Case of the Mouse Trap Legend

by Jean Marie Wiesen

  I had already done my due diligence and checked with the clinic to be sure they were open. According to the information on their website, they were open at eight A. M. which gave me plenty of time to pick up Adelaide and drive her there. By my calculations, we would arrive exactly when they opened, and with any luck, get seen by the doc on duty immediately.

  I pulled into Adelaide’s driveway and there she was, sitting on a rocking chair, on the porch with her woolen hat pulled down to her eyebrows. She had her heavy coat buttoned up, her purse was in her lap and her cane leaned against the house.

  I drove the car right up to the house, jumped out and said, “Adelaide, it’s too cold for you out here, you should have waited inside for me.” I ran around to the passenger side and opened it up for her and stepped back while she got in.”

  She still gave me a sideways look and said, “I know how to open a car door.” She pulled a Kleenex out of her coat pocket and brought it up to her mouth while she coughed. Once she was able to stop, she eased herself into the seat. I started to close the door, thought better of it, and walked back to the other side.

  As I was buckling myself in, Adelaide said, “Smart girl to allow me to close the door myself. Hope you don’t get my germs. Now, please get a move on.”

  “Yes, Ma’am. The clinic opens shortly and I intend for you to be the first patient seen,” I said.

  “Sounds like an excellent plan, Laura. I expect the doc in a box will give me antibiotics, so I hope you don’t mind taking me to the pharmacy. I checked and my one and only pharmacist is working today,” Adelaide said.

  “Not at all. You only have one pharmacist?” I asked.

  “That is correct, dearie. I only deal with Mario. He’s never steered me wrong and it’s why I stick with him. If they move him to another pharmacy, I’ll have to follow him,” Adelaide responded.

  We reached the clinic as they opened their doors. We were one of three people in line, which meant, depending on the seriousness of the others, Adelaide’s wait might not be too long. I hoped they would take her age into consideration, coupled with having difficulty in breathing. Difficulty with breathing was supposed to make any patient a top priority.

  Adelaide ambled up to the registration window to give them her insurance information and to register. She flat out refused to allow me to accompany her. I sat and texted Mike to let him know we’d arrived and proceeded to flip through a magazine while I waited for Adelaide to come over and sit next to me.

  I felt a tap on my leg and peered up from the article I was reading.

  “Is it interesting,” Adelaide inquired.

  “Not really. Political stuff,” I replied.

  Adelaide narrowed her eyes. “Don’t get me started. They’ve got a first time doc here, by the name of, Dr. Kang Kim. The receptionist doesn’t know anything about him, but there’s nothing else to be done except wait and see him. She agreed my waiting another twenty-four hours wouldn’t be in my best interest, and getting started on antibiotics would be the best course of action.”

  I raised an eyebrow and said, “Hmm, another person by the name of Kim.” I attempted to brush it off. “The receptionist doesn’t know where he came from?”

  “She did say he’s affiliated with the hospital. They all are. I suppose he’s new to the staff,” Adelaide replied.

  My cell phone vibrated. I’d turned the sound off since we were in the clinic. I glanced down and saw the text icon indicating there was a new one for me. I opened it, it was from A. Twist and it read: B ware Jelly’s missing coz on prowl B on lookout.

  I texted him back and asked if he knew what the name of this cousin was. He answered he didn’t, but if he had any further information, he would pass it on. I forwarded the text to both Mike and Greg. No sooner had I done so, then Adelaide’s name was called by the nurse.

  “Adelaide, would you like me to go in with you?”

  “Yes, dearie, I would love for you too.” Adelaide coughed several more times while she leaned on her cane to assist her in getting up from the chair, something very unusual for her to do. Normally, she used her opposite hand and dragged her cane. Now, I was concerned.

  “Hi, I’m Cindy the nurse. Follow me to room number three and I’ll check you in, ask you a few questions, take your blood pressure and temperature and then Dr. Kim will be in to see you. Sound okay?”

  “It sounds awful,” Adelaide answered.

  “It does. Why?” Cindy asked.

  “Why are you taking my blood pressure and temperature? Are you planning on returning them?” Adelaide inquired.

  Cindy appeared perplexed, and then said, “Well, yes.”

  “Then if you’re not taking them, you ought to say it correctly and tell me you’re going to check them,” Adelaide said, as she turned to the right into room number three. I put my hand over my mouth and decided Adelaide would be just fine as I followed her into the room.

  Cindy the nurse didn’t say another word until she’d completed checking Adelaide’s vital signs. When she was finished, she said, “Dr. Kim will be with you shortly. I hope you feel better soon.” She exited the room, quickly, closing the door behind her.

  Adelaide looked at me and said, “She ought to know better than to tell me she’s going to take something from me if she’s not, and she went to nursing school? I hope the doc knows more.” Adelaide glared at me. “Stop giggling, young lady.”

  I bit my lip and made a zipping motion with my thumb and forefinger across my mouth. I looked down and pretended to read an article on my phone. I was in the midst of reading one of the in-depth bios of the growing list of candidates tossing their virtual hats into the ring for the presidency, even though the elections were more than a year off when my brain was saved by a knock on the door.

  A youngish, bespectacled Asian man, with a folder under his arm entered. He gave a two second smile in Adelaide’s general direction and asked, “What seems to be the problem this morning?”

  “Do you have a name, young man?” Adelaide inquired.

  He placed two fingers on the badge hanging around his neck and held it up for her to read.

  “Right, I’m perfectly capable of reading, but the way I was raised, when someone walks into a room, for the first time, it’s incumbent upon said individual to introduce themselves especially when such a person is a physician and the other person is the patient.” Adelaide pursed her lips.

  If this was indeed Dr. Kim, he appeared to be frustrated. He dropped the badge, stepped back and looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders and resumed my reading. Adelaide crossed her arms and sat in silence while the young fellow perused the contents of the folder.

  He set the folder down on the counter behind him and turned back to face Adelaide and asked, “I’m Dr. Kang Kim, what can I do for you today, Mrs. Spencer?”

  Adelaide smiled and clapped her hands. “Now there’s a proper introduction, Dr. Kim, well done. I’m pleased to meet you and I’m Adelaide Spencer and this is my dear friend, Laura Jensen, who was kind enough to drive me here. Now, as to why I’m here, I’m sure you don’t need the stethoscope hanging around your neck to hear the congestion in my chest, do you? I didn’t think it wise to wait another twenty-four hours to see my regular doctor, so I came here in the hopes I might begin an antibiotic today prior to my condition worsening.” Adelaide coughed into her Kleenex either as a demonstration or because she needed to.

  Dr. Kang removed the stethoscope from his neck and adjusted the end pieces into his ears. He walked behind Adelaide and said, “When I ask you too, please take a deep breath and exhale. I want to listen to your chest.”

  “You mean you want to listen to my lungs,” Adelaide said.

  “Right. Now, take a breath and exhale,” Dr. Kim commanded as he moved the circular end of the stethoscope, known as the diaphragm, with his thumb and forefinger across Adelaide’s back. I watched him with care. He requested she take several more breaths and exhale before he removed the earpieces. I noted he had neglected to lis
ten to her chest. Adelaide coughed and pulled more Kleenex from her pocket while Dr. Kim washed his hands. I wondered why he hadn’t examined her throat, nose or her ears. He certainly wasn’t very thorough.

  He scribbled something on a prescription pad and handed it to Adelaide and filled out another piece of paper and also handed it to her, without one word and walked out. Adelaide looked at me and said, “I don’t like him one bit, but let’s go see Mario and find out what the doc in a box gave me.”

  We stopped at the front counter and asked the receptionist if we were all set, after handing her the piece of paper, and she nodded we were. I held the door open and Adelaide ambled her way through; stopped for a moment, shaded her eyes and looked up at the large sign over the door, laughed, then proceeded directly into a coughing fit.

  “Adelaide, what’s so funny?” I asked.

  She pointed up toward the sign. “I have a feeling you may appreciate acronyms, Laura. What do you see?”

  I looked up and read the sign out loud, “It says, ‘Soundview Urgent Care’.” I laughed so hard I fell against the side of building. When I managed to gather myself, I said, “Do you think it occurred to anyone when they named the place they were spelling out, ‘S.U.C.’?”

  Adelaide responded, “I can’t imagine they did, but it certainly does.”

  “Let’s go see Mario,” I said.

  We laughed all the way to the pharmacy.

  Chapter 32

  Adelaide’s normal meander turned into a near power walk as she rushed to get to the back of the pharmacy. A few of the store employees stopped and greeted her by name and inquired how things were going in her neck of the woods. Each time she stopped to return the greeting and attempted a reply, she lapsed into another coughing fit.

  “I adore coming here, but please ward them off, dearie, I’ll never make it to the pharmacy counter at this rate,” Adelaide begged me.

  The next person who attempted to stop Adelaide, I whispered to them she was under the weather and we were in a hurry to fill a prescription and get home. They nodded and wished her a speedy recovery. Adelaide and I both made the determination to take a side aisle to see if it would move us along faster.

  By the time we arrived at the pharmacy counter, Adelaide was nearly out of breath. A young man, I guessed to be Mario, swung the gate open and pulled a chair over for her to sit down and squatted down in front of her with a look of worry on his face and said, “Adelaide, if you’ve a prescription to fill, stay right here and I’ll take care of it for you. If there’s anything you need while you’re waiting, a glass of water, I’m happy to get it for you. All you have to do is ask.” The brown-haired man stood up and extended his hand to shake mine and cheerfully said, “Hi, I’m Mario.”

  I shook his hand and replied, “It’s great to meet you, Adelaide’s told me a lot about you. I’m Laura Jensen, Adelaide’s friend. We were over at the clinic and Adelaide’s not feeling, oh let her tell you.” I looked down and was greeted by one of her sideways glances which told me I’d be better off if she told her own story.

  “Mario, I’ve had better days,” Adelaide said, while reaching into her purse. She pulled out the prescription and handed it to him and continued, “I would have waited until tomorrow to see my regular doc, but I felt so terrible I thought it would be better if I got myself started on an antibiotic today. But after seeing this fool, I’m not so sure.” She covered her mouth with a fresh Kleenex and coughed.

  Mario read the prescription, shook his head, and said, “I have to check your records, but I don’t think I can fill this for you, Adelaide. If memory serves, you’re severely allergic to Penicillin and this doc gave you a prescription for Amoxicillin, and it’s in the same family. You’d have an anaphylactic reaction to it and land in the hospital, if you were lucky.” Mario went behind the counter to look up Adelaide’s records on the store’s computer and returned in less than two minutes with his pronouncement: “I was correct, Adelaide, it’s in bold red lettering: You’re deathly allergic to Penicillin.”

  Adelaide stared up at him and finally found her voice, “I never doubted you for one second Mario, not one. It’s all over my records both here and every doc I see that that stuff will kill me! Is the doc a fool! I nearly stopped breathing once before and would have died if the ambulance hadn’t been nearly next door and gotten me to the hospital right away. Well, my doc treated me first with oxygen and an epinephrine injection, to reverse, as he said the allergic reaction, thank God. It’s how we found out I’m so deathly allergic to Penicillin and all of its relatives. Why on earth would he prescribe it?”

  Mario replied, “I don’t know, but the clinic is associated with the hospital and it’s on record there too.”

  My cell phone chimed, I pulled it out of my pocket and read the text from A. Twist, aloud to Adelaide and Mario, “I think I may have the answer to your question, regarding why the doc gave you the prescription. According to our friend, he’s not exactly a friendly doc, he’s Jelly’s cousin and it makes him a relative of Kim Jong Un. Question is; why does he want you dead, Adelaide?” I looked at her while I tapped in Mike’s number. Mario’s mouth fell open, he took a deep breath and said, “Adelaide, you do need an antibiotic, but maybe it’s wise if you try some over the counter products we have until you see your regular doc first thing tomorrow morning. I’m confident they will tide you over and I’m fairly sure you’ve had your fill of walk-ins’ at this point.”

  Adelaide pointed to Mario and said to me, “I told you Mario takes good care of me; it’s why I come here, Laura.”

  I smiled and nodded while waiting for Mike to answer his darned phone, and remembered they were at the shooting range, practicing for our big day which was rapidly approaching. Greg wanted us to drill each and every day until the air show opened this coming Friday. The only exception was to be Thursday, since it would be both our travel day and get acquainted with the airfield layout day. He would give us the positions we were to guard and maintain throughout the show. We were to have specific routes we would walk and then re-walk within our given perimeters.

  “No luck with Mike?” Adelaide inquired, as an unusual moment of concern flickered across her face, and then disappeared.

  Maintaining my composure, I responded evenly, “I’m sure he can’t hear the phone. They’re more than likely on the range, so I’ll wait a few minutes and try again.”

  I texted Twist and thanked him for the information and then tapped in Greg’s number.

  “I can’t hear too well, but I saw the phone icon and thought I should answer. Lots of shooting going on. Who is this?” Greg asked.

  “Greg, it’s me, Laura. We need to talk. It’s very important. A. Twist sent me a crucial text and it has to do with the case.”

  “I don’t think I heard everything I need too, something about Twist and a text. Hold on for a minute and I’ll ask the guys for a cease fire.”

  Good thing I had enough sense to drop the phone to my side because the sound of a bull horn blasted through my cell phone, even though it was not on speaker.

  “It was Greg calling for a cease fire on the range, so he and I can continue our conversation,” I said.

  I put the phone back to my ear and said, “Greg, thank you, and I’m sorry to interrupt practice and I’m also very sorry I’m not there, but there’s a valid reason.”

  “Laura, don’t worry, Mike told me you had to take Adelaide to the doc, that she’s extremely ill,” he said. “You’ll make up for it. How’s our patient?”

  “I’m sure I will make up for it and it’s not a problem. Adelaide’s going to be okay, but there is a problem with the doc we saw, Greg. Also, Twist sent me a text.”

  “Sorry to interrupt you, Laura, Mike’s showing me the text right now and I can’t believe it. Where the hell are you?”

  “We’re at the pharmacy and it’s not far from you; probably about ten minutes.”

  “Don’t move, Laura,” Greg ordered, “Reggie’s on his way with Crosby and Kai
and I want you to stand guard at the front door. Keep Adelaide in a back room until he gets there and we can get her out safely, got it?”

  “Yes, Sir, I’ve got it.”

  “I know you do, and the rest of us will be right behind them.” Greg hung up.

  I turned and faced Adelaide and said, “Okay, here’s the plan.”

  Adelaide held up her hand and said, “Whenever you begin a sentence in such a manner, I know I’m not going to like the plan one little bit, but go right ahead and tell me just the same.”

  I rubbed my nose and put my other hand in my pocket.

  “And whenever you rub your nose and shove your hand in your pocket, I’m going to really dislike your plan.” Adelaide peered up at Mario and said, “Stick around Mario, it’s going to be a grand one.”

  I grinned and replied, “You’ve gotten to know me too well—that’s not fair. Listen, I’ve got orders from Greg, so blame it on him. Besides, it’s all designed to keep you safe and it’s our objective. I read you the text from Twist, so you’re aware the doc is not who he claimed to be. Okay, he may very well be a doctor, but he’s Jelly’s cousin and for whatever reason he wants you dead. I’m not going to allow anything to happen, Adelaide, so with your cooperation and a bit of help from Mario, we’re going to put you in a back room until the cavalry arrives. While we wait, I’m going to guard the front entrance and then we’ll get you out of here, understood?”

  Mario turned around and opened a door, looked at me and asked, “We use this for private consultations with patients, will this do?”

  I nodded and answered, “It’s perfect Mario, and you’re right here along with the other pharmacists, so no one can pass by without your knowledge.”

  He reached into his pocket and partially pulled out a key and grinned.

  I smiled and said to Adelaide who had missed the exchange, “You’ll be safe in there, you have my word. The guys are already on their way and will be here before you know it.”

  Adelaide wiped her eyes, glanced up at me and asked, “Who’s going to protect you, while you’re out front by yourself?”