A Knight for Nurse Hart by Laura Iding

her hand.
    Flunitrazepam was the generic name for Rohypnol, the infamous date-rape drug. They wouldn’t have the results from the rape kit for several days, but this pretty much sealed poor Helen’s fate. There was no doubt inhis mind that her rape kit would turn out positive. He sighed and took the results from Raine. “All right. I’ll let the patient know.”
    â€œI’ll go with you.” Raine hovered near his elbow as he entered the room. The police officers, one male and one female glanced up at him curiously.
    â€œI have your drug screen results,” Caleb said, ignoring the police and focusing on the patient. “Would you rather the officers leave, so I can tell you privately?”
    The male police officer looked like he was about to protest, but he needn’t have worried, because Helen was already shaking her head.
    â€œNo, go ahead,” Helen said in a voice barely above a whisper. “They’ll need to know either way.”
    â€œI’m sorry, but you tested positive for Flunitrazepam, also known as Rohypnol.” He handed the drug result to Helen, who barely glanced at it before handing it to the female police officer.
    â€œSo there’s no mistake,” Helen whispered. “He did this on purpose.”
    â€œI’m afraid so.” Caleb wished there was something he could say or do to make her feel better.
    â€œThat’s the second case of Rohypnol from the After Dark nightclub in the past few months,” the female officer said in disgust. “Could be the same bastard.”
    Beside him, he heard Raine suck in a harsh breath. And then suddenly she was gone. When he finished in Helen’s room, he found her out at the desk working on the computer.
    â€œWe have a new admission coming in, new onset abdominal pain,” she told him as if nothing was wrong.
    â€œOkay, let me know once you get a set of vitals and a baseline set of labs. Could be his gall-bladder.”
    â€œSure.” The forced cheerfulness in her tone bothered him.
    But it wasn’t until much later, that he realized why. That the shattered look in Helen Shore’s eyes reminded him too much of the haunted expression in Raine’s.
    Â 
    Raine could barely concentrate as she prepared a summary report for the on-coming shift. Her assault and Helen’s may have been by the same person. The idea was staggering. She hoped and prayed the police would find the guy, and soon.
    After she finished with report, she gave a small sigh of relief. At last, her interminable shift was over. All she needed to do was to finish up the discharge paperwork on Helen Shore and she could leave.
    Taking a deep breath, she entered Helen Shore’s room. Yvonne had left the patient’s bedside at eleven, since there was currently a hospital ban on over-time. Helen had dressed in her clothes but clutched the blanket around her shoulders, like a lifeline. Raine could relate, and she had no intention of taking it away from her.
    â€œI have your discharge paperwork, Helen.” Raine approached her bedside and handed her the slip of paper listing her follow up appointment for the next week. “Do you have any questions before you go?”
    Helen slowly shook her head. “No. The other nurse told me she wouldn’t have the rest of my test results for a few days. Not that it matters, much,” she added bitterly. “I doubt the police will ever find the guy.”
    â€œThey will.” Raine injected confidence in her tone, even though she held the same doubts. She pulled up a chair to sit beside her. “Helen, you need to seek professional help in order to get through this. I know the name of a good therapist, if you don’t have one.”
    â€œThe social worker gave me a list.” Helen stared morosely down at her hands. “But what good is talking about it? Doesn’t change what happened.”
    â€œNo, it won’t.” Raine empathized with