Lethal Incision

by Dobi Cross

  As soon as the round ended, Zora hurried to the attending who had been on-call last night. He was speaking with some interns so Zora waited till he finished.

  “Dr. Smyth, how can I help you?” The attending was a no-nonsense guy who didn’t like to mince words.

  Zora needed a break in the case. And this was most likely it. If it didn’t work out, then maybe she needed to start considering that something was really wrong with her like they said.

  She took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “I was wondering if you remembered my call about a patient last night.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Christina opened her eyes to see she was in what looked like a warehouse. It was somewhat dark with light streaming in from one window that was partly open on her left. She could make out some large drums with dark colored stains all over them piled in a corner ahead of her. She tried to rub her eyes and then realized that her hands were immobile. She looked down to see that they were tied behind her back with a thick rope that also looped around a beam. And her legs were held together with a zip tie that cut into her skin. Christina bit her lower lip to stop herself from crying out in pain.

  She heard the footsteps that echoed in the room before she saw him. Bulky with a meaty head heralded by a forehead that looked as flat as her saucepan. She would call him Bulky since she didn’t know his name. He towered over her and Christina resisted the urge to shrink back.

  She couldn’t let the fear paralyze her. Even though she didn’t know who these guys were, it was clear they were up to no good and could easily get rid of her if they so chose. But what was more important was that no one knew she was missing. And it might be too late for her by the time Zora pieced it together. She had to send her a message. An idea came to her.

  “I taped the surgery,” she blurted out.

  Bulky cast an intense gaze on her. Christina wasn’t sure if he believed her.

  “I had a camera in the girl’s surgery and I recorded the whole thing,” she insisted.

  Bulky remained silent. And then he pulled a phone from his pocket and made a call. Christina figured it was his boss on the other end of the line, someone who understood Russian.

  The man placed a hand over the phone. “Where is it?” the man bellowed at her.

  “In my apartment. But you won’t be able to find it unless I show you. It’s hidden somewhere very secret.”

  Bulky spoke again to the person on the other line.

  Christina waited with bated breath. God, I need your help, she prayed. If they didn’t believe her, she wasn’t sure how long they would keep her alive.

  Bulky ended the call and motioned to someone behind her who she hadn’t been aware was there.

  Christina’s pulse ratcheted up. Maybe they had decided to just kill her and get it over with. Someone touched her back. Christina jumped but the ropes held fast. She felt the hands tugging at the ropes and then the ropes fell away. The man grabbed her hands before she could move them, bound them with a cable tie, and then cut the tie at her feet. She heard the man behind her address Bulky as Thunder.

  “Get up,” Thunder barked.

  Christina struggled to her feet and glanced at the nameless man behind her. He could practically be Thunder’s twin.

  “Move,” Thunder said. Christina shuffled forward as Twinny pushed her toward the warehouse’s exit.

  The boss on the other line must have chosen to go along with Christina’s story because the town car they were in stopped in front of Zora’s apartment. They’d put a hood over her head so she’d lost all sense of direction till they arrived and the hood was removed.

  Twinny opened the car door and then pulled her from the backseat. Christina looked around. The street was quiet and no one was out and about. She couldn’t cry for help. It was just her luck that there were no neighbors loitering on the sidewalk.

  Twinny nudged her toward the steps that led to her apartment. Christina climbed the steps, her mind racing to see if there were any escape options. By now, Thunder had gotten out of the car and climbed the front stairs to open the main building entrance door. Christina noticed he held her keys in his gloved hands. He must have taken it from my pocket when I was unconscious.

  Twinny pushed her into the building and Christina made it to her floor sandwiched between them. Thunder used her keys again to unlock the door while Twinny pushed her inside and shut the door behind them. The smell of the pecan pie she had made this morning still hung in the air and her stomach rumbled. Which reminded her she hadn’t eaten anything since last night.

  “Bring it.” Thunder barked.

  Christina shrugged her shoulders and pivoted to raise her tied hands at him.

  “Show us.”

  Christina’s shoulders fell. So they had no plans to untie her hands. It was just little her against mighty them. What did they think she could do? Her mind raced for other alternatives as she slowed her steps to her room. She needed to buy time. Maybe time for Zora to come home or for one of the neighbors to come outside. She only had a chance to escape if there was someone else around beside these goons.

  Once she got to the front of her door, she waited till Thunder opened it. Christina stepped in and ignored the fact that these goons had just invaded her private haven. Apart from Zora, she’d never allowed anyone into her little slice of heaven. Zora had given her free hand to decorate the room like she wanted, and Christina had let her fantasy run wild. Literally. It was a Safari-inspired room with its large African sunset photograph-turned-wallpaper on one wall, an adjoining faux gator skin back wall behind the headboard, a cheetah spotted rug on the floor and wooden engraved chairs, paired with other modern pieces. Tribal printed pillows completed the Safari-chic look. She clenched her teeth in a tight smile and headed for what had brought her here. The panic toy.

  Zora had bought it for her as a gift a couple of years ago. The green toy with a red button made a maddening sound that Christina hated. But it had one good thing in its favor. One could configure a phone number to it. And once the panic button was pressed, it would flash a green light and send a “Help” text message to the owner of the phone number.

  Christina had harassed Zora with text messages till she begged her to stop. It was a strange little toy, but Zora had loved giving it to her so Christina had kept it. She’d been cleaning her room last week and had found it tucked into a corner of her closet. She’d moved it to a box figuring that it might be useful some day. She’d had no idea it would be today.

  Christina went on her knees and swung her tied hands under the queen bed to hook and pull out the shoe box she’d stored it in. She used both hands to push the box cover off. She’d never been so glad to see the toy. She pressed the red button before they could stop her.

  There was no green light. Christina jabbed it again and again as she felt hands pull her roughly away from the box. There was no response. And then it dawned on her. The battery must have run out. Christina, how could you be so stupid?

  “Where’s the tape?”

  Christina ignored them and continued jabbing the toy she held in her hands, hoping that it would come alive even for one second. A hand smacked her across the cheek and pulled away the toy.

  Christina didn’t feel the sting. It was like it was happening to someone else. I’ve failed. Why didn’t I check the battery when I found it?

  Christina felt a hard object swipe her temple. The small toy in the meaty hands of Thunder was the last thing she saw before she passed out.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “Of course I remember the patient,” the attending said to Zora. “You’re talking about Jane Doe, right?”

  It was like the heavens had opened and the angels were singing. Zora’s eyes swelled up with tears. She didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. She gripped his arm. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

  He looked pointedly at his arm and she realized what she had done. She let go and backed away a little. The attending cleared his throat. “I came in this morning
to look her up, but I didn’t find her in the system. I meant to ask you about her after the round,” he said. “Has she been discharged?”

  “No, that’s the thing. I can’t find her in the SICU and all her medical records are gone.”

  “That’s strange. I called the SICU last night to ask about her, and even made some notes in her medical record. I like to keep copies of my notes so I have one in my car. ”

  Zora’s heart leaped with joy. More evidence. Her day suddenly looked brighter. “Do you think I could make a copy of it? I’m planning to see Dr. Anderson about her.”

  “I can show them to you later. I still have patients on this floor I need to see. I could always provide a copy if there ends up being an investigation. But in the meantime let me know how your discussion with Dr. Anderson goes.”

  “Thanks again.”

  “No problem.” The attending turned back and headed to the bedside of one of the patients in the unit.

  Zora smiled and walked away. The attending had no idea what he had just done. He had saved her life. Even though Zora had been sure the surgeries took place, she’d started wondering if she was paranoid, or even worse, crazy. With everyone telling her otherwise, it had been a little overwhelming. One person believed her, and if she could get home soon and talk with Christina, that would make two people.

  But for now, she still had to see her remaining patients.

  And then she would go talk with Dr. Anderson.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “Dr. Smyth, how can I help you?” Dr. Anderson asked. Zora sat facing him in the same chair she had sat in the last time she was here. The only difference was that the office was more disorganized today. Zora wondered how he was able to find anything he needed. “Julie said you had something urgent to discuss.”

  Zora twiddled her thumbs in her lap. It wasn’t so easy to just spill it out now that she was here.

  She took a deep breath and exhaled. There was no need in beating about the bush. “Two patients have gone missing in the past few days.”

  Dr. Anderson leaned forward and his brow furrowed. “Missing? What do you mean?”

  Zora told him about the patients that had appeared with missing kidneys, how they and their records had vanished, how one of the attendings could corroborate her story, and how she was trying to touch base with two other witnesses. Zora saw his face change from skepticism to concern and worry. Zora made no mention of Graham’s role in the surgery since it might offend the department chair and turn him against whatever she had to say.

  “Why didn’t you come to me when the first patient went missing?” he said.

  “It was only my word against everyone else and I didn’t have the evidence to back it up.”

  Dr. Anderson ran a jerky hand through his hair. “This is a big deal. And there are major repercussions if what you’ve said are true. You should have come to me immediately.” Dr. Anderson pressed his intercom. “Julie, I need you to get Ms. James and Mr. Sanders to my office immediately.” Zora recognized the names as the Chief Medical Information Officer and the Privacy and Security Officer respectively. “Tell them that it’s urgent. Thank you.” He removed his finger from the intercom. “Dr. Smyth, I’m glad you’ve told me. I’ll take it from here. Why don’t you head back to work and I’ll let you know if we need anything else from you?”

  Zora nodded and got up. She felt a bit lighter—it was like one weight had been lifted off her shoulders though she still had to make sure that Christina was okay. Dr. Edwards had been wrong about Dr. Anderson. It was obvious that patients were still his number one priority despite all the intradepartmental squabbles.

  She left his office and headed out.

  It was time to head home and hopefully track Christina down.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  But when Zora got home in the late afternoon and looked around the living room, Christina was nowhere to be seen. In fact, it seemed she had not made it home. Christina had a habit of dropping her work shoes—the ones she wore once she got off work—by the door, and they were not yet there. Even if she had somewhere else to be, she’d typically come home first to wash off the stink from the hospital. Unless it was an impromptu visit or appointment and she had decided to go straight there instead of coming home first.

  She tried Christina’s number again. Her phone was now switched off. Which probably meant that Christina had seen her missed calls before turning off her phone. But why hadn’t she called Zora back? Hmmm. Maybe she was at a place where she couldn’t take calls. Still, she would give Christina a talking to when she saw her for making Zora worry for nothing.

  Zora let out an exhale and felt her shoulders relax. Christina would most likely be home by tonight. She was a homebody who never liked to sleep outside—she called her bed “the comfort palace.” Zora had teased her many times about it.

  Zora dipped into the couch and stretched out her limbs, placing her phone on the couch beside her. She was bone tired. Her stomach growled as she stifled a yawn. Definitely hungry as well, but that was of lower priority. She closed her eyes. Only a few minutes of rest would do.

  Zora opened her eyes to the ringing of her phone. The room was rather dark as the mint green and silver polka dot curtains kept the setting sun away. She stretched out her hand to look for her phone and fell off the couch. Ouch. Zora rubbed her bottom where it had hit the floor as she listened for where the Christmas ringtone was coming from. She crawled forward in the direction of the sound till she found it wedged where the side table met the couch. She picked it up and swiped the green button.

  “This is Zora Smyth.”

  “Hello, Dr. Smyth. This is Nurse May from the OR. We’ve been trying to reach Christina, but her phone is switched off. Could you connect her for us?”

  “Hold on.” Zora walked toward Christina’s room. She should be home by now. “Christina!” There was no response. She reached her room and opened the door.

  “Oh my Lord!” Zora said as she staggered back.

  The room looked like a tornado had blown through. Christina’s bed was completely torn apart and in total disarray. Clothes spilled from her wardrobe and trailed on the rug. The bedside lamp had been knocked down and shards of the lampshade lay scattered on the floor. Her nursing books were strewn all over her desk and some pages had been ripped off. One of her matching wooden engraved chairs was upside down, the other flung to the side.

  As Zora tried to comprehend what had happened, she noticed a sparkly item on the floor and she bent to pick it up. It was Christina’s pendant—a gold cross with a diamond embedded in the center—with its clasp broken. Christina always wore it. It had been a gift from her father who had died four years ago from prostate cancer. Zora had never seen her without it. Christina would never leave her pendant at home, unless …

  A shudder ran through Zora’s body and she backed away from the room. She lifted the phone with trembling hands to her ear and tried to keep her voice light. “Christina is not here at the moment. I’ll let her know you called once I reach her.”

  Zora ended the call.

  Zora hurried to her own room. Everything was in its place. She checked the spare room. Nothing was missing. She walked back to the living room and looked around. There was no evidence that anything had been moved.

  Zora paced the living room. Christina was a neat freak and she adored her special space. A safari trip to Africa had been her last holiday with her father before he passed away, and some of the pieces in her room were from that trip. There was no way she would have left her room in such disarray. There was only one other explanation. A strange person or persons had been to their apartment.

  Zora shuddered. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She should have noticed sooner. Something terrible must have happened to Christina. Otherwise, where would she have gone? It was really unlike Christina to just disappear without notifying anyone. And she had never missed a shift before.

  Zora couldn’t shake the feeling away. Christina m
ight be in danger. And she just happened to be the only other person who could vouch that she’d physically seen the Jane Doe surgery take place.

  Zora unlocked her phone screen with a shaky hand to call Detective Dave McKesson. Dave had gone to high school with Zora and Christina. In fact, Zora had dated Dave for a short time. But when her sister was kidnapped, Zora had withdrawn from everyone, including Dave, and the relationship had fallen apart. Only Christina had been persistent and refused to leave her alone.

  Zora had sometimes seen him at the annual high school reunion. She’d heard he was working out of state with the New York City Police Department. Christina had managed to remain in touch with him over the years and had mentioned last Christmas that Dave had transferred back to Lexinbridge and was now with the local PD. As Christina explained it, an exception had been made in his case so he hadn’t started as a rookie but as a detective.

  Zora hoped he was still there. She hated dealing with the police. They had botched her sister’s kidnapping case, and had then tried to pin the blame on her family. And in recent years, they’d also tried to incriminate her in the formalin murders. Who knew what they would try to blame her for this time around? So it was best to talk to someone she was familiar with if she had no choice but to deal with them, like in this case.

  She called the police switchboard. “I would like to speak with Detective Dave McKesson.”

  “One moment please,” a friendly voice replied and put her on hold.

  A few seconds later, “This is Detective Dave McKesson.” His voice sounded deep and rich, and made an unnamed sensation course through her.

  Zora brushed the feeling away. This was not the time. Christina could be in danger. “This is Zora Smyth.”