Surrender My Love (3 page)

“That will be all.”

She hesitated, as if wanting to say something, but then turned to leave, no doubt in a hurry to escape him. Brad’s gaze landed on her arm and he frowned.

“You’re hurt.
What happened?”

She turned back, her amber
eyes wide with confusion, and then she followed his gaze to her forearm.

“Oh, nothing, really.”

She started to leave again and he strode impatiently towards her. Taking her arm to get a better look, he scrutinized the line of half-moon bruises that marched across her forearm. The flesh was starting to blotch a light purplish-red, and he noticed that some of the skin was broken. He traced a finger pad over the area, registering somewhere in his subconscious the smooth texture of her delicate skin.

“This looks
new. Did this happen with Mr. Barkley?”

She jerked her arm away from his grasp, seeming annoyed by the question.

“Yes, but he didn’t mean to. He was just confused.”

“It’s not like him to be combative.”

“He wasn’t combative. Like I said, he seemed more confused tonight.” He watched her eyebrows pull together as she seemed to summon a memory. “He was saying something about leaving the hospital.”

“What was he saying?”

Her pinched forehead showed her clear exasperation with him, but it was his personality to be tenacious, to question everything.

At length
, she shook her head. “He said ‘they won’t let me leave here’.”

“Here…as in?”

The nurse shrugged. “I don’t really know. The hospital, I think. He said he wouldn’t be going home. He was just so confused. He was also talking about surfing and falling from his surfboard.”

Brad smiled
and noticed her nervous gaze land on his mouth, but then it quickly fluttered away. “He was a big surfer when he was young.”

She nodded
, her glance veering eagerly towards the door.

Brad found himself staring at her face. “What’s your name?”

“Chloe.”

“You may go, Chloe.
” He sighed and nodded his chin towards her arm. “Get that looked after.”

The words hadn’t fully left his lips before she was through the door. He stood silent for a moment
, staring at the spot she’d occupied then ground the heels of his hands into his eyelids.
Damn! He was stressed!
He vaguely wondered if he should increase the dose of his medication.

Pulling his cell phone from his pocket
, he settled for a different option and dialed the familiar number to his current stress reliever.

“
One hour. Be naked when I get there!” He snapped his phone shut and headed through the door.

CHAPTER TWO

“Ouch!” Chloe winced when the emergency room doctor ran a swab of stinging antiseptic over the bruised lesions on her forearm.

“Sorry, Chloe.”
Dr. Connolly said sympathetically, coating the area with a sticky film of antibacterial ointment.

“It’s okay. I’m just grumpy. I had a tough night.”

Dr. Connolly tilted her head and narrowed her green eyes at her patient. “I heard. I was putting in some stitches when I heard the code. You wanna talk about it?”

Chloe shook her head, hooking her dark hair behind her ears. She was in a small cubicle with Dr. Nina Connolly,
the director of the emergency room, and one of her good friends. She sniffled and looked away from her searching gaze, feeling the sting of tears behind her eyes.

“He…he didn’t make it,” she choked out, and accepted the gentle embrace her friend gave her.

“I’m sorry.”

Chloe pulled back and wiped at a threatening tear.

“Things have been pretty rough for you lately. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

Chloe’s lips twitched wryly.
Lately?

“How’s your mom doing?” Dr. Connolly asked softly.

She swallowed the sudden lump of emotion in her throat. “Better. She’s been stable since her last surgery. I—”

Her
words were cut off as a curly, dark head poked around the wall of the cubicle and she was grateful for the interruption.

“Nina, are you finished? You
r patient in room four is ready,” Sally, one of the ER nurses, cut in. “Oh, hi, Chloe,” she greeted, then ambled into the cubicle. Sally’s brown eyes widened as her gaze zeroed in on her injured arm. “Oh my God, what happened?”

“Nothing. I just got a bruise.”

She watched Sally’s eyes narrow. “I’m sorry. I heard what happened upstairs. I also heard that Dr. Markson was pretty angry!”

Chloe blanched
at the mention of the doctor’s name. A wave of anxiety washed over her, leaving her skin damp and cold.

“He was,
” she agreed softly.

“
I’m sure he was just being his usual disgruntled self! He’s always yelling, scaring the nurses,” Sally planted a hand on her hip. “The man walks around like he owns this damn place.”

“He does.”
Paul, a pharmacist, and one of Chloe’s good friends, interjected as he stepped inside the cubicle. “Do you know how much money he brings in to this hospital? Millions! I wish I had a quarter of his money.”

Sally snickered. “I wish you had a quarter of his brains!”

Paul rolled his eyes at Sally’s teasing and gave her the finger. Ignoring her, he turned to Chloe. “You okay, Chloe? I heard you were down here.”

She nodded,
staring into his concerned eyes. “I just may not have a job for much longer.”

“What do you mean?” Dr. Connolly asked, frowning.

“I was threatened to be discharged.”

“That Dr.
Markson’s an asshole! Why?” Sally was incredulous.

Chloe shrugge
d and then explained what had occurred.

“That man may have the face of an angel
, but he is the devil himself! And Witch Wall, you know what I think of her,” Sally huffed angrily.

“
Brad Markson is one of the best cardiac surgeons in the country,” Dr. Connolly explained patiently. She faced Chloe. “It’s not right the way he spoke to you, Chloe, but he must’ve been upset about losing his patient. I’m sure he didn’t mean to be so harsh.”

“Oh, he did.” Chloe nodded,
recalling with a shudder the sharp blade of his tone and the deep intensity of his dark, furious eyes. Somehow the memory of his touch was triggered, and her forearm started to tingle where he’d rubbed a finger pad over her bruised skin. Chloe violently pushed the memory aside, attributing the strange sensations to the ointment that had been slathered on her arm.

“I know him.
Do you want me to talk to him for you?” Dr. Connolly placed a loose bandage on Chloe’s arm, and then stood.

“No!” s
he said sharply, then smiled, trying to dilute the alarm in her voice. It was nice of Dr. Connolly to offer, but her friends had already done so much for her during the past several months that she couldn’t burden them further. She would have to deal with whatever Dr. Markson or Nurse Wall had in store for her on her own.

“You coming out with us on Saturday night?” Paul inquired.

Chloe watched a hopeful gleam light his eyes, but shook her head firmly. “I can’t.”

Sally’
s lips twisted wryly. “What’s the excuse this time? You never go out! You’re a young, attractive girl, and yet you act like such an old woman!”

“I
t’ll cheer you up. It’ll be good for you,” Paul chimed in.

“Yeah, girl. You need a little R and R.” Sally grinned and winked. “
What I call ‘robust recreation’, if you know what I mean!”

Paul frowned and turned to Sally. “Chlo
e’s a nice girl, Sally. She’s not like that.”

Chloe watched Sally’s dark brows jump into her forehead. “
What? Nice girls don’t have sex?”

Paul rolled his eyes again and huffed, and
Chloe couldn’t help but chuckle at the bickering two. They were constantly at it. She exchanged a smile with Nina and shook her head. Sally was always trying to find her a date, but she had enough to deal with in her life and didn’t need distractions or more heartache. Besides not wanting to spend the money, she’d probably be working Saturday night. She was always looking to pick up extra shifts.

“
You coming out with us, Nina?” Paul turned to Dr. Connolly.Chloe smiled when the doctor blushed. “No, sorry. Wade has planned a romantic evening for us. My mother is taking little Joey for the night.”

“Poor kid,” Sally joked, reminding
her of Dr. Connolly’s eccentric parents. “Nina doesn’t need to come out with us. She gets enough R and R from that fine hubby of hers!” Sally poked Nina with an elbow and Chloe’s smile widened when Nina’s blush deepened and spread to the roots of her auburn curls.

“I
’d better go. I have a patient waiting.” Dr. Connolly hugged Chloe. “Let me know if you want me to talk to Brad Markson. Really, he’s not that bad. Everything will be fine.”

“Thanks, Nina. But I can handle it.”
She smiled at her friends. “Thanks for the support, guys. I better get back upstairs. I’m already on Nurse Wall’s shit list.”

“Don’t get me started on Bitchy W
itchy.” Sally rolled her eyes, hugged her goodbye, and left.

“I’ll walk you up,
” Paul offered. “I’m headed back to the pharmacy anyway.”

Sally gave her friend a genuine smile. Paul was always kind to her.
He’d been tremendously supportive during the acute phase of her mother’s illness. She half listened to his words of encouragement as he walked her out of the emergency room. She was thinking about her day ahead, trying to shrug off her lingering melancholy. It was her turn to care for her mother and she planned on spending it at her mom’s apartment. Despite Dr. Connolly’s optimistic words, she couldn’t help feeling as though she should start looking for another job.

Brad stood at the bank of elevators on the first floor of the hospital. He rolled his shoulders and adjusted the tie on his dark blue suit. He was
in the middle of his office hours, but had to round on two of his private patients. These two particular patients were hospital VIPs and he always rounded on them separately because they demanded more of his time. One was a famous opera singer with the Metropolitan Opera House, Madame LaFontine, and the other was an Academy Award winning actor who never let him forget it.

Angelique
LaFontine didn’t really have a heart problem, but was convinced she did. If not for her large donations to the hospital, she would’ve been discharged days ago. Two medical students skirted him, nodding deferentially as they hurried by. He poked impatiently at the call button and then stepped back to look up at the digital display above the doors.

“That doesn’t make the
elevator come any faster, Brad.”

The deep voice was from his colleague
, Dr. Lipson, an internist he’d attended medical school with.

Brad consulted his Rolex then loo
ked up as the doctor strolled over. “When will this hospital get faster elevators? These damn things are ancient,” he grumbled.

Dr. Lipson’s
green eyes crinkled when he smiled. “Perhaps you can get that opera singer to donate new elevators instead of that wing she wants to build in your name.”

Brad’s lips thinned. He was in no mood to fend off Gerald Lipson’s usual sarcasm. Earlier that morning he’d met with Mr.
Barkley’s family. It had gone a lot worse than he’d expected. He’d spent hours absorbing their grief and could give them no real comfort or explanation for the loss of the beloved paternal figure. They had not even wanted to consider an autopsy and had accepted his feeble explanation about possible heart failure. And his interlude with Diane had been unsatisfying and done little to alleviate his stress. Now he was headed up to see two patients who expected him to be obsequiously charming, a role he didn’t play very well.

“You’re in a foul mood.” Dr. Lipson clapped him good-naturedly on the back. “I heard about your patient, Mr.
Barkley. Don’t let it get to you. We all lose patients, Brad—even you.”

The elevator arrived and the silver doors slid open. Brad strolled in to the empty compartment, Dr. Lipson at his heels. He punched the button to the eighteenth floor and turned to the significantly shorter man. A
hollow chuckle erupted and he shook his head. “I just can’t explain it, Gerald.”

The other doctor shifted his weight and s
lipped a button loose on his lab coat. “What’s to explain? Listen, I lost a patient last week. It was tough. But these things happen. Sometimes there’s nothing we can do.”

Brad sighed and
folded his arms across his chest. “He was supposed to go home today. He was doing fine.”

“My patient was doing well too. But the nurse s
aid he suddenly became confused and then coded.”

Brad’s
brows shot up, a sudden chill easing down his spine at Dr. Lipson’s words. “Confused?”

“
Yeah, I mean, he was an old guy with mild dementia, but I guess it was his time. He was doing remarkably well for a while, but it was his heart, I think.”

Brad straightened and focused keenly on the other man’s face. “When did this happen?”

Dr. Lipton pursed his lips. “
About two weeks ago.”

“I’m sorry. I hadn’t heard.”

“I’m not surprised. The goings-on of us little people wouldn’t make their way up to you.” He chuckled coarsely, but the sound echoed hollowly off the enclosed walls, reaching deaf ears.

Brad’s
preoccupied mind dismissed the comment, struggling to string together wavy thoughts.

The elevator doo
rs slid open on the tenth floor and Dr. Lipson stepped out.

“Take care, Brad. Let it go.”

Brad jolted to awareness. His hand shot out and stopped the metal doors from sliding closed. “Wait, Gerald!” he called to the receding figure. “Who was the nurse with that patient?”

Dr. Lipson turned and
Brad watched his bushy dark brows meet as his face twisted with the effort of recollection. “Ummm…I think her name was something like Clare, or Cherry, or something like that.”

“
Skinny, with long dark hair? Pretty?” Brad heard himself ask.

One of
Dr. Lipson’s bushy brows jerked up and a slow smile pulled the corner of his lips. “Yes. She was.”

“Chloe?”

“That’s it. Why?”

Brad hoped his shrug was as nonchalant as he’
d intended it to be. “No reason,” he stated, stepping back to allow the doors to slide shut, blocking out the other man’s curious gaze.

He stood silent for a moment, his thoughts flying in all directions and not sure which one to follow.
Cursing beneath his breath, he punched the button to the first floor.

His VIPs would have to wait.

Chloe smiled and lifted the spoon of heaping mashed potatoes to her mother’s pinched lips.

“One more bite, Mom
. Then you can have your ice cream.” She sang the last words sweetly, hoping to entice the stubborn woman in the bed to acquiesce and consume more of her meal. But hazel eyes, the same golden brown as hers, stared defiantly, and Chloe sighed as her mother gave a firm shake of her head.

Chloe was starting to grow concern
ed. Over the past few weeks her mother had lost a good number of pounds, pounds her frail body could not afford to shed. At sixty, she was still a beautiful woman, but shadows lurked in the deep creases of her face and angular lines had replaced the healthy suppleness of once rounded cheeks. Two years ago, Rose Bennett had been in an accident. According to doctors, she was lucky to be alive.