Page 10 of Tough Justice

Oh, right. Double H. Suzie’s elite group reserved for only the handsomest men on the planet. And of course she remembered him. Who wouldn’t? Just because she had no love for the DEA didn’t mean she was blind. Being dateless for the last year didn’t mean all her girly parts had dried up. Yet. “What about him?”

“He was looking for you. I think he found you but figured out his timing sucked and left you alone.”

Tori narrowed her eyes. “Did he say what he wanted?”

“Nope. But I think he’s still skulking around here somewhere, waiting for you.”

“Wonderful.” Just what she needed, on top of everything else.

Together, they left the chapel, although her heart still felt as if it had been used as a punching bag. Coming toward them was David Landry, the orderly.

“Something’s up with him lately,” Suzie whispered quickly.

“You noticed that, too?” she whispered back.

Instead of passing them, David stopped in front of Tori. The orderly was a big, burly man, about six-foot-two. “Dr. Sampson? I wanted to apologize for not responding right away to your page the other day. I, uh, must have eaten something that didn’t agree with me. I was in the men’s room and missed the call.”

“That’s all right,” Tori said, although it hadn’t been then. “We managed.”

“Thanks.” David continued past them.

Tori started walking again when Suzie stopped her. “Wait. David wasn’t in the men’s room the day you asked for an orderly. I saw him standing outside the main doors talking to his brother, Pete. David introduced us once. He said Pete moved in with him about two months ago and that he’s helping him get back on his feet.”

Tori frowned, torn between being angry and just plain pissed. “Why would David lie about where he was?”

Suzie shrugged as they continued down the corridor. “I don’t know.”

“If David’s odd behavior continues, I’ll ask Wil to talk with him. For now, let’s keep this to ourselves.” As the head of North Metro’s ER, handling personnel issues was part of Wil’s responsibility.

In a corner behind the nurses’ desk, Dr. Ethan Dexter, one of the hospital’s residents, stood listening intently to Wil. The glum look on Ethan’s face didn’t match the cheery yellow-and-orange Hawaiian shirt under his white coat. Ethan had come to North Metro about two years ago, around the same time Wil had. Since then, Wil had taken the younger man under his wing.

They were still too far away to hear what Wil was saying, but Ethan looked perturbed. When Ethan shook his head, a long ponytail that could rival hers swished back and forth.

“It’ll be okay,” Wil said, patting Ethan’s shoulder. “Go take a break.”

Ethan’s jaw clenched as he came around from behind the desk. He nodded to her and Suzie, then brushed past, striding toward the doctors’ lounge.

“Wil,” she whispered, “everything okay with Ethan?”

“He’s fine. He just made a misdiagnosis.” Wil made a face. “But I wish he wouldn’t dress like a hippie straight out of Woodstock. Sometimes, I swear I can smell pot on his clothes. I don’t care if it’s legal. It’s not appropriate for a doctor to show up smelling like weed.” His expression softened. “Are you all right? How’d it go with Tyler?”

In addition to being an amazing ER doctor, Wil was also her friend and confidante, had been since he’d transferred to North Metro from out of state. Right now, she needed her friends around her and was grateful they didn’t let her down. They were her sounding boards.

“About as well as anyone can expect.” She swallowed down another lump of sadness and helplessness that had been building steadily since the Wojciks had watched their son’s heart beat for the last time.

“I’m sorry. He was way too young to die,” Wil said. “Want to grab lunch and talk?” He bumped shoulders with her. “I hear they’re serving heart attack mac ’n’ cheese, today. Less mac and more cheese.”

She smiled, grateful for his attempt at humor and to ease her pain. “As much as I’d like to, there’s a DEA agent around here somewhere, looking for me.”

“DEA?” Wil frowned. “Oh, right. There was one looking for you earlier. Sorry, I forgot to tell you. I think it was that gorilla from yesterday. Remember?”

Why did people keep asking that? How could she not remember?

“How about this?” Wil glanced at Suzie. “We’ll wait for you to have lunch. Come find us when you’re done with this guy.”

“I will,” she reassured them both.

“Dr. Barnett?” One of the other nurses nodded to a team of EMTs pushing a stretcher into ER 4.