Lincoln Hospital (Trauma #1) (11 page)

She’d been immediately fired and the police had been informed, but without hard evidence, it was nearly impossible to get the D.A.’s office to file charges.  In the end, Lana was set free, but the hospital maintained its position on firing her.  A fact that she was now suing them over on the grounds of wrongful dismissal.

Tonight, she would finally answer for her crimes, he would show her no mercy and she’d know what it was like to be on the receiving end of no compassion.  Everything was set and ready to go.  He’d created an online dating profile after stalking her Facebook page and discovering that she used one of those sites to look for men.  It was sickeningly easy the way he’d been able to make a fake profile and used it to connect with her.  If he ever had a daughter, he’d make damn sure—

The deep stabbing pain at his innocent thought sliced through him.  Having a daughter wasn’t something he had to worry about now, not since...not since Hannah had been murdered.  Her face swam before his eyes and the agony at recalling her smile and the way she used to laugh just about broke him.

Furious with himself for letting her memory slip through the walls he had up, he slammed his notebook closed and headed to his bathroom to shower and get ready to pick up the package and get to the hospital.  It was a change of rotation in shifts, so they’d be starting their day with Lana’s disposal, instead of ending it like usual.  This would be the first time of them trying this on the new schedule and everything had to be perfect to avoid any problems. He was keyed up, antsy and ready to get started, the need to kill was slowly eating him alive from the inside out.

Keeping up his facade was starting to wear on him.  Cian was not a man used to denying himself any of his wants and needs.  And what he wanted, what he craved, was to strip away the layers of his humanity; the disguise of profession.  The monster within was clawing at him from the inside, desperate to be unleashed.

Hunt.

Maim.

Kill.

The bitch was going to suffer before she met her end.

A few hours later, Cian sat parked in his car across from the pub where he’d arranged to meet Lana.  He could see her seated at a table by herself through one of the big windows.  Every now and then she checked her watch, a telltale sign to everyone in the bar that she’d been stood up.  Chuckling, he took a moment to enjoy the extra little bit of torture he was inflicting on her.  No woman wanted to be stood up and he felt a twinge of pity for the poor waitress that had to suffer her wrath every time she stopped by the table to check on Lana.

When she finally gave up and stepped out of the bar, it was time for Cian to make his move.  He climbed out of the car and quickened his pace to catch up with her.  When he was a foot behind, he slipped the needle from his pocket and reaching her side, smoothly slid it into her bare arm.  After a few steps, she began to slump down and Cian immediately put his arm around her to prop her up into his side.  A few curious onlookers stopped to glance their way, but he flashed a dazzling smile and put them at ease.

“My girlfriend’s had a bit too much tonight, time for me to put her to bed, I think.  These damned girl’s nights out,” he laughed, giving off the attitude of a caring boyfriend.  A few of the men shared knowing glances.

“You need a hand with her, man?”

“Nah.  I got it.  Thanks though, I appreciate it.  Come on, sweets.  Let’s get you home.” He steered Lana in the direction of his car and once she was seated safely in his passenger seat, a devious grin spread across his face.  That had been way too fucking easy.  Lana moaned and her head lolled on her shoulder, giving the impression to anyone that passed them that she was asleep.  Pleased with himself, Cian pulled away from the curb and headed in the direction of the hospital.  At the rendezvous point, he steered off the road and into an abandoned parking lot.  Reynolds was waiting there with his car and if he’d followed instructions, it would be lined with plastic and ready to go.

He cut the engine and rounded the hood to the passenger side to pull Lana out and dump her unceremoniously onto the asphalt.  Reynolds handed him the knife without a word and Cian lifted Lana’s head up, trying to bring her around.  When he was unsuccessful, he shrugged and in one powerful thrust, stabbed her in the gut.  Lana grunted but otherwise made no other movements.

“That outta get things rolling,” Cian commented and together he and Reynolds lifted her and put her in Reynolds’ car.

“Now, just as we discussed.  Dump her a few feet from the entrance and I’ll come out and find her while you circle back and come in the hospital from the other side.  Patricia and Lorna should have everything set in the OR, I’ll text now and be sure.”

“I got it.  See you there in ten.”

Cian pulled out his phone and sent a quick message to Patricia. Ever since the meeting they’d had at his apartment a few weeks ago regarding the vigilante reports on the news, he was more sure than ever that it wasn’t a member of his team that was leaking information. Either Rae Kelley was just really fucking intuitive, which was highly unlikely, or someone knew their secret.  Now the question was, why weren’t they saying anything?

Patricia messaged back that everyone was in place and satisfied, he got back in the car and headed to meet his first patient of the evening.

Walking into the ER, he stopped by the nurse’s desk to flirt with the pretty receptionist he’d never seen before.  He was close to charming her number out of her when the squeal of tires outside caught his attention and he ran out the doors to investigate.  Finding Lana laying crumpled on the pavement, he called out for help while silently cheering on the inside.  The plan had worked perfectly.  In seconds, she was on the gurney and being transferred to his playground.

“Page Reynolds and get him to meet me in OR-B!” he yelled as they hurried down the hall, she really was losing a lot of blood fast and they had to hurry if he was going to be able to accomplish what he had planned for her.

Athena stepped into the hall a few feet behind him, watching the scene with interest.  She found it curious that he didn’t call for a resident or an intern as was his norm when he had an emergent case.  She’d been observing him for weeks now and knew that was his usual habit.  So for something this serious to come in and him to handle it on his own, pricked at her curiosity.  Intent on following him and observing the procedure from the scrub room, she started down the hall after them only to skid to a halt when her name was yelled out.

“Payne! Get over here,” Webster shouted from across the department.

Cian heard her as well and turning his head, locked eyes with Athena.  For a split second she thought she saw something like guilt flash in his eyes but then it was gone and he shut down.  His brown eyes turned black again and he gave her his back without so much as a word.

“The patients in rooms 7B, 22A and 16A need to be checked in on and 32B needs a drain changed.  Mysteriously, all of our other interns have disappeared so you have them to thank that all those jobs are yours.  I hope you have a good memory as I don’t—”

“Repeat yourself.  I got it, Dr. Webster.  I’ll take care of it.”  Disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to lurk around Cian’s surgery and see what the deal was, she headed off to follow Webster’s orders.  She was going to kill Sabine and the others for ducking off who knew where and leaving her with all the work.  What a way to start a shift.

Cian finished scrubbing and entered the OR.  Everyone was in place and except for the almost hiccup with Athena following them, it had all gone according to plan.

Lana was awake if her trashing on the table was any indication.  Her grunts of pain from behind the gag increased with every push of her body off the table as she struggled to get free.  All she was doing of course was worsening her own pain as she caused the slash in her abdomen to enlarge.

“Ah, Lana, good to see you again.  You remember me, I hope?” Cian asked as he peered at her from his place at the side of the OR table.  Lana shook her head wildly, her moans getting louder.  The glazed look in her eyes and the pool of blood on the floor told him they had even less time than he thought before she bled out.

“Peroxide,” he ordered and took the bottle from Lorna when she passed it to him.  “So, Lana.  I hear that poison was your choice way to murder patients in this hospital.  What a way for those poor suckers to go.  Tell me, why?  Why did you do such a thing?  Were you just born without a heart?”  Not waiting for a reply, he poured a generous amount of the peroxide into her open wound watching as her blood sizzled and her skin seemed to burn.

“I particularly remember a story of you being cruel to a family that had just received devastating news.  I bet they’d love to see you suffer like this now, they way you made them suffer back then.  Pliers.”

He accepted the pliers from Patricia and spreading open the large gash in her stomach, grasped a piece of her large intestine and pulled, stretching it until it was almost out of her body.  Lana jerked once and then went completely still, the monitor indicating that she had flat-lined.

“Goddammit!” Cian swore, furious.  “Get her back,” he ordered Reynolds.

“Cian, be reasonable.  It’s done and we’re short on time as it is.”

“Fuck. Fuck, fuck!” It had barely been long enough for him to feel his need satisfied.  The devious part of him raged at being cut short and before he did something he would later regret, he stomped out of the OR, ordering them to take care of things.

Athena had just stepped out of a patient room when Cian came charging down the hall.  Spotting her, he barreled forward, latching onto her arm and not stopping, dragging her behind him in his wake.  Pure rage was in every step he took and Athena could barely keep up with his long-legged stride.  When he reached the on-call room, he threw the door open, shoved her inside and then slammed and locked the door behind them.

“Cian? Um, I mean, Dr. O’Reilly. What’s going on?” Completely bewildered and a tad terrified at his behavior, she backed away from him a few steps.  He stalked forward for every step she took back and they ended up in a dance around the small room until her back hit the wall, leaving her no more options to avoid him.

“Um...” she bit her lower lip nervously and wondered what the fuck was going on.  Had she done something wrong?  Made a mistake?  Maybe—

All thoughts flew out of her mind when with a brutal growl, his mouth swooped down on hers to claim her lips in a soul-consuming kiss.  It was a kiss not about passion; but about possession.  His hands dug into her waist painfully as he dragged her against his chest, fusing their bodies together.  His tongue wasn’t going to be denied as he pushed past her lips and tasted every inch of her mouth.  Her head spun and her pulse raced.  Such a devouring kiss stole every part of her she’d tried to keep for herself.  He was taking over; owning her and branding her as his.  In that moment, she had no idea where he ended and she began.  As much as she was scared, her body felt alive and she began to respond to his touch.

Her hands found their way around his neck and into his hair as she raised on her tiptoes to get closer.  She met him head on, riding on the power of their connection and the taste of him on her tongue.  She’d never known that vulnerability could be such a high endorphin.  And that’s what he was whether he chose to admit it or not; he was vulnerable and looking for something to latch on to.

His hand traveled under her scrub top and found her breasts, pinching and tugging her nipples through her bra as he ground his hips against hers.  Without realizing it, she hoisted herself up and wrapped her legs around his trim waist, desperate to feel more friction between her legs.  The second she felt his hard cock against her pussy with only their thin clothes separating them; she moaned into his mouth and rocked against him slowly. Cian brought one hand up and tugging her hair, exposed her neck to him.  He dragged his mouth from hers and sank his teeth into her tender flesh, intent on marking her as his.

“Cian,” she breathed out his name and he stilled, his body freezing.  He let her drop down to the ground and then stepped back, his own breath coming in shallow pants.

She looked at him with questions in her eyes, not sure why he’d stopped when they both so clearly wanted to continue.

“Get out.” he barked and she flinched at his tone.  Shame filled her along with embarrassment as she hastily straightened her clothes.  Maybe she was a terrible kisser or had done something he didn’t like.  Whatever the reason, he obviously wanted her out of his sight.

She rushed to the door, misery in every step.  She needed to get as far from him as she could.

“And don’t ever fucking think of following me again.”  His parting words cut like a knife and cleared all fog of desire from her brain.

Cian O’Reilly wasn’t a good man at all.  He was a monster, plain and simple.