Double Impact: Never Say Die\No Way Back (25 page)

“Where did you get those?” she murmured softly. Her own hair was a light brown with so many gold streaks that it looked more blond than brown. And her eyes were blue. Ami closed her eyes and tried to imagine a man with Nicholas's features, but she could only call to mind the shadowy image that haunted her dreams far too often.

She sighed and peered down at her baby. “Doesn't matter,” she answered herself. “You're my son. No matter who your father was, you're all mine now.”

By ten-thirty Ami had grown seriously worried. Robert always called when he was going to be this late.

She clicked off the television. The newscaster had reported this morning's shooting as an assassination attempt on American Economic Advisor Frank Lowden. Mr. Olment had inadvertently stepped into the path of the bullet intended for Mr. Lowden. The images the cameras had captured made Ami shiver. Why did they have to show
such graphic scenes on television? She frowned. Where was Robert?

Feeling more alone than she had in a very long time, she reached for the telephone to call his cellular number, but a sound downstairs stopped her. She held her breath and listened, her fingers still clutching the cordless receiver, an uncharacteristic hint of fear trickling through her. This was a secure neighborhood. She never worried about intruders.

The front door opened, then closed. She tensed, ready to dial 9-1-1. The sound of the dead bolt being set into place and the clink of keys hitting the hall table announced that Robert was home.

Ami exhaled the breath she'd been holding and dropped the receiver back into its cradle. The familiar rhythm of Robert's footfalls on the stairs chased away any lingering anxiety. She shook her head at how foolishly she was behaving. What was wrong with her tonight?

The episode with Mr. Olment in the ER, she admitted. It had shaken her far too deeply. She turned on her bedside lamp and sat up. Discussing her feelings with Robert never failed to help. He would be able to explain everything. He always did. He was her knight in tailored Armani.

“You're still up,” he commented, surprise as well as concern marring his handsome brow as he strode through the door. He draped his suit jacket over the nearest chair and tugged at his tie, his expectant gaze searching hers.

“I was worried.” She clasped her arms around her bent legs, propped her chin on her knees and waited for him to realize he hadn't called.

A frown pulled his lips downward. “Why would—?” He swore, something he rarely did. “I didn't call,” he realized out loud. He sat on the edge of the bed, next to her, and pressed his forehead to hers. “I am so sorry, baby.
It was an emergency meeting of the board. They're stressing over that lawsuit against Jacobs. I didn't have time to think of anything else. I swear I'll make it up to you.”

She kissed his nose. “Forgiven.” Then she fixed him with a firm look. “But don't ever do it again.”

A deep chuckle rumbled from his chest. “Shall I make it up to you tonight?” He brushed a kiss across her lips. “It might be late, but I'm not that tired.”

She studied his teasing gray eyes, worry twisting unreasonably in her stomach. She did care so for this man. She just wasn't quite sure that what she felt was love, which was why she still hadn't agreed to become Mrs. Robert Allen. But she did care deeply for him. “Maybe,” she offered in an attempt to hang on to the playful moment a little bit longer. “But first we have to talk.”

He arched a skeptical brow. “Talk?” He stood and pulled his shirt from his slacks, then began to unbutton it. “This sounds serious. Did Josh Cowden leave his bicycle in the driveway again?”

Ami patted the spot he'd vacated. “Sit. This
is
serious.”

His fingers stilled in their work, his expression instantly turning as solemn as her own. “Has something happened?” He eased back down onto the mattress. “Is Nicholas all right?”

“He's fine. It's not that kind of serious.”

His sigh of relief was audible.

Ami moistened her lips and tried to decide how to tell him what had happened and how she felt without sounding hormonal or totally paranoid. “There's some kind of international financial summit in town, did you know that?”

He lifted one shoulder and dropped it in a halfhearted shrug. “I may have heard something about it. But I didn't have time to more than glance at the news this morning.” His gaze searched hers, his frown deepening. “Why?”

“There was an assassination attempt.” She splayed her palms, as uncertain of the exact details as the newscaster who'd reported them. “The man who was shot came in on my ER shift.”

Robert dragged the undone tie from around his neck. “Who was he?”

“Natan Olment. He's an aide to the Israeli prime minister. According to the news, he stepped in front of the intended target just as the shot was fired.”

“Bad timing for him.” Robert's tie dropped silently to the carpeted floor. “Did he survive?”

She nodded. “He's in ICU in stable condition. But something strange happened in the ER.”

“Don't keep me in suspense. Tell me,” he urged. His shirt hit the floor next.

Ami took a moment of reprieve to appreciate his well-defined torso. He was a wonderful man, and very nice to look at, blond hair, kind gray eyes. Why hadn't she said yes months ago? What was it that made her hesitate when he had done so very much for her? He'd been there for her every step of the way, even when she'd longed for a career after Nicholas's birth. Robert had been the one to notice her unusual grasp of medical terminology. A battery of tests had quickly revealed an undeniable education from her previous life in the medical field. He helped her get licensed as well as to obtain the position she now held.

“Ami,” he prompted firmly. “Tell me what happened.”

“Just before we sent him up to the OR, I was adding another IV line and he…” Her mind quickly replayed every frantic moment like a video on fast forward. “He looked straight at me and just went ballistic.” She shook her head, still finding the whole episode unbelievable. She knew how it sounded, but she was there, she also knew what she saw. “He was screaming something at me. Some
thing none of us could understand, of course.” She took a breath and forced herself to calm. “Even with two bullets in his chest, he tried to get away.” She looked straight into Robert's eyes. “He tried to get away from
me.
He seemed scared to death.”

“Drugs?” Robert suggested.

“That's the really weird part, his tox screen was clean.”

Robert took her hands in his. “Look,” he said gently. “Just because the guy freaked, doesn't mean it had anything to do with you. He was probably suffering from trauma-induced hallucinations. You've seen it happen before.”

This was true, but today was different somehow. She just couldn't seem to make him understand that. Ami squeezed his hands, holding on with all her might. “You don't think it could've had anything to do with…before?”

He smiled patiently, the expression full of the assurance she needed so desperately. “Of course not. It was just a coincidence that his attention focused on you when the episode started.”

Still not fully convinced, she went on. “It was like he knew me. And whatever he knew wasn't good.”

“Ami.” Robert slipped into his therapist mode. The tone of his voice not quite so patient as before, his posture a little stiffer, his expression closed, free of emotion. She remembered it all well from when they'd first met. Before he'd turned her case over to someone else so that the two of them could pursue a personal relationship.

“You have focal retrograde amnesia. You're always going to wonder whenever anyone looks at you just the right way if they somehow know you. There's nothing wrong with that.”

She let go a heavy breath. “Then why does it feel so…wrong?”

“Because you keep hoping someone will simply walk up to you and fill in all the blanks.” He shook his head slowly, sympathy filling those gray eyes now despite the irritation she knew he must feel. They'd had this discussion a hundred times. “It's not going to happen. You have to accept that.”

She looked away. “I know. It's like I sprang forth fully grown just two years ago.” She thought of her sweet baby. “And four weeks' pregnant.”

“But you know that's not the case.” He took her face in his hands, his hold tender, certain. “You came from somewhere, we just may never know where. And that doesn't matter to me, but it matters to you. That's why you're reading too much into an injured man's hallucinations.”

“Maybe I am,” she relented. “It just felt so real. The whole trauma team noticed it.”

Robert pressed a kiss to her forehead, then looked deeply into her eyes. “Your past is gone, Ami. None of the therapy we tried worked, and we tried it all. That past isn't coming back.”

She wound her arms around his neck and relished the security of having him near. “You're right. I know.”

“You're Ami Donovan,” he murmured close to her ear, the words, his voice, soothing. “Whoever you were before is gone for good.”

S
HE WAS DREAMING
of
him
again. Only this time he pulled her into the shadows with him. Not a threatening gesture, but one of fierce need. He whispered to her, his voice deep and alluring, the words soothing, sensual, and in some foreign language she somehow understood.

He kissed her and fire rushed through Ami's body. Her fingers splayed over his chest. Warm skin, stretched taut over powerful muscle, sent her every nerve ending on alert. She knew instinctively that he could kill her in an instant, but instead he was making her come. Her loins ached from his masterful touch. Pleasure cascaded over her as his lips tasted, teased, and his hands skimmed her body. His long, dark hair brushed against her skin like a medieval warrior's. And his eyes were even darker…almost bottomless, but deeply sensual and alluring. She wanted nothing but to be with him…forever.

Ami jerked awake. For a moment time and place escaped her. Her skin was hot and damp with sweat, her heart pounding in sync with her ragged breaths. The lavender sheets were tangled around and beneath her. Her feminine muscles throbbed with the receding waves of orgasm. She reached out to find the other side of the bed cold and empty. She turned her head and stared at the pillow next to hers, confirming the lack of a warm body beside her. Robert had left for the office without waking her. She frowned. That was odd, he always—

A cry pierced the morning silence.

Nicholas.

Ami sat straight up and peered at the digital clock on the bedside table—6:15 a.m. Damn. She was late. Nicholas cried out again.

She bounded out of bed and rushed down the hall to her baby's room. He stood at the foot of his crib, his face flushed from crying, huge tears flowing down his cheeks. Ami lifted him into her arms. He was wet and hungry and she'd overslept.
Damn.

“Oh, baby, Mommy's sorry,” she cooed. “Let's get this diaper changed and we'll get you some breakfast. Okay?” She tapped his nose and a smile finally peeked past the tears. “That's better,” she murmured, happiness blooming in her chest. Late or not, holding her son always put her in a good mood.

“Good morning!”

Ami's good mood drooped like a summer flower after an early frost at the sound of Mrs. Perry's greeting. She didn't want the epitome of punctuality to know she'd overslept and would still be sleeping if Nicholas hadn't cried out or the dream hadn't been so…

She shook off the lingering sensations of the too vivid dream. She'd analyze that later. Right now she had to get her baby fed, both of them dressed, and herself off to work.

“Oh, my, you aren't dressed.”

Ami looked up to find Mrs. Perry in the doorway. “I overslept,” she said lamely. God, why did she have to sound so guilty? It wasn't her fault she'd dreamed of making love with some raven-haired stranger. Nicholas's dark features nagged at her as if she should remember something. Was she dreaming of his father? Could the man be an actual memory slipping through the wall her mind had
erected between her and her past? Or was it just that, a dream?

“Here, I'll take him. You'd better get dressed.”

Before Ami could protest, Mrs. Perry had taken Nicholas and headed to the changing table. Ami started to snatch him back and to tell the woman that she was capable of caring for her own child, but common sense prevailed. She was late. She should get dressed and get going. Mrs. Perry had done the right thing. As always.

But Ami didn't have to like it.

 

U
NBELIEVABLY
Ami arrived at work ten minutes before her scheduled shift began. She grabbed a cup of coffee from the nurse's lounge and headed for the bank of elevators. According to Jane, Mr. Olment had been moved from ICU to a room on the fourth floor late last night since he was stable and they needed his bed. Apparently the full moon had caused two major pileups, both with serious injuries. Jane had ended up working the entire second shift last night. The dark smudges under her eyes this morning told the tale of how little sleep she'd gotten after going home. Pulling a double shift in the ER was just plain dumb, not to mention against hospital policy. But sometimes it just couldn't be avoided. And the extra money would buy school clothes for Jane's kids.

Ami stabbed the elevator call button. She knew it was foolish, but she had to know. She had to see if the man would react the same way now that his condition had stabilized.

Robert would tell her that she was feeding her own paranoia by going to the man's room or even allowing herself to continue thinking about him. But she simply had to know. She would never stop playing that awful scene over and over in her head until she reconciled herself to the fact
that it was, as Robert had said, trauma-induced hallucinations and nothing more.

On the fourth floor the three nurses at the station were busily preparing for their shift to end. Ami was relieved to see Kathi Stevens on duty. She knew Kathi from a CPR recertification course they'd taken together a few months ago. Kathi had a daughter about the same age as Nicholas.

“Good morning, ladies. Did you have a good shift last night?” Ami propped on the counter and sipped her coffee.

Kathi smiled and winked. “Oh, we had a glorious night. We always do when there's a full moon.”

A heavyset lady Ami knew only as Ginny, glowered at Kathi and then at Ami. “It was the shift from hell.”

Ami took another sip of coffee to prevent a giggle. “That bad, huh?”

The youngest of the three, a new girl Ami had never met, piped up next. “The man in four-twelve ranted the entire first half of the shift.” She shook her head ruefully. “It must be really frightening to be in a foreign country and in the hospital.”

Mr. Olment, Ami presumed.

Kathi lifted a brow at the girl's naiveté. “I would think the frightening part was when someone was shooting at him.”

The girl blushed. “Well, you know what I mean.”

“The Feds coming in and out didn't help,” Ginny added irritably. “I don't know what they expected the man to tell them. He was too out of it to know his own name, much less what happened.”

“Speaking of Mr. Olment…” Ami ventured. “How's he doing this morning?”

“I was just about to go check his vitals,” Kathi told her, selecting his medical chart from the rack.

“I'm glad it's you and not me,” the younger woman said, relieved. “Those guards give me the willies.”

“Would you like to join me?” Kathi asked Ami, ignoring her co-worker's remark.

“Sure.” Ami tossed her empty foam cup into a trash bin and followed Kathi. She was older than Ami, thirty maybe. But her blond hair, perpetual tan and petite figure made her look far younger than her years.

“So Olment had a rough night?” Ami inquired nonchalantly.

Kathi nodded. “We had to up his meds for him to get any real rest at all. He kept mumbling in something besides English and every once in a while he'd try to climb out of his bed. We finally had to put him in restraints.”

“Did evening shift have the same trouble?”

Kathi paused, taking a moment to glance at his chart. “They're the ones who got the order for a sedative to be added to his meds not long after he left ICU. The dosage was too low, though. It wore off in no time.”

Ami didn't have to ask which room was Olment's. The guards posted on either side of his door left no doubt. The two dark, grim-faced men gave Ami the willies, too. When the stiff-looking soldiers let them pass, Ami took a deep breath before going into the room. She had to do this for her own peace of mind. Her pulse skittered into overdrive and her palms began to sweat. This was the right thing to do. She needed to see if Olment would react to her presence this morning. She…had to know.

Once again luck was not going to be on her side. He was asleep. Disappointment flooded Ami. Dammit, why did he have to be asleep right now? Kathi moved to his bedside, leaving Ami at the foot, and began the routine of checking vitals, which was second nature to a nurse. Oh, well, it wasn't as though Ami could kick his bed or any
thing and hope he'd wake up. She'd just have to come by again on her break. If her friend Miranda was on duty today, she wouldn't mind Ami tagging after her to the man's room.

“How is he this morning?”

The male voice that sounded from the doorway behind Ami was heavily accented, just like Mr. Olment's. Kathi looked up at the same time Ami turned to face the man.

“Everything looks fine,” Kathi said as she removed the BP cuff from Mr. Olment's arm.

In spite of the fact that Kathi had spoken to him, the man hadn't taken his eyes off Ami. A strange feeling stirred in the pit of her stomach. She watched in morbid fascination as recognition flared in the newcomer's eyes. She didn't have time to react or to even think before a pallor slid over his face and a barely banked fury devoured all other emotion in his eyes.

“You!” he snarled.

Whatever he said next was in his native tongue and completely lost on Ami. He shouted something to the guards and they came running.

Kathi moved next to Ami at the end of the bed. “What the hell is going on?” she whispered.

Ami shook her head, her voice suddenly paralyzed by a terror she couldn't quite name. The guards seized her, one on either side of her, forcing Kathi away. Only then did Ami's brain register the imminent threat and issue an appropriate response.

“What are you doing?” she demanded.

“Let her go!” Kathi shouted.

Ami struggled, but it was as if iron manacles had been clamped around her arms. She could hardly move, much less hope to break free. The man who'd issued the order
was snarling at her in that foreign language again. What was he saying? Why were they doing this?

“I'm calling Security!” Kathi warned.

During the seemingly endless minutes it took Security to reach the room, everything lapsed into slow motion for Ami. All sound grew distorted, including the man's voice as he continued to rail at her. She shook her head in denial of whatever he was charging. She tried again to break free, but the men holding her were too strong. She blinked, the effort taking what felt like forever. Some instinct deep inside her urged her to flee, but she could neither understand it nor act upon it. She could only stand there, stunned.

Hospital Security charged into the room, shattering the strange slow-motion scene. “What the hell is going on here?”

Ami thought she recognized that deep commanding voice and craned her neck to see if the security guard speaking was Jason Stanford. It was. Thank God. She'd been on shift when Jason had worked a few incidents in the ER. He would know how to handle this.

“They've lost their minds!” Kathi shouted. “That man started barking orders and they—” she pointed to the two guards “—grabbed Ami. They won't turn her loose.”

Jason moved in toe-to-toe with the guard closest to him. “Step aside,” he said in a tone that brooked no argument. The Israeli man didn't move. Hell, he probably didn't even understand a word Jason said. Ami's anxiety rocketed to a new level.

Jason turned back to the man in the richly tailored suit, the one who seemed to be in charge. “Sir, you will ask your men to release this woman. Her name is Ami Donovan. She's a nurse at this hospital. I don't know what you think is going on here, but whatever it is, you're wrong.”

The man merely looked at Jason for several seconds,
then shifted his attention back to Ami. “
You
are a nurse in this facility?”

Ami struggled to keep from trembling. Who did he think she was? She had the white uniform and the damned ID. Couldn't he see that she was a member of the hospital staff? “Yes,” she said shakily. “Kathi and I came in to check Mr. Olment's vitals.”

The man said something in that foreign language again and the two guards released her and returned to their posts outside the door. She exhaled the breath she hadn't even been aware she'd been holding. This was beyond crazy. She rubbed her bruised arms and her knees almost buckled.

Jason bracketed a protective arm around her as if sensing her waning ability to stay vertical. “Would you like to explain what happened?” he asked the man who continued to stare suspiciously at Ami.

“I have obviously made a mistake,” the man said stiffly, his attention now focused on Jason. “You must excuse me.” He turned that unapologetic gaze back to Ami. “I won't make the same mistake again.”

Fear sliced straight through her. Every instinct warned her that his words were more threat than apology. But how could that be? She didn't know this man. Why would he threaten her?

Jason extended his free hand. “My name is Jason Stanford. I'm chief of hospital security.”

After a hesitation that lasted far too long for comfort, the man accepted Jason's hand. “I am Amos Amin. I am head of Mr. Olment's security,” he returned in a tone that sounded forced, clipped.

“If you have any problems, Mr. Amin, you should let me know first.” There was no question what Jason meant by his statement. He would not tolerate Amin or any mem
ber of his security crossing the line he'd just drawn. Jason squeezed Ami's shoulders. “You ladies through in here?”

“Yes,” Kathi said, her voice sounding almost as shaky as Ami felt.

Ami nodded, dredging up a smile for Jason. As she left the room, she felt Amin's gaze on her back like a dagger poised to thrust deep. Who the hell was this man? Who was Olment? And why in God's name did they think they knew her?

Kathi and Ami exchanged unsteady goodbyes at the nurses' station. She didn't miss the strange looks the other two nurses stole in her direction. Ami forced herself to go on, immensely grateful that Jason walked with her to the elevator. Her mind reeled with conflicting emotions. She felt scared, angry, and extremely…anxious. Her entire being wanted to deny the episode that had just taken place.