Free Nerves of Steel by C.J. Lyons Page A

Almost.
    He grabbed her other hand and pulled her close, waltzing her through the debris scattered on the floor.  "You were amazing." He beamed down at her.  "You saved that man's life, Ella."
    Sickened by his touch, she pushed him away, escaping from his embrace.  "Just because we have to work together, don't get any ideas." 
    Richard stood in the center of the room, the overhead surgical lights glinting from his perfect white teeth.  "I made a promise to myself when I left that clinic.  I vowed I'd get my life back.  All of it.  And this," he gestured to the trauma room with its resuscitation equipment, "is the first part."  He stepped to her, took her hand once more, his finger caressing the space where her wedding ring used to rest.  "The first part, but not the most important part."
    She yanked her hand free.  "Richard, you can't--"  
    His beeper went off, and he released her before she could finish.
    "Got to go, they're ready up in the OR."  He sped from the room, his trauma gown flying behind him like a superhero's cape, and Cassie lost her chance to set him straight.
    She frowned.  Words would never dissuade Richard.  When they first met, he'd coaxed and cajoled, charmed her with surprise gifts, beguiled her with thoughtful acts, until she finally relented and agreed to go out with him. 
    And what a first date.  A cruise past the Point on a chartered yacht, caviar and champagne, he'd even bought her a ball gown, and they danced on the deck for hours.  Cinderella had finally met her Prince Charming.
    She squeezed her eyes shut against the memory of that night.  Waltzing under the stars, how could she not fall in love with the man who had offered her that?
    The familiar smells of Betadine and cautery smoke--sharp, acrid odors that belonged in no fairy tale--jarred her back into reality.  Cassie opened her eyes and surveyed her kingdom.  Here, surrounded by blood and pain, there was no playacting, no fairytale dreams.  Here she made a difference, here she was the one in control.
    Right, she was in control.  Just had to figure out how to convince Richard of that.  She stripped off her trauma gown, wadded it up and threw it into the trash.
    CHAPTER 14
    Cassie stepped out into the hallway, her nerves still jangling with adrenalin from the trauma.  Not to mention Richard showing up with no warning.
    Ed Castro had some explaining to do about that.  As department head, he sat on the Executive Committee, the group who would have granted Richard permission to return to Three Rivers.  Cassie gritted her teeth, pacing through the nurses' station to the chart rack where her bantamweight boss waited.
    "You could've told me Richard got his privileges back." 
    "Good morning," he said, keeping his voice bright, ignoring her accusatory tone.  "How was your night?" 
    "How do you think my night was?" she demanded.  "Richard ambushed me, and we had another kid overdose, almost lost him."
    Ed stroked his perpetual five o'clock shadow.  "FX?"
    "Combined with MDMA.  Together they have some kind of synergistic effect.  Kid had a temp of 106, chest wall rigidity, laryngospasm.  The worst of both drugs, multiplied."
    "How'd you stabilize him?"
    "Tried Valium, got nowhere.  So I put him in a pentobarbital coma and paralyzed him.  That worked, but I almost lost him first.  Might still, I don't think there's much left upstairs."  She tapped the side of her head.
    "Do the police know about this new combo?"
    Her face grew warm, and she turned to the board.  "I'm sure their hotshot detective passed the word by now.  I don't like him skulking around down here."
    "So you met Detective Drake.  He comes highly recommended.  Was part of the task force that broke up the drug dealers and gangs that were turning Ruby Avenue into a war zone."
    "The FX was stolen upstairs.  Why is he wasting his time down here?"
    "I just do what I'm told." 
    "When I went to the police yesterday, they acted like I was a suspect.  Was