NYC Angels: An Explosive Reunion

‘Què? I … no understand …’

Layla translated but she couldn’t look away from where Alex’s hand was still resting on Ramona’s shoulder. She could feel that hand herself.

‘Ask her if her husband’s on the way,’ Alex ordered.

But Ramona understood that.

‘Not husband. Boy … friend. I was …’ With an impatient head shake and hand movements she reverted to rapid Spanish and Layla had to relay the information.

‘She was already pregnant with Felix when she met him. He’s bringing in her older son. She’s scared that you’re going to call the police and she doesn’t want to get into trouble.’ It was quite possible there was an issue concerning illegal immigration here. Layla bit her lip, wondering if this was another alert signal her new position meant she should be worrying about.

The hand had dropped now. Layla watched as Alex’s fingers curled into a fist but that was the only sign that something was disturbing him very deeply. That and the sense of raw power he was exuding. Right now that power was all about anger on behalf of a defenceless small child. Did he know for sure that his little patient’s head injury had not been accidental? Layla wouldn’t want to be standing in his way if he was planning to do something about such a conviction.

When he looked at Layla, she knew he was barely aware of her.

‘Tell her that my only concern is treating her son.’

Alex left the impression of power in his wake and it stayed with Layla long after leaving Ramona with one of the nurses. She was left with a whole kaleidoscope of impressions whirling around her head, in fact.

The tension in Alex’s face. The image of his hand on Ramona’s shoulder. The way those dark, dark eyes had seemed to look right through her.

Memories … That first time they’d made love in the wake of her being so wound up after a blazing row with Luke. The urgency and the mind-blowing heat of that encounter. The unbelievable bliss in which it had culminated …

The feel of his lips against hers, which she’d experienced again not very long ago. The sheer wanting that it could conjure up every single time …

Oh, yes. It was just as well Alex was nowhere near where he might be able to see what was whizzing through her head because any control Layla felt she’d had in following this fool plan of hers had just gone out the window.

Concentrating on what she had to do for the rest of her day was quite a tall order. Layla was still feeling out of kilter by the time she got to the end of her list, long after most staff members had finished their days and gone home for dinner. She always liked to pop into all the intensive care units before she went home, to make sure she was in touch with how all Angel’s most seriously unwell children were doing.

Her little ‘blue’ baby was in the cardiac unit, having had surgery to correct the abnormality she had been born with. All was well in NICU, the neonatal intensive care unit. PICU was her last stop. Maybe because she was a little nervous at crossing paths again with Alex today?

A little nervous? Judging by the way she actually jumped when she heard the sound of his voice even before she saw him, she was as jumpy as spit on a hot skillet.

‘For God’s sake … a skull fracture with acute subdural and epidural bleeding. You can’t tell me a two-year-old kid can throw a wooden brick hard enough to cause that kind of an injury.’

‘Are there any other potential signs of abuse?’

Another male voice. And they were both talking quietly, probably confident that their intense conversation was private. Had they left the unit for precisely that reason?

Layla stopped in her tracks, unsure of whether to round the corner where she’d have to walk past them to get to the locked door of the intensive care unit. The indecisiveness was an alien sensation and she didn’t like it at all. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, fingering her security badge, which would allow her access through that locked door.

‘I don’t know.’ Alex’s voice was a growl. ‘I haven’t had a chance to check him over properly yet. I’ve been too busy trying to save the poor little tyke’s life. My suspicions are more than enough to base a report on and it needs to be filed within thirty-six hours of admission.’

‘You need to be careful. Do you remember the first time I went to the monthly report meeting? Who was that kid you presented the case on? The one who’s been on chemo for months and you’re going to think about operating on soon?’

‘Tommy Jenner.’ Alex sounded impatient now. He didn’t want to change the subject.

‘You presented that case as a warning, didn’t you? Not to make assumptions that just might be wrong. The last thing you need is another malpractice suit on your hands.’

‘Are you telling me to stand back and say nothing? You, of all people, should know better than that, Cade. We both know the kind of damage that can do, don’t we?’

‘Yeah, yeah … point taken. But that’s exactly why you need to tread carefully, man. You’re too wired to see the worst-case scenario. You know too much.’

Layla was standing very still now, her eyes wide. What on earth was all that supposed to mean?

‘You’re following protocol,’ Cade continued. ‘Treating the child is number one. You can order a child-abuse screen and do the other tests you need, like X-rays to look for old fractures. The kid’s safe and you’ve got some time up your sleeve. You need to cool down.’

Having Layla appear around the corner probably wouldn’t help Alex to cool down. She found herself backing away. Turning, ready to leave, only to find herself face to face with a man who had a small boy with him. The child was about two or three years old and he was a reluctant companion. The man had a grip above the boy’s elbow and was half pulling, half shoving him along. With long, greasy-looking hair and the skin of his arms beneath his T-shirt barely visible between tattoos, the man looked distinctly menacing.

‘Get a move on,’ he snarled down at the child, ignoring Layla. ‘We’re going to find your mother and then I’m outta here. I’m done with babysitting someone else’s snivelling brat.’

He swept past Layla and around the corner. He practically banged into Alex and Cade.

Layla was hot on the man’s heels. She didn’t need the strong whiff of alcohol that reached her nostrils to know that a very volatile situation was forming.

‘Whoa …’ It was Cade who held up a hand to ward off a collision. ‘Take it easy.’

‘I’m in a hurry,’ the man responded. He ignored Alex and walked past Cade. ‘What … is that door locked? What kind of a joint is this? I thought it was a hospital, not a bloody prison.’

Layla was watching Alex. She could see he had assessed what was going on with the speed and intelligence she had learned to expect from him long ago. He was also putting two and two together as fast as she had. A young man arriving at the intensive care unit with a small boy. His patient’s mother was inside the unit with her son. The baby had an older brother who had, supposedly, caused his severe head injury.

Alex caught her gaze and she felt that tingle of connection. Of knowing they were on exactly the same wavelength.

But there was more to this than a surgeon worried about his patient or a doctor who found treating a case of child abuse appalling. The shadows she could see in Alex’s gaze created a flood of questions. She’d always been aware of that dark side to him, hadn’t she? She’d never had the chance to find out how it had got there. She’d been happy to just let it add to the frisson of danger that had gone with getting close to this man. The excitement of the illicit affair.

And, right now, it was more than just wanting answers to those questions … she wanted to defuse this situation. Or was it more than that even? That squeezing sensation in her chest suggested that she wanted to … make it better somehow. For Alex.

As if he read something of that in her face, his gaze jerked away from her to the stranger.

‘You’re Ramona’s boyfriend, aren’t you?’ Alex sounded calm. Dangerously so.

‘Who wants to know?’

‘I’m Alex Rodriguez. Felix’s neurosurgeon. I’m the person who’s been operating on Felix this afternoon. Getting some of the blood out of his skull before it did too much damage to his brain.’

‘Good for you.’ The man eyed Alex up and down. More up than down. Both Alex and his brother towered over this stranger by at least six or seven inches. Layla could see that he was practised in assessing another man’s strength but if he was intimidated by his male company he didn’t show it. He stepped closer to Alex. ‘If you’re a doctor, you can let me in through that door. I’ve got a right to see Ramona.’

Alex was taking a breath. Layla could see the way his eyes narrowed as he smelt the alcohol. ‘I’d like a word with you first, if you don’t mind.’

‘I do mind.’ Layla saw the way the man shoved the little boy to one side and then curled his fists.

The little boy staggered sideways and bumped into Cade, who caught him as he started sobbing. ‘You’re OK, buddy,’ he said.

‘Shut up, Cody, or you’ll be sorry,’ the man warned.

‘Like Felix was?’ Alex’s query was almost conversational.

‘Alex …’ Cade’s tone was a warning.

The men were squaring off at each other. Layla could feel the fury of Alex’s stare even though it was fastened firmly on the man directly in front of him. The tension was indescribable. Any second now and all hell would break loose. Alex would flatten Ramona’s low-life boyfriend and then what? She wouldn’t be trying to thank him for saving her job. She’d be fighting a losing battle trying to save his.

Not going to happen.

Without pausing to think about what she was doing, Layla stepped in between the two men just as both men raised their fists.

The vicious shove she received from behind was meant to get her out of the way but, in fact, it slammed her against Alex’s rigid body. He had no choice but to lower his fists to catch hold of her before she fell sideways. It still felt like she was falling but she was encased in an astonishingly powerful grip.

From the corner of her eye she saw the fist aimed at Alex, which would have connected with the side of her head if Alex hadn’t hauled her out of harm’s way.

He only held Layla long enough for her to feel that strength and all that leashed power. To feel the pounding of his heart against her own for no more than a second. And then he let go of her and moved so swiftly the attacker didn’t have a chance.

‘That’s enough.’ Alex grabbed the raised arm of the attacker and then twisted it behind the man’s back.

‘Ow … lemme go,’ the man snarled. The words turned into a whimper of pain as Alex clearly tightened his grip.

Layla, Cade and little Cody were all staring, wide eyed.

‘Call Security,’ Alex told Cade. ‘Layla, take Cody in to find his mother.’

Layla did as she was told. She held out her hand. ‘Come on, honey. I’ll just bet your momma is going to be so happy to see you.’

Behind her, she could hear Cade talking urgently to Alex. ‘I’ll sit on him till Security gets here. You need to go and cool down before you talk to them. I’ll tell them you got paged.’

‘No way …’ The refusal was almost drowned by a stream of obscenities and threats from Ramona’s boyfriend.

Layla used her swipe card to gain entry to the unit. As the doors closed behind Cody and herself she could only hope that Alex could control his fury. It didn’t matter what the man was guilty of—a member of staff in an altercation with a parent figure would be a dismissible offence.

She found a staff member to take care of Cody and filled them in on what had happened. She even spoke briefly to Ramona and learned that Felix had come through his surgery with flying colours and everybody was very pleased with how he was doing. It was only a few minutes before she could head back to see what was happening on the other side of the door. With a curious mix of both relief and disappointment she found Alex was nowhere to be seen. Ramona’s boyfriend was also gone from the scene and the security guard talking to Cade had finished whatever he needed to do.

‘I’ll go and have a word with the boy’s mother,’ he said. ‘And I’ll catch up with Dr Rodriguez when he’s done with that emergency.’

Layla pinned Cade with a look that told him she wasn’t leaving without some answers.

‘Where’s Alex?’

Cade shrugged. ‘Gone. I thought he should cool off a bit before he started talking to the cops.’

There was a moment’s silence as they stared at each other. Cade looked … defensive? As if he was challenging Layla to criticise Alex for coming on too strong. She weighed her words.

‘I heard you guys talking,’ she said carefully. ‘What did you mean by Alex knowing too much?’

She could see the shutters come down. Cade shrugged again, a gesture that told her this was between brothers and none of her business. And then his eyebrow rose.

‘Is it true what I’ve heard around here? That there’s something going on between you and Alex?’

Was this a case of attack being the best form of defence? Or was it a brother looking after a brother? If Layla wanted an honest answer from Cade, maybe he deserved the truth first.

‘Not now,’ she told him. ‘There’s … history. We were together way back. At the time of the Kirkpatrick case. You’d know about that.’

A sharp nod from Cade. ‘It’s what made me get in touch with Alex after not seeing him for years. Not that I got much of a chance to spend time with him before he took off to Brisbane.’

‘It messed up a lot of things,’ Layla agreed. ‘But what’s important right now is that I owe my job to Alex and I’m not going to let him get into trouble over what just happened here if I can help it.’

Cade’s nod was relieved. ‘Just as well. The creep’s telling everybody that Alex started it. Just laid into him without any provocation.’

‘I’ll sort it,’ Layla promised. But she wasn’t letting Cade off the hook just yet. ‘After I’ve talked to Alex, that is. Now, are you going to tell me where he is so I can do that before the cops start looking for me?’

Cade sighed. ‘He didn’t say where he was going but I’d guess he’s where he always is when he wants to burn off some steam. Where we both go.’

‘Which is?’

‘The hoop-shooting court out the back of the ambulance bay.’

CHAPTER THREE

THE SLAP OF the ball against the palm of his hand was hard enough to be causing pain.

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