Page 75 of Tough Justice

Her first inclination was to kick the door open the rest of the way and vehemently deny the allegation. But if Deck thought so little of her, cared so little about her that he could possibly think such a thing, then she had no intention of wasting her time defending herself.

Smacking the palm of her hand on the door, she shoved it open so forcefully that it banged into the wall. Immediately, all conversation ceased. Four sets of eyes focused on her, but the only one she cared about was Deck’s. Things were over between them, but damn him for thinking she could have ratted him out.

His color was back, so that was good. An ACE bandage encircled his rib cage, and the shoulder he’d dislocated was wrapped snugly in white bandages with his right arm immobilized against his bare chest. A drainage tube was taped to the other side of his chest.

For a moment, his expression was utterly blank. Then his eyes became guarded. Was it because he thought she’d tipped off a drug dealer or because she’d tried administering opioids to him? Or both? Either way, the heart she’d held in her hands dropped to the floor with an audible splat.

“Good morning,” she said, looking at all of them and recognizing the other man in the room as Deck’s supervisor, ASAC Rivera. Nobody answered. She went to the rolling computer to re-read Deck’s chart. His friends, men she’d thought liked and respected her, tracked her every move.

As if I’m a criminal.

Reading his chart wasn’t necessary. She knew every word that was in it and every dose of medication that had been administered. Since the moment he’d been brought into the ER, she’d personally supervised everything that was done to him. He just didn’t know it.

It took every ounce of strength not to go to him, to hold him and kiss him. “How are you feeling?”

“All things considered, fine.”

Tori shoved her hands in her coat pocket, fisting them tightly. She couldn’t take his reticence a moment longer. She hadn’t planned on it, but after what she’d overheard, they needed to talk. “Gentleman, could you give us a few minutes?”

The atmosphere in the room went ice cold. Except for a quick glance at Deck, Brett and Evan didn’t budge, and neither did Deck’s boss.

“It’s okay.” Deck hitched his head to the door.

Deck’s friends threw her a cautionary glance then started for the door. ASAC Rivera went with them.

“We’ll be in the hall if you need us.” Evan threw her a look that said it all. They no longer trusted her.

They hadn’t said a word about their suspicion, but it was there just the same, hovering in the air like a thundercloud ready to cut loose with a barrage of rain, hail, and lightning.

She gripped the bedrail with both hands. “I didn’t tell anyone about the warrant. I would never betray your—”

“Trust?” His lips twisted as he spat out the word. “You were about to.”

“No, I—” But he wasn’t referring to the warrant. She drew in a calming breath. “Giving you fentanyl would have been the right call. You were thrashing about so much you could have worsened your condition.”

“That was my decision to make.”

“I know. That’s why I didn’t give it to you. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t the right call.” She took a step toward the side of the bed, stopping as she caught sight of Evan and Brett in the corridor. Both shot her warning looks. “You’re so obsessed over what happened to your sister and with saving the world from opioids you can’t even think straight. I wasn’t trying to give you something to hurt you. I tried to do it because I—”

Quickly, she looked away. She hadn’t realized what she’d been about to say until she’d almost blurted it out.

“You what?” Deck asked quietly.

Love you. Saying it wouldn’t change a thing. It would only make this more difficult. “Because I couldn’t stand by and see you in so much pain when there was something I could do to stop it.”

If her heart weren’t already lying on the floor in a pile of mush, she would swear it was breaking. “Even if you didn’t suspect me of providing information to a drug dealer, I can’t take wondering if one day you’ll leave for work and never come back,” she said, swallowing hard and doing her best not to shed a single tear. “It was a mistake to think this could have possibly worked between us.”

She waited for Deck to say or do something, to at least tell her she wasn’t a suspect in his mind. Instead, he remained maddeningly silent.

“I agree,” he said finally.

Sorrow nearly took her to her knees. It really was over. After today, she’d never see him again. “Well then. I’ll leave you to get some rest. Good luck with…everything.”

She went to the door, nearly bumping into Brett and Evan on the way out. Keeping her back straight and her head held high, she brushed past Deck’s friends. “And for the record,” she threw over her shoulder loudly enough for all of them, including Deck, to hear, “I don’t have any drug dealers on speed dial. I would never betray you—any of you.”

She made it to the doctors’ lounge just before the floodgates opened. Wil stood at the coffeemaker, mug in one hand, carafe in the other.

“Tori?” He set the mug down and returned the carafe to the hot plate. “What’s wrong?”