answer any of their questions.â He held a hand up. âHowever, I do not want any one telling patients what has happened.â
Harper grimaced. Like he had any hope of every single person in the department keeping their mouth shut, but she supposed he had to put it out there. Texts would already be flying around the city, probably the whole country, and the moment Jess saw her boyfriend sheâd be yabbering her head off. Not that Harper could blame the girl. Talking was a way of relieving the stress. Even she felt a desire to tell someone what had happened, but she wouldnât. That would be totally unlike her. But then how often did she have a gun held to her head? Her muscles tightened as renewed fear grabbed her.
âCody, Harper, come with me. Iâll get you coffee sent from the cafeteria shortly. And some food.â Georgeâs answer to everything was coffee followed by food. âCome on. The sooner you talk to the police, the sooner I can send you home for the day.â
Harper shook her head. âYou said the waiting roomâs full. I canât just disappear.â At least, that was what she tried to say, but her voice was raspy and all broken up. Now that she was no longer dealing with the assailant and everything else, the pain in her throat seemed to be taking over. She needed something else to concentrate on so it would go on the back burner, at least until she got home.
Beside her, Cody growled, âIâm sure the other doctors donât expect you back on the floor today.â Then his hands clenched at his sides. âGawd, what I donât want to do to that lowlife.â
âNot happening,â she croaked.
âLook what heâs done to you, all because of his greed.â
It hadnât been only her. She spoke slowly and tried to ignore the pain. âGeorge, Jess is in shock. Someone needs to check her over.â
âOn to it.â
She placed a hand on Codyâs forearm. Since when had she done this âtouching colleaguesâ stuff? She guessed that gun had a lot to answer for. Working hard at getting her words out clearly, she said, âDonât let him get to you. Iâm all right. Truly.â
Cody covered her hand with his for a quick touch, sending his warmth through her. Again. She could get used to that. But she wouldnât.
âYouâre more than all right,â he muttered before glaring across the room to where the assailant was being hauled roughly out of the department by two cops.
He no longer looked quite so dapper or smug, but the eyes that locked on her momentarily were filled with hatred.
She shivered. âEvil. Pure evil.â As Harper watched the man being taken away, she felt some relief seep into her body and loosen a little of the tension gripping her. Turning to Cody, she asked, âHow are you feeling?â She swallowed and kept going. âYou were right in the middle of it all. You hit the floor hard when you leapt on him.â She still couldnât get the sight of him doing that out of her head, probably wouldnât for days.
Eyes the colour of spring paddocks locked on her. âThink my hip took a bit of a hammering but I didnât feel a thing at the time. Iâll probably know about it tomorrow.â His wide mouth tipped upward into a beautiful smile that sent ripples of pleasure through her. He really was ridiculously good-looking.
âOuch.â She didnât know if she was referring to his hip or her reaction to him.
His smile, like that hug, enveloped her in the sensation that they were in this together and that no one else had a part in it. Sort of like being in a cocoon with just Cody, which gave her a sense of it not being all bad. Not that she could find anything good about the last twenty or so minutes. Sheâd lost a patient. She hated that. No matter that the odds had been stacked against Mick from the moment heâd swallowed those drugs;