Wanted: Parents for a Baby! by Laura Iding Page A

“My brother, Trey, is here in the ER. I think he overdosed on pain meds. The police are investigating.”
    â€œWhat? He overdosed on pain meds and the police are there?” Cassie said, her gaze clashing with Ryan’s. “I don’t understand. Where did he get pain meds?”
    â€œI don’t know, but his condition is pretty serious. I know you’re working but if you have time to come down to the ER, I’d appreciate it.”
    â€œI’ll come as soon as I can,” Cassie promised.
    â€œWho overdosed on pain meds?” Ryan demanded.
    â€œGloria Reynolds’s brother, Trey,” she admitted. Before she could say anything more Ryan spun on his heel and strode out of the unit, no doubt heading down to the ER.
    She frowned at his retreating figure. Why was Ryan heading down to the ER? She couldn’t come up with a single reason.
    She turned back toward Emma, knowing that she couldn’t leave her tiny patients, no matter how much she wanted to follow Ryan.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    R YAN JOGGED DOWN the stairs to the ER, determined to talk to the police investigating Trey Reynolds’s overdose. He desperately wanted to know where Gloria’s brother had gotten his pain meds.
    He knew the police wouldn’t want to tell him anything, but he hoped that if Detective Trammel was there, he’d get something out of the detective. Ryan had a sick feeling in his gut that there was a connection between this young man’s overdose and Victoria’s death.
    Surely Detective Trammel knew it, too?
    No one questioned why he was there when he walked through the arena of the ER over to the trauma bay. He stopped short when he saw the ER team working with controlled chaos to save the young man’s life. He was impressed at how quickly yet efficiently they performed live-saving measures. They’d already inserteda breathing tube and were in the process of giving medication into his stomach to prevent whatever pills he’d taken from being absorbed into his bloodstream.
    In the corner of the room, Gloria, the ER nurse who’d been at the triage desk when Emma had been dropped off, stood with her hands over her mouth and tears trailing down her cheeks. He knew all about the helpless guilt of not being able to prevent the tragedy.
    But before he could walk over there he caught a glimpse of Detective Trammel on the other side of the room.
    Without hesitation, he headed over to where the detective and a uniformed officer were standing, giving the trauma team a wide berth to stay out of their way.
    â€œDetective Trammel,” he said with a nod. “I understand you have another pain med overdose?”
    The detective scowled. “How did you hear about this case?”
    â€œThrough a friend,” he acknowledged, refusing to feel guilty for eavesdropping on Cassie’s conversation with Gloria. “Do you know what physician’s name is listed on the prescription bottle?”
    Trammel’s expression darkened further.“Look, Dr. Murphy, I can’t discuss the details of my investigation with you.”
    â€œCan’t or won’t?” Ryan challenged, refusing to give up. “I’m not asking for a full report on your investigation, I just want to validate the physician’s name on the prescription bottle. Was it Oliver Stevenson?”
    The uniformed cop standing beside Detective Trammel jerked his head around in surprise, giving away the truth. Ryan couldn’t help feeling a surge of satisfaction when Trammel looked irritated for a moment, but then gave a brief nod.
    â€œI knew it,” Ryan muttered. Oliver Stevenson was the same physician who’d ordered the pain meds for Victoria. But her surgeon had been a different guy by the name of Dr. Geoff Avery. At the time, that knowledge had haunted him and he’d looked high and low for Stevenson.
    Without finding a single trace of him.
    â€œBefore you get too excited at the