Brash Endeavor, A Stan Turner Mystery Vol 3

About nine o'clock I was helping a doctor sew up a man who'd cut his finger slicing lemons with a sharp knife. We were almost finished when we got word of a lady coming in who had been in an accident on Central Expressway. She reportedly had a bad concussion and was unconscious. Dr. Meade told me to get a table ready which I did. When the medics brought the lady in, much to my shock, it was Sheila Logan.

  Obviously I was shaken considering what had happened Saturday night. Dr. Meade noticed my distress and asked me what was wrong. I told him I knew this woman and I couldn't assist him. He wasn’t happy, but he told me to go relieve someone else and send them over to assist him. I found another nurse on duty, Glenda Barnes, and asked her to switch with me. She too didn't understand what the problem was, but, since there wasn't time to explain, she went ahead and switched with me.

  After they had treated Sheila they took her up and admitted her. Dr. Meade told me she would probably be all right. She was unconscious still but he expected she would come out of it okay. As Dr. Meade walked away I saw Bird staring at me through the doorway to the waiting room. I didn't want to, but I felt I had to go talk to him. As I approached him he smiled anxiously.

  “Rebekah, I was hoping you would be on duty tonight. How is Sheila?"

  "The doctor says she should be all right although she is still unconscious."

  "Oh God, I am so relieved,” Bird said.

  "What happened?"

  "We had just returned from the well, we'd eaten dinner and were going to the Sheraton Hotel on Mockingbird. I was a little tired, so I rubbed my eyes just for a second, when I looked up a large German Shepard was running across the freeway in front of me. I slammed on my brakes to avoid hitting the dog and actually missed him, but the man behind me had been tailgating and rammed into us pretty hard. I was holding on to the steering wheel so I didn't get hurt. Sheila, unfortunately, was caught completely by surprise and was thrown up against the windshield. Then she was jolted again in the opposite direction when the pickup hit us."

  "Oh Bird, that must have been horrible!” I said.

  "It was. When I looked over at Sheila her body was limp. I was panicky, I thought I had lost her. I checked for a pulse and, thank God, she had one. The paramedics got there pretty fast and we rode her to the hospital. I am so glad you were on duty."

  "What about last night?” I said.

  "Oh, don't worry about that. Stan and Sheila just had too much to drink. As you know Sheila's a lot younger than I am and, well you know, I probably don't take care of all her needs. I know she loves me, but I can understand if she has an attraction for a younger man like Stan."

  "Well, I don't feel the way you do. Commitment is commitment. I wouldn't have forgiven Stan had he made love to Sheila. And I wouldn't have forgiven Sheila either."

  "Then it's good it didn't happen,” Bird said.

  "I'm sorry. This is no time to be talking about this. You can go up to the medical-surgical waiting room now and I'll come by every once in a while and keep you abreast of Sheila's progress."

  "Why isn't she in intensive care?” Bird asked.

  "Her vital signs are stable, she's not in any danger, it's just that she hasn't regained consciousness yet. There's really no reason to be ICU.”

  "Bird didn't say anything but I could see he wasn't convinced by my assurances, so I said, 'Listen, I'll check her every thirty minutes and when my shift ends I'll get one of the other nurses to do the same thing."

  "Oh, thank you, Rebekah. “I would really appreciate that."

  After talking to Bird I went up to Sheila's room to check or her. She was lying peacefully in her bed with an IV bottle hanging beside her. I checked her chart to be sure that everything was normal and then inspected her IV to be sure it was flowing properly. After my inspection I found the nurse on duty and asked her to take special care of Sheila as she was a friend. I told her to call me if anything unusual happened.

  When I got downstairs, Dr. Meade called for me, so I went to assist him with some new patients that had been admitted. I didn't see Bird again. After forty-five minutes I got a call from the charge nurse on the medical surgical floor. She said to come up immediately as Sheila was arresting. As I ran up the stairs I heard them call a code blue. When I got to the medical surgical floor doctors and nurses were rushing in and out of Sheila's room. I stepped inside and saw a staff doctor holding two paddles trying to revive her. He placed the paddles on her chest and yelled for everyone to clear. Sheila's body was jolted by the charge, but she did not respond.

  "She's gone. It's no use,” the doctor said. “Who's the nurse in charge on this floor. I want to see her immediately!"

  I followed the doctor down the corridor. The charge nurse came running up to the doctor and said, “You wanted to see me doctor?” she said.

  "Yes, come with me."

  The doctor took her into a storage room where they could talk in private. I inched up close to the door so I could over hear their conversation.

  "Somebody screwed up in there and I want to know who it was and how it happened! There is no reason why that lady should have died."

  "Well, doctor we were watching her very closely, every thirty minutes someone was in there, and everything seemed normal. When the nurse went into check the patient a few minutes before she arrested she observed her having shortness of breath, a rapid pulse and swelling of her arm where the IV had been positioned. It looked to me like someone had tampered with the IV,' the nurse said."

  "I want the name of everyone who went in that room tonight! I want to question them all personally first thing in the morning!” the doctor said.

  "Yes, sir."

  "Right now I need to go report this to the chief of staff, he may want to call the police."

  At that point I quickly left so the doctor wouldn’t see that I’d been ease dropping. I immediately went back to the emergency room. Dr. Meade asked me what was going on upstairs so I filled him in on what I had seen."

  "How did you know the patient, Rebekah?” Dr. Meade asked.

  "She was the wife of one of my husband's clients,” I replied.

  "Did you know her well?” he asked.

  "Well, we've gone out together a few times,” I said and then broke down and cried.

  "Are you all right, Rebekah?' Dr. Meade said."

  "No, actually Doctor I am really upset, would you mind if I went home."

  "No. No. Your shift's almost over anyway, go ahead and go,” he said.

  "Thank you," I said.

  After that I left the hospital and drove straight home.