scared he was? Would he let them see past his normally affable demeanor into the devastation brewing beneath the surface? Probably not, but Maddie had already been there, heard his cry for Bobby and saw the terrified look in his eyes.
She imagined that was how she looked when Dad had left, then Mom, and then Waylan.
Her cousin Bree pulled up in her SUV. Perfect timing. Maddie needed to snap out of her pensive mood.
Maddie started to reach for the SUV door, then let her hand drop to her side.
Bree rolled down the passenger side window. “Hey, what’s up?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Are you getting in?”
Something told her to go back inside and check on the doctor, even if he was snappy and asked her to leave again. Being there could help him feel safe, and she owed him that for what he did for Cassie. That’s all, there was nothing more to it.
“I’m sorry, but I think I’d better stay,” Maddie said.
“Are you sure? I mean, you’re here so much as it is,” Bree said.
“Yeah, I need to check on somebody.”
“You’ve really got to stop getting emotionally connected to your patients, sweetie. Boundaries, remember?”
“You’re right, but this one...” Maddie sighed. “It’s Dr. Spencer. I won’t be able to sleep unless I know he’s okay.”
“I heard some guy attacked him. But wait, you don’t even like Spence.”
“I know, but he helped Nate save Cassie last year and, well, he seems kind of broken.”
“Maddie,” her cousin said.
“What?”
“When are you gonna stop trying to fix people?”
“It’s my job, remember?” Maddie teased.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”
“This is different.”
“He’s got an entire hospital of people to take care of him.”
“They don’t know what’s really going on. Please don’t be upset with me. I’ll catch a ride with Rocky when he gets off his extra shift. I just—” She glanced at the hospital, and then back at her cousin. “You always say to follow your instincts.”
“It’s true.”
“Sorry I dragged you out here.”
“No need to apologize. Had to pick up something for Mom anyway.”
“Give her my love.”
“Will do.” Bree winked and pulled away.
Maddie felt a smile curl the corner of her lips. She had the best family in the world, even if her parents weren’t included on that list.
Maddie reentered the hospital and headed for imaging where they’d taken Dr. Spencer. For some reason she wanted to be there when he finished.
As she stepped into the elevator her phone vibrated and she glanced at a text from Rocky, fellow paramedic and rumored love interest. She was still a bit stunned about that assumption.
You okay? Heard rumors, Rocky wrote.
A-OK. No worries, she responded.
Heard the doc shot some guy.
“Really?” she muttered. Oh, how she wanted to share the truth with her friend, but she would not ignore a direct order from Chief Walsh. He must have his reasons for asking her to remain mute on the subject.
Grapevine’s been busy, she responded.
The elevator doors opened to the lower level and she glanced up.
Into a pitch-black hallway.
No lights, no emergency lights, nothing. Yet no alarms had gone off and everything was business as usual upstairs.
She stepped out of the elevator.
A crash echoed down the hall from the imaging room.
Maddie texted Rocky that there was trouble and to send security ASAP. Maybe she was overreacting—she hoped she was overreacting.
“Get away from me!” Dr. Spencer shouted.
Maddie snapped her penlight off her keychain and made her way down the hall. Maybe not such a good idea. She should wait for help to arrive. Surely it wouldn’t take security more than a few minutes to—
Another crash, then “Stop!”
She dropped to her knees and crawled toward the imaging area. The desperate tone of the doc’s voice drove her forward. As she edged closer, she took slow breaths to calm her racing pulse.
She turned the corner and aimed her penlight into the office.
The technician, Kurt, lay motionless on the floor. She scrambled to his side and felt for a pulse. Strong and steady. He was alive, but completely out. She pried open his eyes. Pupils were dilated. Had he been drugged?
“What do you want?” Dr. Spencer shouted.
A low mumble responded to the question. She glanced at the tech, then at the window into the MRI area. If the attacker was bold enough to drug Kurt, he might do much worse to Dr. Spencer.
She scanned the office for something to use as a weapon. Unfortunately hospitals were not rife with defensive tools. Fine, she’d rely on her self-defense training.
“Let go of me!” Another crash was followed by a slam against the window.
Adrenaline shot through Maddie’s body. She shouldered the door open and realized that by doing so, she’d made herself as vulnerable as the doc. She arced the beam of her flashlight across the room.
Suddenly someone shoved her face-first against the wall. She kicked the top of his foot, hard. He released her and took off down the hall, the squeak of his shoes echoing as he ran.
“Yeah, run, you jerk!” The outburst escaped her lips.
“Hey, you! Stop!” a voice called outside from the office.
Security must have arrived. Good, she could focus on the doctor. She took a few deep breaths and turned.
“Dr. Spencer?” she said.
No response.
She aimed her flashlight and spotted him on the floor in the corner.
“No, no, no,” she muttered, rushing across the room to him.
When she touched his shoulder, he jerked away as if he’d been stung. “I said don’t touch me!”
A shudder ran down her spine. This kind of raw fear looked all wrong on the doc.
“Dr. Spencer, it’s me. It’s Maddie.” She aimed the flashlight at her own face and offered a bright smile. Then she redirected the beam at the doctor. He was curled up, looking away from her.
“It’s okay,” she said. “You’re okay now.”
She reached out again and tentatively placed her hand on his shoulder. “Remember me? Maddie McBride?”
The emergency lights clicked on, bathing them in a soft glow.
“Doc?” she prompted.
He slowly turned to look at her. “Maddie? Of course I remember you. How could I ever forget you?”
Whoa, not exactly the response she expected. His eyes looked glassy, and not totally focused.
“Did that man hurt you?” she said.
His eyes widened with fear.
“Don’t worry, he’s gone.” She smiled. “Are you hurt?”
He shook his head that he wasn’t, looking at her like he adored her. This wasn’t right. The amount of medication he’d been given for the MRI shouldn’t have made him this loopy.
“What did he say to you?” she asked.
“Maddie!” a male voice called.
“In here!” She glanced over her shoulder.
Security guard Ted Graves stepped into the room. “Is he okay?”
“Seems to be. Someone needs to examine Kurt. I think he’s been drugged.”
Ted called it into his radio.
Dr. Spencer squeezed Maddie’s hand, still resting on his shoulder. She looked at him.
“You saved me...again,” he said. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.
Oh yeah, he’d been overmedicated all right. Which meant someone breached the hospital’s drug protocol and gave him a higher dose than intended so that he couldn’t defend himself.
A man cleared his throat in the doorway. She glanced up at Chief Nate Walsh.
“Everything okay?” he said.
“He doesn’t seem to be physically hurt, but I suspect Dr. Spencer was given higher dose of the sedative than was ordered for the MRI. Did you catch the attacker?”
“No, he escaped,” Chief Walsh said. “Did you get a good look at him?”
“Lights didn’t come on until after he’d left,” Maddie said. “We need to get Dr. Spencer back to his room.”
“No.” Dr. Spencer squeezed Maddie’s hand. “I can’t stay here. He’ll find me.”
Maddie glanced at Nate. “What should we do?”
“I’ll assign an officer to him 24/7.”
Maddie looked at the doctor. “Does that work?”
He nodded, but didn’t look so sure.
