Chapter 15
15
Dr. Hodges was there again, glaring at Genny. He was going to become more of a problem than Aubrey really needed at the moment. She would deal with whatever had crawled up his rear end now, and then she was going to have to give in, go to Caine, and see what he wanted to do next. Hodges was making it a hostile work environment for everyone—and she knew it had to do with one thing: He was angry that Genny was with Chad. Period. Jerk.
“Dr. Hodges?”
“Fuck off, Fisher. I’m not in the mood for your bullshit tonight.” His shoulder slammed into her as he stalked by, hard enough to send her stumbling against the counter. Pain shot through her side, but she held her ground. The nurses at the charge desk all froze. Just stared. Aubrey bit back the instinctive rush of anxiety. Of fear. She couldn’t let the fear show.
This was her ED. She was in charge.
He wasn’t going to do this any longer.
“I apologize, Dr. Fisher, I miss-stepped.”
Sure, that was all it was. He had seriously crossed the line. They were both well aware of that.
“I know what your problem is, and it doesn’t have a place in my ED. You can’t handle that, we’ll talk to Dr. Alvaro about it—do you understand me?” Her stomach clenched. She hated this part of being in charge. Hated it. She shifted, tried to put herself in front of Genny a bit better.
There was a look of almost madness in his eyes. And an emptiness that scared her. Truly scared her. She wished Caine, or Guthrie, or Chad, or anyone bigger and stronger would just show up right now. Anyone.
She looked over—Hadassa had the desk phone in her hand. Her finger hovered over the button to page security. Aubrey’s eyes met hers. She gave a small jerk of her head. Held up one finger. One minute.
Aubrey hoped this would defuse without the need. She’d never turned security on one of their own doctors before. There had been a male nurse about six months ago, who had shown up drunk and threatened some of the nightshift nurses, but that had been an easy fix.
Dr. Hodges was a lot bigger than she was.
And he was intent. Aubrey would never forget seeing that kind of hatred in a man’s eyes before. She just never would.
“Finally using your boytoy to your advantage?” He shifted. Blocked her again, keeping her trapped—him in front of her, Genny beside her, and the desk behind them all.
Aubrey was shivering from fear and adrenaline, but she didn’t back down. He leaned in, stepping closer. His eyes glinted with something dark—he liked her fear. He thrived on it. Men like him… were monsters. All of them.
She’d learned that lesson before she’d even learned to drive a car.
“You’re such a pig, Hodges. Are you okay, Aubs? You hit the counter pretty hard,” Genny asked, trying to squeeze around her. Aubrey shifted again, putting Genny behind her as best she could.
She could see a man standing near the entrance to the exam rooms. Genny’s older brother Gunn. She’d seen him earlier; the pastor was visiting someone in the back row of rooms. He was there. And right there—she could see a familiar red-haired man. Chad. Probably looking for Genny now—he had it bad for her, after all.
And there was Guthrie.
She’d admit it, seeing him, knowing how protective he and Gunn and Chad were over Genny, helped. It helped.
“I’m fine, Genny. Dr. Hodges was just leaving. We’ll deal with this in HR tomorrow morning.”
And if she had her way, Dr. Hodges would be finding somewhere else to work than BCGH. It just tore her up inside when she had to recommend firing anyone. She just hated disrupting someone’s entire life that way.
“Is this what Alvaro gets? You have some fire beneath that ice, after all?” The way he was looking at her absolutely disgusted her. Why was it with some men that whenever a woman was in charge, or succeeded, it was because of some sexual component with a man? Aubrey would never understand that. Ever.
She kept her eyes fixed on his, unflinching. “Get out, or you’re out of a job. Unless you want to take this up with Caine right now? Ask him that question personally?”
Dr. Hodges’s face twisted, and then—in an instant—his hand shot out. Wrapped around her arm. Aubrey still held the scissors from the box she’d been opening. Her fingers clenched instinctively.
“Get the hell out of my way.” He jerked her a little, cementing it—he’d be fired by tomorrow morning. She was going to make sure of it.
Genny reached for her arm. “Let her go.”
“Genny, stay out of it.”
Dr. Hodges ignored her, his eyes locked on Aubrey’s. He pulled her closer. Yanked the scissors from her hand, and then turned his attention to Genny. “Have you slept with him, Genny? Fields. Has he touched you?”
The room seemed to freeze in that moment. Before Aubrey could move, his arm swung out—scissors still in his hand. And he struck.
The force sent both Aubrey and Genny crashing into the intake desk. Pain exploded across Aubrey's back as she collided with the edge.
He grabbed Genny by her scrubs, pulling her up. Aubrey fought to push herself up.
People were screaming.
Genny tried to kick him. He struck out; scissors slashed again.
There was blood. Genny’s blood.
Terror seized Aubrey, freezing her in place for a heartbeat. Her head had hit the desk a little. It hurt. Stunned her. She could hear the shouts—Hadassa, Chloe, and others. Patients, too.
Everyone was yelling.
Guthrie and Gunn were there. They’d come, protect their sister.
Aubrey just knew they would. She fought, kicked.
Aubrey was beside Genny, both trying to get away. Genny’s elbow caught Aubrey in the face. But Dr. Hodges was still coming. Right there, almost on top of them. With the scissors still in his hand. And they were sharp. So sharp.
He sliced into the arm Aubrey raised to protect her face.
He was trying to get to Genny. Not just her.
Aubrey did the only thing she could—she grabbed Genny, trying to shield the smaller woman. Somehow.
But it only made things worse.
Dr. Hodges lashed out with his fist. Aubrey couldn’t get out of the way; her head cracked against the intake desk. She just sprawled there.
Genny screamed. Aubrey struggled to get up, but his foot landed on her chest, shoving her back down. He was screaming at them, yelling.
He was bigger, stronger. And they couldn’t get away, they couldn’t get away. No matter how they fought.
Genny’s scream echoed through the ED, raw and terrified. Aubrey forced her blurry vision to focus. Hodges had her—he was pulling her up, his face twisted in rage.
Aubrey kicked at him, but it didn’t do any good.
Genny fought. She kicked him, too. But there was so much blood.
Genny fell, and Aubrey lunged, catching her before she hit the ground. The weight of Genny against her almost made Aubrey go down too, but she held on. She put her arm over Genny’s face, when Hodges just kept coming at them both. The scissors sliced into her arm again.
Genny was bleeding. Aubrey did everything she could to protect.
Someone roared. Hodges was yanked away—slammed to the floor. Aubrey’s vision was blurry, but she knew it was Chad. The man’s reddish-brown hair was so distinctive. It was Chad.
Chad was there. They’d be okay. He wouldn’t let anything else happen to Genny. There were others coming. She heard the sounds of the ED around her. People were there to help now.
Guthrie was there then. Guthrie was there, beautiful eyes filled with fear, with worry. Guthrie was there, and his younger brother was there between both Aubrey and Genny, telling them they’d be okay.
Gunn’s beautiful face was so afraid.
“Genny…” she said.
“We’re getting you both taken care of, Aubrey. Just hold on, sweetheart. We’re here. It’s going to be okay.” Someone leaned over her, too, applying pressure to Aubrey’s arm.
Dr. Hodges had cut her too—she could feel it now. Adrenaline was waning. She turned to check on Genny.
That was when Aubrey saw the scissors sticking out of her best friend’s shoulder. “Genny!”