"Who would want to hurt her?" Steven’s eyes misted above his mask.
"You care for her." Patrick's curiosity conjoined with his investigative need.
"I do—as a sister. Hope this isn't TMI, but you’re more my type."
Patrick's eyes crinkled. "Not TMI at all. I..."
"The rumors are true, then? Her and Austin Bailey’s brother?" a nurse asked.
Hospitals were notorious gossip mills. Patrick went for the simple truth, "Martin and Beth are old friends. Steven, what brought you out here?"
"You mean, I don't strike you as an Iowa boy? I went to school at Baylor, where I met my husband. He's a neonatologist here—Chris Colgate. He's an Iowa boy; his folks left him a cattle ranch one town over in Silver Tree—an interesting dichotomy."
Ian Chase commandeered a conference room to speak with Martin. Julian pulled the door closed behind them. "I need the whole story."
"I met and loved Elizabeth since high school. We reconnected and talked it through. None of our feelings changed. I refuse to let Talbot Reed keep her from me again." Sadness turned to rage, and he slammed his fist into the table when he detailed their history.
Ian and Julian let Martin release his pent-up emotion, cycling between love, anger, and fear. The supportive faces of his closest friends reassured him. "We will stand by you through this. One rule, any of us see emotion cloud your judgment, you're grounded. When you were in Elizabeth's house, did you find any business paperwork, a health proxy, power of attorney or will?" Ian centered him.
Martin swallowed the lump in his throat and took a deep breath. "She keeps an office in her house. I didn't go through anything."
"Can you handle going back to the house and looking for anything that states her wishes? Our legal team is looking to file an injunction to prevent Reed from controlling her care. Her employment records named Talbot as next of kin. No proxy is listed. Even so, unless we can show she wanted a specific someone, it will be a difficult path. This will all be moot when she wakes up. But just in case."
"We’ll check out her office too. Maybe we can find something that will give us a direction. This leaves me uneasy in light of her letter writing." Julian brought Ian up to speed.
Warren attempted to remove the breathing tube. "Beth, deep breath." He ran his middle knuckle against her sternum. She didn’t react. "C'mon sweetie." With no response, the anesthesiologist replaced the ventilator connection. "We can try again in a few hours."
"I’ll cover her, Steve. You’re carrying Knox's load and now Beth's." Patrick pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Thank you. She’s in talented hands. If you need me, I'm here until 1800 and will be back at 0600. She cares so much for her patients. Sometimes too much. I hope I can do her justice." Steven worried his lip.
Patrick rested his foot on the bottom bedrail. "What do you mean?"
"We were all stunned when she showed up from Hopkins. We found out she moved here to tend to her dying mom. She would work three sixteen-hour shifts and every other weekend to get time off to be with her. When she's here, she's devoted to her work and the people she works with. She goes to every celebration and remembers everyone's birthdays and anniversaries. She shares her off time with a small group of friends she trusts with more than superficial information. I'm honored she includes me. After her mom passed, she came back, and for the longest time, focused on her work. Her father destroyed her foundation. It was a long time before she smiled for real again.
"On a professional level, she’s an egoless superstar. She possesses this keen intuition. Take Bailey. He came in dead. No one would have batted an eye if she pronounced him. Not Elizabeth. She had them squeeze blood in, opened his chest and pumped his heart by hand, willing it to beat. His brain appears intact."
Steven took a deep breath, his eyes never leaving Elizabeth's face. "She's spent many a night at my place, despondent about a patient loss, exploring every possible misstep. Her analytical mind won't let her act any different. Sometimes, I think she gets too involved."
"How so?" Patrick's own analytical mind turned on.
"Just this week. Patient Ashbrook, an inmate from Silverton. He said his cellmate beat him up. Beth was sure the guards did it."
"She say why? You didn't believe her?"
"It was why she didn't believe the story about the cellmate. I told her to take things as they were. She insisted she had proof and was sending it to Corrections. She wouldn't say what she saw.”
Steven took a deep breath. "I hate to give her over to her father, but he’s the name on the paperwork. Her feelings toward him changed after her mother's death.” He interlaced his fingers with hers and lifted her hand to his lips. “Beth, please, I need you."
Henrietta Krump swept into the waiting area in full public relations mode. "Governor, please let me show you to a conference room. It will be more comfortable and private."
"Henrietta, I need to be clear: I do not want Mr. Martin Bailey near Elizabeth," Talbot's tone was arctic.
"I will advise security, Governor."
Talbot Reed huffed at the sight of Ian Chase alone in the conference room. They met years earlier when Ian spoke at the U.S. governors’ meeting about homegrown terrorism. "Commander Chase, I didn’t expect to see you." Talbot's posture was stiff. "I’m afraid this is not a good time."
"Governor Reed, I'm here because of Elizabeth's relationship with Martin Bailey."
