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“I’m considering changing my specialty—leaving the ER—if you’re not opposed to it.”
He studies me from behind his massive desk before asking, “Why? The last time we spoke about it, you were determined to become the champion of the wronged, Gore.”
I shrug, trying desperately to convey a negligence I don’t feel. “I would have thought you would support this decision.”
“I would if it was the right one.”
My jaw falls open before I sputter, “It wasn’t that long ago you lit into me because I didn’t choose neurology as a sub-I. Now, I come to you for advice and you’re—‍”
“About to convince you not to let those bastards take away what you were born to do, Laura.” His voice is feral when he says, “And I don’t just mean the ones with the guns.”
I’m not certain what shocks me more, his words or the use of my given name. While I’m regaining my hard-fought composure, Moser pushes out of his chair before rounding his desk. He opens his mouth and what comes out freezes my vocal cords. “You’re not stupid. You had to realize I was going to read my medical report from the night the ER was shot up at some point.”
I’m truly confused. “What does that have to do with me coming to talk to you about studying a different form of medicine?”
“If it wasn’t for you, I’d have died on the floor of the ER—your ER, Laura. But even amid your own pain, your own personal and physical agony, you didn’t let me. You refused to let a patient go.”
My chest rises and falls as I try to breathe through the weight of Moser’s words. Alice’s question comes back to the forefront of my mind.
“What do you remember after the shooting?”
Apparently, a great deal. I meet Dr. Moser’s eyes and don’t say a word as memories begin to drift in.
The pain as the bullet rips through me.
The same bullet taking down Moser.
A spray of bullets dance around me as he spins like a top in every direction before I’m abruptly released. People move slowly, fearfully shifting as if they’re worried the gunfire is going to start again.
I hazard a glance behind me and quickly turn away from the now faceless man. I yell, “Triage, people. Now!” Realizing those who could, were moving, I clutch my pain-filled shoulder and stumble a few steps to the left before I spot him lying there motionless. Releasing my wound, I drag a cart filled with medical supplies with my good arm. I drop to my knees and roll Moser onto his back so I can assess the damage.
Shit, his face is chalk white.
Snarling, even as my father sidles up next to me to try to get me to stop, I bite out, “No! I have to help him.”
“He’ll get it, Laura.”
“Stop. Leave me alone, Dad. This is who I am, who you raised me to be.”
I tear open a package of 4x4s with my teeth. Cursing, my father rips open more, passing them to me. I stack them and press them against my chief’s wound. Moser groans, eyes fluttering. I snarl, even as I ignore the pain in my own shoulder to accept more from my father. “He’s saved more lives than I can begin to count. I have to do everything.”
My father pressed a kiss against the side of my head. “Laura.” Just my name, but it’s filled with pride and riddled with lingering fear.
Finally, I shake my head as that dark void finally fills in. My eyes meet his and I declare with all the haughty confidence I can muster, “It must those Freeman genes.”
His lips quirk. “I should have guessed. None of the women in your family have ever backed down in all the time I’ve known them—especially when they band together to take on a common foe.”
Without thinking, I blurt out a question I’ve wondered for most of my life, considering there was once a possibility of this handsome man being a relative. “Why did you hurt my aunt all those years ago?”
He looks away. “Because I made a catastrophic mistake.”
“What’s that?”
“I didn’t trust my instincts. When I fell in love with your aunt, and then she and your Uncle Colby became involved—‍”
I gasp.
“Weren’t expecting complete honesty from me, Gore?”