Dead on Arrival (12 page)

We both stuck our helmets on and stepped inside. I had to. A person's life depended on it, and that's why they had supposedly hired me at TLC. Even though my job was investigating medical insurance fraud, I was a nurse first.

And always would be.

Sky was a hell of a pilot was all I could think as we safely landed on the top of the hospital where a group stood waiting with the patient we had to transport to a larger trauma center.

They worked quickly and so synchronized that I felt much calmer and safer at the job especially when I looked into the pale blue eyes of the woman on the stretcher. She couldn't have been more than early twenties, and her coloring was cyanotic, and those lovely blue eyes quite watery.

Didn't look good at all.

I said a silent prayer, and she started to mumble something. I couldn't hear much with the helmet on and the blades of the helicopter whirring, but I did make out “my kids.”

It didn't matter what she said, how many kids she had, how old they were. I was bound and determined to get this mother to wherever she needed to go as safely as she needed to go.

So I put all my fears out of my head.

“You really are one hell of a pilot,” I said to Sky after we safely landed, unloaded our patient to the awaiting hospital staff, and got back inside the helicopter.

Nicky strapped himself into his seat and shut his eyes. “Late night, you guys.”

Sky shook his head. “Night, buddy.” He looked at me. “Thanks. I try. Isn't too hard really, though, when you love your job.”

And I could tell he did. We both got in, took off, and while I was now able to watch the scenery below, Sky came on over the earphones in my helmet.

“You did good, Pauline.”

I smiled and nodded toward him, giving him the thumbs up.

He chuckled in my ears and maneuvered the helicopter as if we were in some video game.

I laughed, but my insides didn't find it too funny. When I waved at Sky to calm down, he did.

“How long have you been doing this, Sky?” I thought he'd fly safer and straighter if I kept him busy in conversation.

He chuckled. “Three years with TLC. I used to fly with a hospital out in Phoenix for a few years before that.”

“Oh, what brought you to Connecticut?” Suddenly I was interested. Maybe it was the altitude, although, yeah, I knew we weren't much higher than the power lines (at least I hoped we were higher than the power lines). Maybe it was because Sky was a real looker and a decent pilot to boot. Or maybe he'd say something that would help my case.

I sighed. Anything was possible, and right about now I needed
anything
to get this case moving—so I wouldn't have to lie to Fabio again.

Lies always seemed to jump up and bite me in a not so pleasant spot.

Sky seemed to hesitate, but at the same time there was a gust of wind that had us shaking. I'd hesitate too. No, I'd land this sucker in the nearest field so the wind wouldn't blow us into any power lines. Then he said, “Came here for a change and to be with someone special. Didn't work out though.”

Even through the noise of the helicopter, I could hear him sigh and hear the pain in his voice.

A woman.

Sky had moved nearly across the country for a woman, and he was still single and obviously alone. Lonely maybe.

“Sorry.”

He waved a hand at me, and I worried he needed that hand to fly. “No need to be. Wasn't meant to last.” He chuckled. “No big deal. I've met several since that one and will meet a hell of a lot more. You always live here?”

I groaned. “Does it show?”

He laughed.

I told him my entire life story, and before I knew it, we were sitting on the helipad at TLC. “Nice, smooth landing,” I said.

Sky nodded at me and got up and nudged Nicky, who woke clear-headed as if he hadn't slept a wink. I envied him.

“We need to fill out our paperwork, Pauline,” Nicky said.

“Sure. Later, Sky.” We nodded at each other, and I followed Nicky into the lounge were I got a hot tea, he a coffee, and in a few minutes our paperwork was done.

The entire trip took so long I hadn't realized that I'd missed lunch. Now I was famished. No one could leave the lounge area since they were all waiting for calls. I wondered where ER Dano and Jagger were. Maybe together sitting on the southern side of town—talking about me! Yikes!

No. No way.

“I'm going to get something to eat. Does anyone want anything?” I asked the gang, but they all declined since they were used to bringing their own food. Since I was still on orientation, I felt certain that I could leave but did go tell Lilla I would be gone.

“To where,
chérie
?” Her desk was neatly cleaned off. Lilla was a heck of a worker. Just like her mom. Hopefully the powers that be wouldn't throw her back across the border. I was fairly certain someone had pulled some strings so she could work here.

Fabio? Jagger? Her mom?

“I'm going to…hum. Not sure.” Half of the day was shot although the flight was rewarding in the fact that we got the patient safely to her destination, and I'd given her meds on time and without any problems. Now I had to work on my “second” job. I looked at Lilla. “The hospital cafeteria has a chicken Caesar salad to die for.”

Her dark eyes widened. “Oh,
chérie
, bad choice of words,” she said, grabbed her purse from her desk, and took my arm. “You drive. I have to redo my makeup, and we need to stop at your place so I can borrow some scrubs or something for a disguise.”

With that Lilla and I set off to my place, then “lunch” in the hospital—only floors below comatose Pansy Sterling.

Hm….

Lilla, dressed in my white lab coat with my stethoscope draped over her shoulder, and I looked at each other and then at our empty Caesar salad dishes. For some reason, I knew, just knew, we were thinking the same thing.

I leaned near her, “So, how do we get in to see her?”

Looking very much like a doctor and sporting my old hospital employee ID, which I'd managed to save as a souvenir of working at St. Greg's Hospital since I was friends with Sara from Human Resources, Lilla winked at me and we stood, took our trays to the conveyor belt, and my heart started to race.

This could be a huge break in my case—and I'd be doing it without Jagger!

That alone was reason enough to be there.

I “borrowed” Miles's ID badge and wore it backwards as if it'd turned around on its own. Although Lilla really didn't look like my picture, unfortunately that is, I figured no one would be looking that closely at the ID badge. As evidenced by all the males in the cafeteria, they'd all be looking at Lilla's face and other more important parts and not checking her ID. Besides, she acted so nonchalant, no one seemed suspicious.

A few people recognized me though, so I claimed I was there doing part-time float pool work, so they couldn't connect me with any unit. Each time I acted as if I were in a hurry so there'd be little chitchat with old employees. Damn. I was getting better and better at this stuff.

I said a silent prayer that Pansy would be out of her coma to give us some information and that we could get in to see her. Well, I wished she'd be out permanently for own good.

Lilla and I made our way toward the Central Supply department, as that was the least traveled route. We could have gone straight up to Pansy's floor on the elevator, but I noticed a few docs that I'd worked with near the elevators and needed to avoid them. This area was like walking in the basement of the hospital—so very few came through here.

I looked at Lilla. “You look very good. Very real.”

She smiled. “Thanks you,
chérie
.”

I winked and decided not to correct her English. She was turning out to be a real asset to my case. “I'm trying to think of a reason for us to use to get into the room. Past the guard. With one being attacked already, they might be more careful. Not that they weren't before though.”

I stopped talking and pushed the elevator button. When nervous I tended to ramble, and right now I felt a whopper of a ramble coming on.

“Can we say we are going in to exam her?” Lilla asked as we stepped onto the empty elevator.

“Examine? Yeah, but hopefully the guard won't ask questions. So much staff goes in and out of patients' rooms on a daily basis that I'm banking on the hopes that fake outfits and IDs will do the trick. Not to mention the fact that we need Pansy to wake up for us.”

I looked at the floor numbers on top of the elevator light up as we passed each one. Good. No one else got on.

Suddenly it slowed, stopped, and the door opened to the OR floor. Damn it. I looked out to see staff bustling about inside the OR doors. Good thing Miles was off duty for the next two days. Someone might recognize me and see his ID if it turned slightly! I looked down to make sure it hadn't flipped around.

The doors started to shut. I started to re-breathe and a hand reached out and grabbed onto the door!

“Damn elevator,” a male voice said.

I slunk to the back of the small box-like room and pushed Lilla to the side to kind of cover me.

The orderly pushed a stretcher in. Johnny Wakefield. Miles had dated him! The patient had on a mask. Must have been on isolation so she wouldn't be spreading germs into the air.

Germs.

Air.

Masks!

I looked at Lilla and winked. She stepped more in front of me, and Johnny started rapping some song that sounded like every other rap song I'd ever heard. Well, at least he didn't turn around and see me.

The elevator opened on Pansy's floor, and Johnny didn't move. Darn it.

Lilla had the good sense to say, “Excuse us, please.” Although her female pheromones were wasted on Johnny, but she didn't know, and I didn't care. He still moved to the side and let us out without a word as I bent my head forward enough so that my hair pretty much covered my face.

I did, however, trip out of the elevator and land smack into old Dr. Carrington, whom I think played on “Father Knows Best,” since he was that old.

He looked at me. “Excuse me, nurse.”

Great. I passed the incognito over-eighty medical staff test. Now onto the real thing.

Lilla followed me toward the nurses' station and around the corner. I paused and looked over the receptionist's shoulder to see the room numbers of the patients on the charts in front of her.

No luck. Too far away.

Lilla leaned near. “Won't her room be the one with a guard outside the door?”

I looked at her without allowing myself to grab and hug her and said, “Good going.”

We walked around the unit, with no one noticing since we chatted and acted as if we belonged until I noticed a guard sitting on a straight chair outside the room at the end of the hallway. I would have thought they'd have her closer to the desk, but maybe that was all that was available. When we got closer and the guard leaned forward, I paused and grabbed Lilla's arm.

“Today is our lucky day,” I whispered.

We walked right up to the guard, said hello, and took out a mask, rubber gloves, and a Johnny coat from the supply stand near the door.

Pansy Sterling was on isolation!

That patient on the elevator must have been a sign from up above that it'd work out.

Everyone that entered Pansy's room had to dress disguised in these outfits so that they wouldn't spread germs to her. I felt badly that she must have developed some complications to warrant the isolation, but I also looked upward and winked to St. Theresa.
Good going
, I thought.
Thanks
.

I looked at Lilla. “Doctor, do you want me to assist?” I asked, hoping the guard had no medical knowledge at all.”

He remained looking at a magazine in his hands, and Lilla played along brilliantly with, “Of course, nurse. I'll need you the entire time.” She even spoke with an American accent!

I looked at the guard. “Have a nice day, sir.”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

Thank goodness hospitals were filled with bustling staff during the day shift. If I'd come last night with Jagger, we'd be very noticeable. I mean I was talking,
Jagger
—in a building of predominantly female staff.

Lilla stood to the side, so I pushed at the handle on the door. It swung open—and I gasped.

Two nursing assistants were in the room with Pansy! Oh…my…gosh. For some reason, I expected an empty room except for the patient. They chatted in broken English, switching back and forth into Polish, since Hope Valley had a very large population of that nationality.

Both seemed to care less about Lilla and me. They finished fluffing Pansy's pillows, tucking one folded in half behind her back and resting her leg on another one.

Pansy didn't move.

Damn it.

When one of the assistants lifted her hand to rest it on a pillow, she got the IV tubing caught on the railing.

And Pansy moaned.

“Need any help?” I offered, but they both looked at Pansy and declined.

“She's set for now. We turn her in two hours,” the nursing assistant near the window said as she walked toward the door, starting to take her gloves off already.

Thank goodness for busy medical staff. Neither woman paid us any attention, as did the guard. We were home free as long as Pansy did more than moan.

When only Lilla and I were left in the room, I adjusted the IV tubing (hey, once a nurse, always a nurse) to make sure it wouldn't get caught again if Pansy moved. It really hurt to have an IV yanked on.

Lilla and I stood there for a few seconds.

Pansy remained like a corpse. Her color pretty much the same as prior to her surgery, but I assumed she'd had a few units of blood, which did probably help to make her lips a less lovely shade of cyanotic blue. Then again, she was fair skinned anyway.

I looked at Lilla. “I hate to disturb her, and I'm not even sure we'll get anything out of her.”

Lilla nodded. “Won't hurt to try though,
chérie
.”

Pansy stirred.

Did she hear us? Hearing was the last sense to go, so I assumed she could still hear—not that Pansy was going anywhere right now.

I touched her hand.

She pulled back.

“Good,” I said. “Pansy, this is Pauline. From work. TLC. The nurse.”

Her hand remained still.

“Damn it. She isn't responding.” I took the penlight that was next to the bed, held her eyelids opened, and watched her pupils dilate. “Good.” I repeated it on the other side and looked at Lilla again. “Both of her eyes are equal and reactive to light which is a good sign. They might have her heavily sedated to remain still.”

I walked to the other side of the bed to check out some of the equipment. Chest tubes. A plastic container hung from the side of her bed. Evidently when stabbed, her lung must have been punctured, and the chest tubes inserted to re-expand it.

The buzzing and clicking of monitors and other equipment filled the small room, and I wondered why every hospital had that same scent. Hospital scent.

I watched Pansy's monitor a few minutes, pleased at what I saw and then walked to the other side of the bed where she faced.

Lilla and I tried asking Pansy question after question. A few times her hand would clench, and Lilla and I would look at each other and nod. We kept it up for several more minutes, not wanting to effect Pansy's recovery in any negative way though.

I cleared my throat and leaned closer, thinking the noise of some of the equipment might be making it difficult for Pansy to hear me. “Pansy. Pansy, do you remember that you own TLC Ambulance Company?” I took her hand. “If you do, squeeze my hand.

Lilla and I watched as her hand tightened on mine.

“Good,” I said about ready to jump around for joy. But that was a far cry from getting her to respond, and I knew that it could have been more of a reflex than her being coherent.

“Do you remember ER Dano and Buzz…Jeremy and the rest of the staff?” I asked, hoping that would bring her memory forward.

Her hand remained limp in mine.

“Shoot.”

Suddenly there were voices outside the door.

I dropped Pansy's hand and looked at Lilla.

“Maybe the guards are changing shifts?” she said.

“Let's go with that. If we get caught, we get caught. We can say we are here as friends checking up on a her even though visitors are restricted.”

I turned back to Pansy and decided our time here was short, so I might as well go for broke. “Pansy. I saw the room in your house that looks like a jungle. Neat. It is neat and love, love, love that chair.”

Her eyelids fluttered.

I sucked in some air and feeling horrible continued, “You must have some great times there. That chair looks perfect for…well, you know.” I forced a chuckle. “Who's your special guy?” Maybe if I found out Pansy's lover that would tie into the case. Jilted lovers often made it onto the suspect list in cases, as did disgruntled employees. Maybe there was a connection with her ex and Payne too.

Pansy's hand started to clench and unclench on it's own.

Hoping it wasn't more reflexive action, I took in a deep breath and asked, “Who are you involved with? Or were involved with. What is his name?”

The door started to open.

Lilla's eyes looked as horrified as mine felt.

I grabbed her arm and headed to the door before it opened all the way. Suddenly, it shut. We looked at each other and let out a collective sigh.

Then the door started to open again.

I grabbed Lilla and pushed her into the bathroom with me. We shut the door just as the other one opened all at once. Apparently whoever was coming in had been talking to the guard. Maybe getting the okay to come see Pansy.

I held the door before it clicked shut. A tiny opening remained. Not big enough for anyone to see us but definitely big enough for us to see them. I looked, blinked, and sighed.

Buzz Lightyear.

My tense body relaxed. Obviously he'd come to see his employer. I looked at Lilla and winked. She held her finger to her lips as if I was going to start talking, but then she winked back.

“Hey, Pansy…uh…it's me. Jeremy.” He stammered a bit and tapped his fingers on the bedrail.

I almost asked “who?” and realized the kid was a nervous wreck.

Jeremy stood on the side of the bed that Pansy faced. He looked almost as white as she, so I figured for a young guy, it was tough coming to the hospital to see someone he worked for so sick. Then I thought his mother would be proud. Kudos to Jeremy Buttman.

He stood there staring at Pansy as if waiting for her to yawn, open her eyes, and say hi. But she remained still, and Jeremy remained even stiller.

He must have pulled his thoughts together enough to say, “I hope they find who did this to you, ma'am. I really hope they do,” as he touched her shoulder then nonchalantly fiddled with the IV tubing.

I agreed in my head then listened to Jeremy tell Pansy, in great boring detail, how things were going at work. He seemed much more at ease now and even pulled up a chair and sat there talking.

When he stood and stared at the monitor beeping over Pansy's head, the door opened and in walked a few more isolation-clothed people. Kim Gonzalez, the RN from the ER, the receptionist Nancy, and Jennifer Shelton, one of the EMT girls. They all said hi to Buzz and a few words to Pansy. Nice that they realized that she could probably still hear them.

Soon Nancy said, “We should go,” and the group said goodbye to Pansy and started toward the door.