Solemn Oath

by Hannah Alexander

  The line was busy. She disconnected and started to punch her mother’s number when Judy turned around from a phone call.

  “Dr. Mercy, that was your office. Your mother called to let you know that Tedi’s safe. Nobody was hurt except for one fireman. They’re bringing him in.”

  “If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone?” Abby asked Tedi as they waited for Grandma to end another long conversation with another friend in the supermarket.

  Tedi studied Abby’s serious expression. “Okay. What?”

  “I’m not going to call Mom or Dad.”

  “But you have to! They’ll hear about the fire, and they’ll call the school and find out you’re not there.”

  Abby pushed her glasses up, scrunched her face and nodded. “They’ll come looking for me, and they won’t find me. That’ll scare ’em to death.”

  “That’s stupid.” Tedi forgot to keep her voice down. “Why would you do that? You want them to worry about you?” She would never do that to her parents. Never on purpose, anyway.

  “Shh! Shut up! You promised not to tell!”

  Tedi lowered her voice. “But Grandma told you to call right after she called Mom’s office. Why would you not tell your parents?”

  “I told you Thursday night, remember?” Abby pointed to her bandaged leg. “Every time something happens to me, they forget to fight. Mom will cry, and Dad will put his arm around her, and then they’ll remember they are part of one family, and they belong together.”

  Grandma said goodbye to her friend and turned back to them with sandwiches from the deli section. “Ready to go, girls?” She strode toward the checkout counter. “Let’s get out of here before we run into somebody else we know.”

  Abby nudged Tedi. “Remember, you promised.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Mercy checked on Melinda and baby and did the episiotomy repair. Lukas had done an excellent job. He had cut just right, and Melinda needed few stitches. In fact, Mercy made such good time that Lukas was still working on Jeremy in the E.R. when she returned downstairs.

  She walked into exam room three to find Clarence holding on to both sides of the Stryker bed as if he thought he might tumble off. His eyes held the glazed look of a drugged patient hovering just above the grip of pain. Mercy checked the chart and discovered that Lukas had already assessed him and administered a muscle relaxer and pain medication.

  “You don’t have to hold on so tight, Clarence,” she said as she entered and patted him on the arm. “The rails are up. You won’t fall.”

  His eyes shifted to her, and he blinked in slow motion. He didn’t reply, but his fingers loosened their grip slightly.

  “You’re going to be okay, pal. Are you feeling a little woozy from the muscle relaxer Lukas gave you?”

  “Kinda…some…little,” came Clarence’s weakened, out-of-focus voice.

  “Good, that’ll keep you out of my hair for a while,” she teased. “Looks like Lukas also gave you a shot for pain.”

  “Hate drugs.”

  “Nonsense, they’re good for you. They saved your hide this summer, didn’t they?”

  He grunted. “Maybe that’s not all that saved me.” His eyes closed again. “Lukas said he was praying for me.”

  Yep, Clarence was drugged. He resisted help from everybody. Why should God be any different?

  “Clarence, you’ve got some badly pulled muscles, and we’re going to admit you and keep you on IV muscle relaxants and pain medication for a while so you can heal. In the meantime, I’ll keep in touch with Cox South about Darlene.”

  “’Zat the best place for her?” The big man’s words slurred, and his eyes remained closed.

  “I think so. They’ll take good care of her there.”

  “C’n I go up?”

  “Sorry, Clarence, I’m admitting you here. You’re in no condition to travel.”

  His eyes opened with a great deal of effort, and his expression, with those dark, fathomless eyes, was one of helplessness, like a trusting child’s. “But—”

  “You’re not in any condition to argue, either, so don’t start with me.” Ordinarily, Mercy couldn’t get away with this, so she was going to use her opportunity while she had it. “We’ll monitor Darlene’s progress, and they’ll call us when anything changes. You’ll know as soon as we hear anything.” She adjusted the sheet that covered him and watched his lids drift back down slowly with great effort, as if he fought their closure with every ounce of wakefulness he could muster.

  Five minutes later, as his deep, rumbling snores echoed out of the room and across the E.R., Mercy adjusted Clarence’s heavy arms into a more comfortable position and patted him gently on the shoulder.

  Lukas smiled to himself as he finished Jeremy’s stitches to the bass accompaniment of Clarence’s sleeping serenade. Mercy and Clarence had struck sparks off each other from their very first meeting last spring. Clarence the bullheaded giant had met his match in Mercy. Maybe Lukas had, too. She was all he thought about lately.

  Another ambulance pulled into the bay soon after Lukas stepped out of the laceration room. He watched as the EMS crew wheeled young Explorer fireman Kyle Alder from the back of the van and turned to push him through the automatic doors. Unlike Buck’s blackened and singed appearance after the fire two weeks ago, Kyle’s face was clear and unburned. Only a faint whiff of smoke accompanied him and two of the seasoned firemen into the E.R.

  “…don’t think it was a grease fire,” one of the firemen was explaining to the EMT who pushed the patient in. “They found an empty baby jar that was still wet inside. Smelled like some kind of solvent. The fire was going good when the cooks came in, but it didn’t take much to put it out.”

  The EMT looked up at Lukas. “Where do you want him, Dr. Bower?”

  Lukas directed them as he noted with approval that the ambulance team had properly placed the oxygen mask over Kyle’s face and immobilized him on a backboard with a c-collar.

  The EMT gave Lukas the vitals. “He’s complaining of pain in his right shoulder, Dr. Bower.”

  As Lukas bent over Kyle with his stethoscope, he caught sight of the two older firemen standing in the open doorway to the room.

  Kyle moaned, and Lukas turned his attention back to the curly-haired eighteen-year-old, whose smooth face sported only a few sparse hairs along his chin line. “Hello, Kyle, I’m Dr. Bower. Remember me? I was here when you brought Buck in a couple of weeks ago.”

  “Yeah, I remember,” Kyle said hoarsely. “You’re the guy who found that metal in his—” He broke off and moaned again.

  “Are you having any trouble breathing?” Lukas asked.

  “No, but my shoulder sure hurts. I hit it rolling, and I guess I didn’t fall just right.”

  One of the firemen in the doorway cleared his throat. “Instead of assisting the real firemen who were putting out the fire, this fancy pants kept tripping over hoses and getting in the way. When I took him inside to get him out from underfoot, he decided he had to check the storeroom for people, so he went jumping over the fire, hit the floor with his shoulder and rolled against the wall.”

  Kyle grimaced. “I thought I heard somebody back there.”

  The fireman shook his head in disgust. “If you’d’ve listened to me, you’d’ve known the cooks were already out. I wanted you to follow orders. You should be glad your time’s about up with us, or you’d get yourself or somebody else killed.”

  The man’s partner muttered, “He should thank Buck. We’ll be waiting out in the hallway, Dr. Bower. We’ve had orders to babysit.”

  At the hurt expression that crossed Kyle’s face, Lukas felt irritated by the older firemen. They didn’t have to be so cruel.

  Lukas gestured for Lauren to begin her assessment while he checked Kyle’s shoulder for pain and point tenderness.

  “Guess I really blew it,” Kyle murmured as Lukas pressed his fingers against the boy’s collarbone.

  “Your shoulder doesn’t look broken
or dislocated,” Lukas assured him.

  “I mean with the fire,” Kyle muttered. “Everybody’s mad at me. Nobody thinks I can do anything right. Buck won’t even show me how to handle a hose, and when I tried to do it when he wasn’t on shift, I lost control.”

  “Maybe they’ll give you another chance,” Lukas said. “Nobody gets everything right the first time.”

  Kyle looked up at him with grateful eyes. “Thanks, Dr. Bower. I needed that. Buck just doesn’t like me for some reason, but I know my stuff. I’ve read everything I can get my hands on ever since I was in eleventh grade. I’ll get it down. I know I will. I just need more time.” He reached up and tugged at the c-collar. “This thing feels like it’s choking me.”

  “I think we can remove it and the backboard in a moment.”

  “Did you hear what they said about the solvent in the baby jar? At least they got that part right. We found it as soon as we got into the kitchen.” He glanced around the room and lowered his voice. “I saw that same jar at the firehouse. I think it’s an inside job. Everybody knows Buck uses that stuff for his model airplanes. He’s got them spread out all over the place.”

  “You mean you think somebody’s trying to set Buck up?”

  “Looks like it to me.” Kyle winced again. “Man, that hurts. Are you sure it isn’t broken?”

  “I can’t be sure of that until I’ve checked the X-rays. Don’t worry, Kyle, we’ll take care of you.” Lukas walked out the door to the desk.

  The firemen who had brought Kyle in sat talking in straight-backed chairs ten feet away from the central desk, and it was difficult for Lukas not to hear their words as the conversation floated over him.

  “Did they check the jar for fingerprints?”

  “They’re doing it now. Don’t guess anybody saw anything around the school this morning.”

  “Some old woman across the street claimed she caught sight of a man running out the back way about fifteen minutes before the cooks got there.”

  “Any description?”

  “Just that it was a big man with broad shoulders. He was wearing a ball cap. Shoot, she could’ve been describing me.”

  “Only if he looked like he had a watermelon under his shirt.”

  There was a grumble of protest, then a moment of silence.

  “No sign of forced entry.”

  “Nope. That don’t mean anything. Half the town has keys. Speaking of security, the police hadn’t been by there in a couple of hours.”

  “Guess Buck’s leavin’ town for a few days. He needs the break from his training duties.”

  “I’ll say. He’s been acting awfully weird lately. Did you see the fit he pitched down at Little Mary’s Saturday? You could’ve seen steam coming out of his ears. Could’ve heard him shouting out on the street. Never seen him do that before. He’s about to lose it.”

  “I wasn’t too happy with that waitress, either. She’s blaming us for the fires. Told Buck we were probably starting the fires just so he could play hero again.”

  “She was just teasing.”

  “Buck didn’t take it that way. He’s scheduled to work again Saturday. I just hope he comes back.”

  “You’d better, ’cause until he gets back, we’re stuck with that kid in there.”

  The partner groaned. “Maybe this injury will keep him out of commission for a week or so, at least until we can dump him back in Buck’s lap.”

  When Mercy finally walked into her office Monday morning, her small waiting room was filled with gossiping patients and groaning complaints and laughing, mixed with squealing children as they played with the new toys and books in the playroom. Jodie had done some rescheduling, but they would still have to hustle to get a lunch break today.

  Mercy was reading a chart on her first patient when she caught the faint whiff of White Shoulders perfume, Mom’s signature fragrance. She turned to find her mother and daughter standing at the entrance to her office. Several strands of Ivy’s long white-streaked hair had fallen from a knot at the back of her head, and her shirttail was untucked. They had all been rushed by the excitement this morning.

  Tedi, in a long-sleeved T-shirt and worn jeans, rushed from her grandmother’s side to Mercy’s open arms. “Is your patient okay, Mom? Did you get to her in time?”

  Mercy kissed her daughter’s forehead. “I don’t know yet, honey. She’s in a coma, and we flew her to Cox South. Did you have an interesting time at school this morning?”

  “Yeah, it was fun to watch the firemen. They put the fire out fast, though, so it wasn’t as exciting as in the movies. They let school out for the day. I wanted Grandma Ivy to bring me here to see if everything was okay with you, and then she’s taking Abby and me to a picnic on the river, since Abby’s parents are both at work, and she doesn’t have anyplace else to stay. Abby’s out in the car.”

  The sound of Tedi’s chatter calmed something in Mercy, and she leaned back to look down into her daughter’s concerned eyes, then hugged her again, relishing the feel of her sturdy five-foot-tall body.

  “Were you worried about me, Mom?” Tedi asked.

  “Yes. I’m glad you came by.” She kissed Tedi again, then looked past her to Ivy. “Does this upset your plans for today, Mom?”

  “Are you kidding? I’ve been going stir-crazy this past month with Tedi back in school. We’ll have a great time, and we’ll see you tonight.” Ivy held out her hand toward her granddaughter. “Come on, kiddo. We’ve got to get back to that car before Abby drives off and leaves us.”

  Tedi paused and looked once more into Mercy’s eyes. “Mom, are you going to be okay?”

  “Yeah, thanks, honey. I’m much better now.”

  Estelle Pinkley’s large upstairs corner office had tinted windows that took up a third of the wall space and overlooked a quiet residential neighborhood interspersed with mature oak and maple trees. The maples were showing the change of season with a golden warmth that Lukas took time to admire while he waited for Mrs. Pinkley to bring the COBRA investigator into the room. He sat down in a straight-backed chair facing the windows, then wondered if the light coming in would put him at a disadvantage in the interview. He stood up and crossed to the chair at the far right of Estelle’s huge desk. There, that was better. It was probably silly for an interim E.R. director to play musical chairs, but since he was two hours late for his meeting, he’d better take any advantage he could get.

  Voices alerted him to Estelle’s arrival with the investigator, and he silently began to quote one of his favorite verses. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Now, if he could just keep that going in his mind as a constant litany for the next hour or so. Thank You, Lord, for Mrs. Pinkley’s indomitable will. Protect us both from COBRA.

  Mrs. Pinkley stepped into the thick-carpeted room wearing her usual attire of suit jacket and skirt, this time in gunmetal gray with a white blouse. She had every hair in place, and her face held no expression. She stood aside as a woman followed her into the room.

  Lukas remembered his manners and stood while Estelle introduced him to Ms. Francis Fellows, a young woman who couldn’t have been more than twenty-five, with short straight blond hair and wire-framed glasses. Her complexion looked as if she’d made up this morning with pale pink Liquid Paper. She shook Lukas’s hand weakly and did not smile. Lukas felt as if he could inhale the tension in the room. He waited for the two women to be seated, then managed to sit down without turning the chair over.

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to meet with you earlier,” Lukas began. “We had several emergencies at one time, and I couldn’t leave.”

  “That’s fine.” Ms. Fellows pulled a pad of forms from the wide pocket of her tailored suit jacket. “This is a preliminary meeting and shouldn’t take long.” Her voice lacked inflection, as if she had memorized the lines. “Dr. Bower, I need to ask you some questions about the Dwayne Little case and your refusal to prescribe pain medic
ation for a patient obviously in pain.”

  “Dwayne Little was not obviously in pain.” Lukas kept his voice as monotone as hers. “I did not refuse to give pain medication. I offered two different medications for his alleged migraine, and he became angry and left against medical advice.”

  Ms. Fellows wrote something on her pad. “We show no AMA report from anyone other than you, Dr. Bower, so you had no witnesses?”

  “I had one witness, my nurse, who did not fill out a form.”

  The woman looked up at him. “We will want to interview her, if possible. Would you have given Mr. Little a suitable narcotic if he had not left?”

  “Objection,” Mrs. Pinkley said suddenly from her place of observation behind her desk. “That question calls for conjecture, not facts.” She smiled to temper her words, but the smile did nothing to cover the keen intelligence and insight behind Estelle’s calm gaze. “You’ll have to excuse me. I was an active attorney in this county for thirty-five years before I retired and took this position as hospital administrator. Sometimes I have trouble keeping my opinions to myself.”

  Lukas watched as some of the already sparse color drained from young Ms. Fellows’s face. He could tell she did not appreciate the intrusion, but she was going to have to get used to it. For fifteen years Estelle Pinkley had been known as the most formidable prosecuting attorney in Knolls County, and her reputation had spread all the way to the state capital of Jefferson City. Several times she had been urged to run for the office of state senator, and as many times she had declined nomination. Estelle’s roots were always solidly in Knolls, and now they were just as solidly rooted in this hospital.

  Ms. Fellows turned back to Lukas, her gaze cold, her tone colder. “What I will be striving to discover during this investigation is whether or not this case falls under COBRA jurisdiction, which I believe it does. Next I will be determining whether or not Mr. Little received ethical treatment for pain. If I find—”