Fear Is Louder Than Words: Her stalker taught her fear. Her suspicions taught her terror.
Page 19
Five minutes later and nearly out of breath, she arrived in the reception area where Donna struggled with Cody.
“Here, give him to me. I’ll hold him while you sign in.” Rochelle lifted the toddler while doing a balancing act with her purse. “Did you ever get through to John?” Donna’s worried look was answer enough for Rochelle.
“His phone must be turned off or he’s somewhere he can’t get a signal. Look at Cody, ’Chell. He acts like he’s drugged.”
Rochelle pulled back and stared into eyes with no warmth, no realization, as if the bubbly baby had gone on vacation leaving only a shell. How could he have changed so quickly?
Donna emotionally teetered on the edge and there was little Rochelle could do other than to encourage. Where was that doctor? Taking a seat, she gestured for Donna to sit.
A nurse appeared. “Dr. Reinholdt will see you in a few minutes, Mrs. McGrath.”
Donna leaped up. “Where?”
“Take Cody into room five. Last door on the left. Can I get you a drink while you’re waiting?”
Instead of passing Cody off, Rochelle asked, “May I go with them?” Her arms increased their grasp as if her hold would protect him from the unknown.
“Of course. As long as Mrs. McGrath doesn’t mind. Doctor will be right with you. He’s attending an ultrasound at the moment, but he won’t be long.”
Donna’s foot tapped an angry beat after ten minutes of waiting. “He doesn’t wake up, Rochelle. This isn’t right.”
Rochelle poked her head out and called for the nurse again.
“He’s just finishing. He’ll be right here, Ms. Cassidy. Tell Mrs. McGrath not to worry. Children get very lethargic with high fevers.”
Donna lifted his chin one last time, and her face drooped right along with his. Half an hour, and still no doctor. “Enough. I’m going straight to the ER. This is unacceptable.”
They stumbled out of the office, Donna bundling Cody into his jacket and Rochelle heading for the lobby.
No signal? Oh, you’ve got to be kidding! Rochelle fumbled with her cell phone until she had to concede defeat. Racing for the door, at least a dozen faces snapped to stare at her, one woman on her feet as if ready to panic with her.
Once outside, the signal returned, but weak. Bars in and out. Could she catch Ed at home?
“What’s the problem, Rochelle?” he asked.
“They made Donna wait so long. We just didn’t stay to find out. Cody’s color’s all wrong and he’s so lethargic.”
“Whoa. Whoa. Slow down. Cody’s sick?”
That’s what she just said. She couldn’t hear well. A dead cell phone battery? “Yes, and needless to say, we aren’t waiting here any longer. But we can’t reach John and my cell’s in and out today. No signal half the time.” Silence. “Hello?”
“Yeah, I’m still here.”
“Do you think you could call your folks and all of you keep trying until you get through to your brother? We’re heading straight to Children’s Hospital. Call when you reach them. Ed. Please hurry. Gotta go.”
CHAPTER 59
ERIK SLAMMED HIS HAND on the desk. He didn’t care that his gaze must resemble that of a deranged serial killer. Maybe that’s what Tessa needed—a dose of reality. “What just happened in there?”
“I don’t know. Erik, I don’t know. Amy said he was … sick! Before she could even take his temperature, that crazy mother of his hustled him back out the door. Said they’d waited long enough.” Her hands fluttered at her sides. “Amy should have let me know. And that woman was with Ms. McGrath.”
“What woman?”
“You know. The radio anchor. Whatever she’s called. You know! Cassidy or somethi—”
“Rochelle Cassidy.” He couldn’t help the groan. “Just what we need.”
Erik’s instincts said to grab Tessa and slap her. Why hadn’t she sent for him right away? “When a parent arrives with an emergency, I expect to be notified immediately! And these hare-brained nurses need to be able to triage patients efficiently. What happened? A child this sick left alone for twenty minutes?” His hand dug into his scalp. “Un-acceptable!”
“I’m sorry, Amy said she acted like any other worried mother. No more, no less. What should we do?”
“What can we do?”
“Erik, I’m so—”
He shook his fist. “And it’s Dr. Reinholdt at work!”
CHAPTER 60
ROCHELLE WISHED SHE HAD not seen the concerned expression on the nurse’s face when they first rushed Cody through the emergency room doors. But she had. With patients practically three to a seat, the grandmotherly woman in days-gone-by white, with creases fanning from every direction on her forehead, took one look and immediately ushered them into the exam room where she took his vitals. Then she escorted Donna and Cody lickety-split upstairs. Rochelle followed until they reached the room and then backed out to stay in a nearby lounge with all of their soggy hats, coats, and gloves.
As she lingered, hoping for an update, her phone regained a strong signal. She picked up right away. “Ed, you won’t believe—”
“I waited for you today. Could you tell, Princess? I figure by now you get vibes when I’ve been watching. Bet you get sorta nervous. Nervous as a little mouse.”
Rochelle choked back a scream and slammed the phone against the seat over and over like playing a set of drums, tired of being thought of as the nervous little mouse. And he was no cat. Cats had nine lives. Given the chance, she’d do away with a few of his.
She glanced around the lounge. Only two other people and, fortunately, neither seemed to have noticed her odd behavior. Rochelle sucked back a deep breath and went into the hall to wait in one of the hard chairs meant for short-term parking. There, she directed her attention toward the treatment room, expecting to see a reassured Donna emerge any second with Cody in one hand and a scribbled prescription in the other.
A doctor entered the cubicle, left, and re-entered. She closed her eyes and prayed. But after a few minutes passed, Donna and the doctor switched to a small consultation room off to the left. A young woman in mauve scrubs and a cartoon character top, with athletic shoes that squeaked every other step, carried Cody in a different direction altogether.
Should she go to Donna or allow her privacy? The wait was sheer torture.
An hour ticked by one agonizing minute at a time, and still Donna holed up with the doctor. Another nurse entered for a few seconds and exited in a hurry, her feet scurrying over the tile floor.
#
“What do you mean he’ll need a transplant?”
Rochelle’s world stuttered to a halt when she heard Donna’s cries through the walls.
She rose to her feet at the same moment the elevator door opened. Her heart in her throat at what she’d heard, Rochelle grabbed the wall for support.
Clearly out of breath and still in uniform, John Jr. sprinted down the hall, pushing a huge, metal food cart out of his way as if it were a tricycle. He continued running as he shouted, “Where are they?”
“In there.” With shaking fingers, she pointed to the doorway beyond as he rounded it, his parents a scant minute behind. John Sr. bellowed as he headed the same route for the room.
Before she had time to sit back down, Ed arrived on the next elevator. This one creaked and moaned when it stopped. Rochelle rejoiced she hadn’t ridden that one. She waved and he hurried over, wrapped her in his arms. “Where is he?”
She nodded in the direction of the consult room. “Ed, I’m sorry about Cody.”
Face creased with worry and filled with questions, he didn’t even know the worst. He released her and stepped away. “John here yet?”
“Yes, just seconds ago. As well as your parents. I’m surprised you didn’t pass each other downstairs.” His face and neck shone bright red. “Are you all right?”
“I ran all the way from the farthest section of the parking lot. I can’t find anybody with information.”
“I haven’t
talked to Donna yet, but he didn’t look good.” She leaned in, barely whispering. “I heard Donna yell something about a transplant. Is that possible?”
He smothered her hands in his. “What do you mean? Kids get sick all the time, right? They don’t get transplants just for being sick.” The pained expression in his eyes didn’t prepare her to witness this tough hockey player so close to tears.
“Your family’s in the other room.” She guided him to the doorway and backed out as silently as possible. Ed glanced over his shoulder, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her into the room with the rest of them.
“You should be part of this conversation.”
She resisted. “But, Ed.”
“No buts. You’re Donna’s best friend. She’s going to need someone who isn’t directly involved. Someone who can think rationally.” He wheeled around to face John and asked, “What happened to Cody?”
Her chest constricted looking at the anxious faces. Loving parents, devoted grandparents, a favorite uncle, and a concerned doctor, though she could tell the doctor did his best to appear calm and confident. She ached for these people in a way that made her own problems insignificant. All along, she’d planned to tell Ed about her call from that man, but not now. Now, she had to be his rock. Rochelle owed him that much. She had been a taker for the last ten years: crying on shoulders, whining about poor me. It was time she stepped up and put someone else first.
John shriveled under the arm Ed clapped around his shoulder, and he spoke in a low voice. “Dr. Daniels says a liver transplant. But I don’t understand. He seemed fine when Donna dropped him off for school this morning.”
Donna inhaled sharply and collapsed into the chair adjacent to the door. “Could this be why Cody was sick the night of the fundraiser?”
Dr. Daniels edged a couple steps closer. “When was that and what type of symptoms?”
John licked his lips. “That was just a stomach bug. The usual. Tired, diarrhea, no appetite. Why?”
Rochelle shuddered. Why was this nightmare happening to such good people?
“Don’t worry,” Rochelle said. “There’s so much they can do now. Right, Dr. Daniels?”
He heaved a sigh, fingering the countertop next to him. “We’ll wait to discuss all the options. I’m going to check with the pedes nurse. They should have Cody’s IV in now, and he’ll be anxious to see Mom and Dad. Dad, if you’ll come with me.”
John’s voice, anxious and confused, rose. “Help me to understand what happened to my son.”
“We’ll discuss the possibilities in more detail once we complete all the labs.”
CHAPTER 61
AN UNCOMFORTABLE SILENCE SETTLED into the clinic. No births, no evening classes, no interruptions to the work. Erik pressed fingers to his eyes. Even the rare, calm days without patients in-house brought on stress. So much expected of him. The reputation of this clinic was taxing enough and now this. He gazed at the photos on the walls of his office. The governor and his baby. The mayor. People in this state loved him—revered him.
His hand twitched on the folder of test results as he glared at Tessa over the top of his reading glasses.
“Bear one thing in mind.” His fingers tapped a rhythm on the folder. “If any of these results leak out, it is you I will go after, not Amy. That woman was your responsibility. And I don’t care how troubled she seemed when you gave her the dressing down. She had no business working here in the first place. Cousins and friends should not be allowed free rides just because they have an attachment to a worker in the clinic. And now she walks out?”
“But Erik, she isn’t either one. I heard about her from—”
“No more excuses.” He lifted his hand from the folder and formed a fist. Shaking it under her nose, he shot her a glance. “Your last doctor liaison, am I right?”
“Listen to me, Erik Reinholdt.” She spit venom. “You know full well you’ve been the only man in my life for the last five years! I hired Amy because she came highly recommended by the old staff I worked with at St. Phillip’s. And furthermore, I don’t have liaisons.”
“Do you realize the sensitive information she might have taken with her?”
“She didn’t know a thing.” Tessa shifted from a meek posture to one that dared him to continue his attack. “And besides, you said to speak with her and make her toe the line. She didn’t feel like toeing. What did you want me to do, put a hole through her head with a .22?”
Not amused, he shifted closer, imposing his six-foot frame on her. Tessa had recently begun to fight back, but no way would he allow her to gain any kind of control in their relationship. She needed to remember herself and her position. “I did not mean to scare her to death. And only you would use a .22.”
“Oh, grow up. I was being … facetious.”
“You lack the resourcefulness.”
“Why?” She groaned. “Why would I even want you? Five years I’ve waited for you to marry me.”
He understood how the game was played. Time for the divorce again. “Marry you? That has never even been a consideration.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’m beginning to understand you, Erik. Really understand you. Maybe it is time we had this out.” Her face flamed red, and the artery at her temple pulsed. He hadn’t seen her this angry before.
“And?” He played the game like a master manipulator, plucking one piece after another and shifting the board so he would win. He’d played this game with people since he was a child. And only he won.
She lifted a hand to her forehead as if clearing a nasty headache. “I’ve had enough.”
He grabbed her wrist. “You will have had enough when I tell you enough and not before. I don’t think I need to say I won’t allow you to ruin this program.”
Tessa clasped the fingers of her other hand to her throat. “Who do you think you are?” She barely whispered, choking on each word. “I’m not responsible for what Amy might do or not do.”
He picked up the folder from the counter and pitched it across the room. Then he hauled her up close with the other hand until his face was inches from hers. “Go correct the situation with her before she ruins everything.” He shoved her so hard she lost her balance and fell against the wall. “I don’t care what you have to offer her. And Tess? You’d better keep your mouth shut and show up tomorrow, or I’ll give you a lesson in what a .22 is really capable of in the right hands.”
CHAPTER 62
DANIELS EXPLAINED TO THE female phlebotomist he wanted a full panel on each of the family members as well as typing. The first step in finding a match. She stuck one and then another. The woman’s face implied no sense of urgency. She plainly had a task to perform, and Ed admired the professionalism.
However, he hated needles, and the sight of blood made him sick. Would he pass out like he told Rochelle he had in training camp when his blood was drawn?
Ed prayed someone would be a match for Cody and could donate a lobe of his or her liver to keep the boy alive.
Half an hour later, a near mob mentality propelled the McGrath family toward the doctor when he reappeared in the hallway. Ed led Rochelle by the elbow and tried simultaneously to prevent his parents from bowling over the doctor like a ten pin. He wasn’t sure John, under these circumstances, would be able to digest all the information, so he wanted to hang with him every step of the way.
Deep pain flashed behind John’s eyes when his brother questioned Dr. Daniels. “What would cause the type of liver failure my son has?”
“Let’s talk in here.” Daniels indicated the consultation room once again, and they all followed him into the familiar room of nondescript squiggles and shapes in calming muted colors. Ed looked at the hodgepodge. Who came up with the boring combinations? Did green and pale yellow cause folks to relax? He shook his head.
“We don’t generally see this type of organ failure in an otherwise healthy child. In athletes, perhaps, who are on or have abused anabolic steroids. And I’m assuming we can rule that out.”
Surely that was ruled out for Cody.
He angled into the hallway and leaned against the wall, soaking in all the information they had been given. Rochelle joined him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. How could he have gotten through this afternoon without her?
Ed turned with arms wide, and she immediately pressed into them.
He buried his face in the crook of her neck. Staying there all day, breathing in her fresh soapy smell and blocking out the worry would be perfect. But they returned to the room, where Ed tucked her arm in his and waited.
Funny, she was his brick today instead of the other way around. This was what life should be about, one person supporting the other, not one-night stands in cities across America. His brow tightened with the memories. He avoided looking her in the eye for fear she could tell what he was remembering.
They re-entered the room as Dr. Daniels continued to play fifty questions. “Any chance his pediatrician prescribed a lengthy round of prednisone?”
John, his face a mosaic of emotions, ran fingers through his hair. “He hasn’t been sick. No allergies. No nothing.”
Rochelle clutched Ed’s arm. Her face full of compassion. She’d make a terrific mom one day. If only she’d let him be part of that life with her.
He whispered in her ear, “It’s gotta be so hard loving a child. Worrying every day, losing sleep when they’re sick. Wondering if they’ll grow up safe. I sure wouldn’t want to be in John’s shoes, would you?”
The expression that suddenly shadowed her face sent shivers up his spine. Had he said something wrong?