Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4) (4 page)

“And where the hell
do you theorize that she scored these illicit drugs?” Abel asked angrily,
crossing his arms over his chest as the McKinnon sisters fumed.  “And be aware,
I’m now speaking as Honor McKinnon’s attorney and any remarks that you make now
might be repeated in a more judicial setting, Doctor,” Abel added, the threat
in his deep voice clear and menacing.

“I have no clue where
the patient got the drugs.  I DO know that a fatal amount was found in the
bloodstream.  I’d say the evidence that Miss McKinnon is unstable should be
overwhelming.”

“Yeah, well, you’d be
wrong, Doc,” Zeke seethed.  “Especially since someone already attempted to kill
Honor once this year.”  Looking at Cain and Mack, he asked sharply, “Have the
rest of the pills in the bottle been checked?”

Mack nodded.  “They
have.  It appears that all of them were Seconal, Zeke.  My guess?  Somebody
replaced the pills in Honor’s bottle with something a whole lot more dangerous
than a migraine medication.  Unfortunately, the pills look similar enough that
she wouldn’t have known the difference just by glancing at them.  She very
probably would have thought she was just taking her normal medication.  That’s
my
supposition, at any rate,” he informed the sheriff while throwing a disgusted
look at the psychiatrist.

“It’s mine as well,”
Cain agreed, barely containing a snarl at the psychiatrist.  “Dr. Brantley,
however, is head of the psychiatric department, and he’s convinced that…”

“… that Miss McKinnon
is a threat to herself.  I’d like to file a court order and have her
involuntarily remanded into my custody for treatment.”

“No.”  Orla and
Zeke’s flat denial was both unanimous and unwavering.  “We won’t consent to
it,” Zeke added firmly, his big body going stiff at the very idea of handing
another man control of Honor’s future.  Fuck that. 

“I don’t
need
your
consent – just a judge’s signature,” Dr. Brantley shared indignantly.  “Your
badge hardly imbues you with enough clout to make that kind of informed, expert
decision.”

“Maybe not, but
between myself and the McKinnon family, we’re friends with every single judge
in this town.  You’ll never get that order past the initial stages.”

“Besides, this point
is a dead issue anyway,” Maggie said haughtily as she leaned back in her chair,
her trim legs crossed, “Honor already has a perfectly good psychiatrist with
impeccable credentials.”

“How do you know
that?” Ice questioned doubtfully.

“Because I care
enough about myself now to only use the very best professionals available.  I
referred Honor to her myself just the other day,” Maggie informed him
succinctly, shooting him a damning look.

“What?  There’s
absolutely no record of that in her files,” Dr. Brantley sputtered, fanning
through the pages of his file. 

“I’d imagine that’s
because she’s a new patient.  Mack knows her,” she said with a wink at Dr.
Daniels.  “If I’m not mistaken, he’s probably already given her a call,” Maggie
continued smoothly, offering Mack an encouraging nod.

“I have,” Mack
Daniels confirmed as Zeke watch the other man lie seamlessly.  “While you were
evaluating Honor, I did, indeed, make that phone call.”

“You never said…” Dr.
Brantley blustered, obviously unhappy that someone had gone around his
authority. 

“You never asked,”
Mack returned, his voice cutting through the other man’s sanctimonious
self-importance.  “She should be here any minute now,” he informed the doctor
with a bland smile before exchanging a look with Maggie.

Zeke looked between
Mack and Maggie, well aware that Honor had no such doctor.  He wasn’t quite
sure what the pair was up to but it was clear that it was to try and help his
girl.  He kept his mouth shut as he thought about how much Honor abhorred the
very idea of being forced to talk about her feelings.  She’d made it clear on
more than one occasion that she’d prefer to be tortured.  Of course, desperate
times called for desperate measures and if his woman needed a shrink to get out
of Dr. Brantley’s clutches, he’d deliver her to whoever Maggie and Mack had
chosen with a smile on his face and a song in his heart. 

“May I ask who this
so-called psychiatric physician is?” Dr. Brantley asked in a tone that was more
order than request.

“It’s my sister.  Dr.
Aubrey Daniels.  She’s board certified and everything, Brantley, so you
shouldn’t have any complaints there.  In fact, her qualifications would rival
yours, I suspect.”

“Actually, my resume
would win against his by a landslide, but then, Dr. Brantley already knows that
my accomplishments rival his, Mack, since he offered a full throated protest
against the hospital director for hiring me,” a composed feminine voice said
from the doorway of the waiting room. 

Mack frowned as he
turned his head toward Dr. Brantley.  “So, you’re the asshat that’s been giving
my baby sister such a hard time in her department, huh?  That figures.  A
douche like you wouldn’t be able to handle a woman on staff being smarter than
you, would he?  A word to the not-so-wise, though,” he said, lowering his voice
as he leaned toward the older man, “I wouldn’t screw with her too much.  She’s
from the big city, man.  The kind with paved streets and Starbucks on every
corner.  She’s accustomed to eating dicks like you for dinner – especially when
her patients are on the line.”

From the corner of
his eye, Zeke saw Aubrey’s lips twitch, and his shoulders relaxed slightly when
the woman took another step toward their group.  The new doctor might come in a
pint-size package, but she was still Mack’s sister.  And everybody in town knew
that both Daniels’ doctors took no shit from anyone when it came to the well-being
of their patients.  If this woman had agreed to help Honor for Mack and
Maggie’s benefit, then Honor would be in capable hands.   Meeting Aubrey
Daniels’ steady gaze when she focused it on him, Zeke heard the younger woman
ask, “You and Mrs. Orla McKinnon are my patient’s medical proxies, correct,
Sheriff?”

“Yes,” Zeke replied
quickly, bobbing his head.  “We are.”

“Wonderful.  Do
either of you desire the additional medical opinion of Dr. Brantley?” she
questioned tersely, shifting her eyes between Orla and Zeke.

“No,” each of them
said in perfect unison.

“Fabulous,” Aubrey
returned, her smile becoming coolly confident as she turned to address the
older psychiatrist. “As you’ve heard, your opinion has not been solicited by my
patient’s next of kin.  Ms. McKinnon possesses both a qualified physician and
two rational proxies to make her decisions in the highly unlikely event that
she can’t do it for herself.  Your presence is no longer needed nor required,
Dr. Brantley.  Please allow them their privacy so that we may confer over Ms.
McKinnon’s case and take your threats of an involuntary commitment with you. 
That won’t be happening here today or
any
day as long as I sit at the
helm of my patient’s care plan.  Commitment is an absolute last resort in my
eyes and the eyes of most any practicing doctor in the area.  Unless, there’s
some ulterior motive that you’d like to share with all of us?  Is there, Dr.
Brantley, something else we should all know?”

“W-well, no… there
isn’t, but if the patient is suicidal…”

“As you well know,
given Ms. McKinnon’s history, we can’t automatically deem her as a suicidal
risk.  It’s a matter of public record that someone has tried to kill her in the
past.  If I know that after a few months in this town, I’m sure as a longtime
resident of Paradise, you are aware of these facts as well, Dr. Brantley. 
Until she’s awake, conscious, and cognizant of her surroundings, and I can talk
to her, NO medical professional can make that kind of judgment call.  Last I
heard, my patient is still mostly sedated due to the substances found in her
system.  Is that correct, Dr. Turner?  Dr. Daniels?” she asked with a look
toward Cain and Mack.

“It is.  When we
walked out here, she was starting to come around, but…” Cain began.

“What?” Zeke exploded
as a wave of anger flooded him.  “She’s alone back there?  She’s coming out of
a drug-induced fog and she’s by herself?  Get the hell out of my way, Cain.  I
want to see her!” he roared as he started toward Cain.

Cain threw his hands
up.  “Zeke, you know I’d never leave her alone.  Calm down,” he urged the
sheriff soothingly.

“Millie is back there
holding her hand, Zeke,” Dr. Daniels informed Zeke in a low voice.  “You know
my wife will gut punch anybody that even looks like they’ll upset Honor,
including you.  Take a beat and get a grip, man.”

Hearing that Mack’s
wife was at Honor’s side helped, but it certainly didn’t fix the issue, Zeke
thought as he fought off another wave of irritation.  He wanted to see the woman
he loved, damn it.  “I wanna see her, Cain.” Zeke repeated, his voice somewhat
softer this time.

“We all do,” Harmony
added from somewhere behind Zeke’s shoulder.

Holding up her hands
before the McKinnon family could begin to riot, Aubrey shook her head. 
“Whether she attempted to commit suicide or not, the very worst thing any of
you could do to Honor right now is overwhelm her.  She’s going to be confused
and disoriented when she wakes up.  We need to
all
have a mind to that,”
she added with a sidelong look at Dr. Brantley.

“Well,” the older man
said grumpily.  “I can see I’m no longer needed here,” he admitted unhappily.

“You most certainly
are NOT!” Miss Orla hissed, her eyes shooting daggers at the interfering
doctor.  “My niece has a nice, qualified doctor that this family can trust, and
I, for one, would be a lot more comfortable if you’d get gone already so that
we can all gab freely with ‘er!”

“Leave now before I
call one of my deputies to escort you out,” Zeke growled, barely holding onto
what was left of his patience. 

Leveling the newest
Dr. Daniels a nasty look, Dr. Brantley stormed off, disappearing back through
the set of metal double doors.  Waiting until those doors clanged behind him,
Aubrey turned to face Honor McKinnon’s family.  “Well, not that our unwelcome
guest has departed, we need to actually make
onH
Honor my patient legally because I just lied through my teeth to Brantley.  As
you all probably know, I’ve never spoken to Honor outside the confines of her
café.  She’s a lovely woman, but I know very little about her other than what
Mack’s shared.  He gave me the abbreviated version of her history though so I
think I’ve gotten the gist of things.  Thanks for playing along,” she said with
a grateful smile at Honor’s Aunt Orla.

“We’re just thankful
you showed up, child,” Aunt Orla said in a kindly voice.  “And we’re real
appreciative that you took a notion to help our Honor.”

 Aubrey offered the
elderly woman a gracious smile as she showed them a standard-looking form.  “If
you and Zeke could just initial and sign the bottom of these forms, Honor will
be a formal patient of mine and I can see about getting you back there to see
her.  And while I can promise that nobody will be committing her, I
will
need
to speak with her myself.  Hospital guidelines are clear on cases such as
hers.  Psychiatric evaluation is standard, and honestly, we need to know if
Honor intentionally tried to harm herself.”

“We understand, Doc,”
Zeke returned as he hastily scribbled his name beneath Miss Orla’s shaky
signature.  “First, though…”

“Excuse me?” a woman
called as the metal doors to the bowels of the hospital slid open again. 
“Nurse Daniels sent me out here to ask if there’s a Zeke present.  Miss
McKinnon is calling for him.  Nurse Daniels thought the patient might relax a
bit if he was in the room with her.  Miss McKinnon’s real groggy, but we’re
making out his name plain as day.”

Turning beseeching
eyes toward Aubrey, Zeke’s hands balled into fists as he fought the urge to
storm the emergency room. 

“Go ahead,” the young
doctor consented with a slight nod.  “Just make sure you don’t say anything to
agitate her.  We need to get some answers, Sheriff, and that will be hard to do
if my newest patient is too hysterical to offer me any explanations.  She might
be conscious, but it’ll still be several hours before I can get anything
understandable out of her.  Once I talk to Cain and Mack, we’ll see about
getting the rest of you back to see her.  One at a time, of course.”

Zeke didn’t stick
around to hear anything after that.  He was too focused on reaching Honor’s
side.  Following on the very young nurse’s heels as she led him through a
tangle of hallways, he was relieved when she finally paused just outside a
glass cubicle located directly across from the nurse’s station and gestured
inside. 

“Nurse Daniels is
inside sitting with Miss McKinnon, sir, but she’ll give you some privacy once
you get settled.  Just use the call button if you need us for anything,” she
invited before walking toward the circular nurse’s station counter.

Zeke nodded at the
other woman before quickly moving to stand in the doorway of the room. 
Catching his breath as he spotted Honor shifting restlessly in the middle of
the narrow hospital bed, her sweet face pinched with anxiety, he quickly moved
forward.