Foreign Threat

by Mitchell Goldstein

  Chapter 30

  Steve kicked the door shut with his right foot and made his way to the couch. He collapsed onto it with his carryout dinner. Pudge realized his owner was home and rushed up to greet him. Steve quickly found a place for his dinner a safe distance from the jaws of Pudge. Then he took a moment to play with his dog. He appreciated the moment of unconditional affection.

  After a brief welcoming from the dog, Steve heard his computer signal that it had a message for him. More than likely it was Sweetpea, and Steve couldn’t ignore the need to talk with someone tonight. He had worked most of the day on the floor with the patients, but after lunch, Jake had decided to let the entire team head home except for Sally, who was on call. Steve spent the afternoon reading and sleeping. It was very difficult to study post call, especially after such an exhausting and mentally draining call night. Karla and A.J. invaded his thoughts throughout day. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t get the vision of Karla and her dove out of his mind.

  Steve didn’t know many personal details about Karla, but he knew that she had family in the area and that she was well liked by all the staff. Without a doubt, many would miss her. Then there was A.J., who had just been buried a day earlier. Steve went back and forth, thinking about A.J. and his family and Karla and her loved ones. It was driving Steve crazy. He looked for Erica today at the hospital, but they hadn’t crossed paths. He almost felt like paging her to talk but realized that it might mean taking her away from rounds. He really didn’t know her well enough to pull her away from her duties at the hospital. Nonetheless, he was hurting and mourning for people he really didn’t know that well and felt the need to get some thoughts off his chest. Chatting with Sweetpea tonight would be a relief.

  He got up and let Pudge out as usual. Then he grabbed a beer and sat in front of the computer with his dinner. He logged on and answered his email, which was from Sweetpea. He told her to go to their chatroom so they could converse at a normal pace rather than slowly exchange emails. She showed up in their private chatroom immediately, as if she was waiting for him. It seemed like she has been there more and more, just waiting for him.

  They said their hellos, and then Steve could not contain himself. He really needed to express his concerns about the recent week. “You wouldn’t believe the last few days at the hospital. There has been so much going on, I can’t believe it. It is like I am in this soap opera of dramatic events.” Steve paused typing to let Pudge in and feed him.

  When he returned to the computer screen, Sweetpea had responded with exclamation, “LIKE WHAT?”

  “Sorry, I had to let my dog in and feed him,” Steve typed. “A couple of days ago this anesthesiologist died in his sleep. He was really a great guy. Everyone just loved working with him and shooting the breeze with him. He was so laid back and mellow. I don’t think there was a soul he would hurt, and most everyone that met him instantly liked him. It was so weird. I just can’t believe he died.” Steve paused for a bite of his sandwich.

  Sweetpea responded quickly. “Well, people do die. What exactly happened? Do you know?”

  Steve started typing with both hands, his sandwich balanced, hanging out of his mouth. He felt as if he couldn’t waste a minute before responding. His fingers hit the keypad and started rattling off words. “That is the weird-ass thing about this. I mean this guy was pretty young, in his fifties I think, with a nice family. He was in great shape. I mean, the guy worked out every day, and sometimes on the weekends he would do triathlons and still have the energy for kayaking for several hours. No one ever expected a heart condition for this stellar guy in excellent condition.” He took a break to tear off another chunk of his sandwich.

  “Go on. This does sound strange. Did the guy do coke or any other drugs?”

  “I really doubt it. I know he pushed gas during surgery, but never did anyone suspect any wrongdoing. I don’t know if a drug tox screen was done, but I really doubt that he was a druggy. He just wasn’t the type.”

  “No, he doesn’t sound like the typical guy riding high all the time.”

  Steve added, “And that’s not the entire story. A day after his funeral, last night, we got called for this trauma. My chief took his usual shit-ass slow time getting in for the code. And then he treated it like this major teaching case and was explaining everything to me and letting me basically run the code and do the procedures.”

  Sweetpea asked, “What is wrong with that? Isn’t that what you have been begging for, to do a bunch of procedures?”

  “Yeah, that would be the ideal situation, but unfortunately it wasn’t until the lady was about to die that we realized she was one of the scrub nurses from the OR. It took us all by surprise, especially the people from the OR who responded to the trauma code. We were just in shock. And I think Jake felt like shit for letting me run the entire code. Of course, he couldn’t know who she was because her face was all bloody. We didn’t discover who it was until I pulled her sleeve down to get a central line, and then we all recognized her dove tattoo. We all just froze as we processed who she was and the shape she was in. It just freaked us all.”

  “SHIT!” Sweetpea responded. “I can’t believe the terrible luck you all have had in the OR. Tell me, do you know if she was close with the anesthesiologist? I mean, did they have an affair?”

  “I really don’t think so. A.J. was a pretty dedicated husband and father from what people tell me. And besides that, it would be difficult to conceal a relationship like that in an operating room. Everyone knows everyone’s business. It is really kind of sad but true. I mean, you know which nurse goes out with what resident, etc. I just don’t think they were an item.”

  “Did they work a lot together?” Sweetpea continued her interrogation, which was a bit annoying. Steve wanted to vent his feelings, and she was grilling him on the details of the events of the last few days.

  “Frankly we all work together. There are weeks they are in the same room constantly and then sometimes they might not be in on a case together for days. For example, just the other day before the anesthesiologist died, she scrubbed with us on that foreign guy who died during surgery. But I’m not done. There is more to this weird story.”

  Steve continued to type. “After Jake pronounced the scrub nurse Karla dead, I was cleaning up the trauma suite and took a break near the door. I leaned across a counter and overheard one of the nurses talking with the police officers. Apparently, they couldn’t find the driver, who was presumed to be drunk. They said the car that had hit Karla just smelled like a kegger. And that the car had no license plates. Then the nurse asked about the serial number, and the officers said they couldn’t find any on the car, the engine, or on any other part of the vehicle. That is really weird.”

  “Hey, I am so sorry, but I need to go now. That does all sound really freaky. And you’re right. There are too many unanswered questions. I am so sorry to hear about your friends, but something just came up over here, and I need to go quickly. Please promise me to be careful. It sounds like working in surgery is a dangerous place these days. I will talk to you really soon, maybe even later tonight if you want. But I need to ask you a question and please do your best to remember a few nights ago. Who else was in the OR with you guys when you operated on the foreign kid that died?”

  “I have to say that you sign off as quickly as you appear on my screen lately. But that night, it was late and just the OR crew that was on call scrubbed on the case. It was A.J. and Karla, of course, and me. Then I think Sue was the Scrub Tech, and Jake, my chief, was with us. Yeah, that was the crew. Why? What do you care?”

  Sweetpea tried to rush off. “I can’t explain now, but please be careful at the hospital and at home. It really sounds strange, but I hope there isn’t a pattern to all this. It all may be coincidental, but don’t take any chances…always watch your back. Talk to you soon.”

  Steve knew not to try to find her from his last experience. Once she signed off, she was gone. Steve had forgotten about his sandwich. He sat
back and slowly finished his dinner with Pudge at his side.

  Steve thought about the last few days, and he thought about recent conversations with Sweetpea. Everything was very screwed up, but he knew he was too tired tonight to come up with the all the answers. He finished his beer and closed his eyes. He started thinking of more relaxed moments when life was not so hectic and confusing, when he didn’t have to take call and have all this responsibility. He remembered days when he and his family would go camping. They camped almost every summer up north, usually in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. There they would canoe, kayak, fish, swim, and just enjoy the great outdoors. At night, they would relax with a campfire. If the weather cooperated, they would take their sleeping bags out of their tents and sleep under the stars. As Steve was about to fall asleep, he thought how wonderful those times were, especially without any responsibility. He had a sweet smile on his face as he drifted to sleep.

  Chapter 31

  Steve was afraid to go to work after talking with Sweetpea. She was making him paranoid. The first day after Karla died was terrible. He looked all around everywhere he went. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but he felt as if there was something that needed to be noticed before something else bad happened.

  He was wondering if anybody else saw him being so weird. He felt completely paranoid. He would get to his car and look around and then get into his car and look around and then park his car and look around. What did she mean by telling him twice to watch his back? He wasn’t exactly sure, but he knew he didn’t want to find out.

  The surgery staff and crew were just beaten down. There were so many tears and sad faces. Jake felt bad about treating the code as if it were just some drunk in another MVA. He walked around in a trance most of the day after Karla’s death. The next day he didn’t speak to anyone except the staff doctors about their patients. Nobody seemed to pick at each other. Jake wasn’t yelling at the interns or other residents, and the staff was much more cordial to Jake than Steve could ever recall.

  The OR was very quiet, and few cases were added to the schedule. The elective cases that were already scheduled got done, but the surgeons tried to hold off on add-ons. Meanwhile, the medical students and residents enjoyed the lull in activity that provided extra time to read or study. Steve’s team had just a few patients on the floor, and the floor work was completed in record time.

  Steve was on his way to the library to study before evening rounds. He had checked with Sally and Tom, and they had no problem with it. As he made his way through the corridors of the hospital, he continued to think about the last week’s trauma and bizarre conversations with Sweetpea. It was like a terrible dream from which he couldn’t wake.

  He heard the clunking of shoes get louder behind him. As was his new habit, he quickly looked back as if someone was going to attack him.

  “Hey, Steve. How ya doing?” asked Erica.

  “Shit! Don’t do that!”

  “Do what?”

  Steve clarified, “Don’t keep coming up like that from behind me. That’s what!”

  “Sorry, Steve. Maybe you have been watching too many scary movies. You should spend more of your time off studying than renting paranoia movies. Where are you heading?”

  “I was just about to go in the creepy basement and sit in the dark for a while. Perhaps you’d like to join me?” he replied in a creepy tone.

  “Funny. Very funny.” She sobered. “I am really sorry to hear about the sad news in the OR department. They have had a bad week. The news is all over the hospital. What a strange coincidence to have such terrible news from one department! Are you okay?”

  “Actually, now that you ask, I don’t think so. I have been totally freaked out and can’t stop thinking about everything. I mean, I try to, but the vision of Karla keeps haunting me, and then the fact that A.J. had an MI. It is all too weird! I tried to talk to a friend online last night, but all she did was ask a lot of questions and then freaks me out by telling me to watch my back.” He made a face. “As you can tell, I am doing exactly what she told me to do. The only problem is that I think I am becoming paranoid.”

  Erica offered a comforting tone. “Well, I’m sure your friend had your best interest in mind. You know, I tried to say good-bye the other night when you left, but you were in such a daze that you didn’t even notice.”

  “Sorry. It was not anything personal. I’ve just been a little preoccupied.”

  “That is certainly understandable. Maybe we should get together soon and hang out.”

  “Are you asking me out, Erica?”

  She smiled. “I guess so, for sympathy’s sake. I just feel bad for you and not for any other reason. Besides, I got tired of waiting for you to call me and make plans.” They both laughed. “I’ll give you a call sometime, but I need to run now. You know us fleas and our rounding on patients.”

  As Erica walked away, Steve thought about continuing toward the library. It was difficult for him to collect his thoughts in a civilized manner. Every time he thought about Karla and what Sweetpea had said, he would find himself down a scary road of bad possibilities. He knew with the way he was preoccupied, he would never concentrate on studying. He decided instead to walk back to the surgery ward and get some money from his locker for lunch.

  As he walked through the automatic doors, Steve could sense the usual chaos and commotion of the OR. People in their blue scrubs were walking here and there. A staff surgeon was talking to one of the anesthetists, trying to plead his case to add on a difficult case, while three residents flirted with a few of the OR nurses. It was the usual hustle and bustle of the OR.

  Seeing things slowly getting back to normal made Steve feel better. He walked past the nurse’s desk on his way to the locker room and overheard two nurses talking to each other.

  “I have never seen Sue this late before, Ruth. Don’t you

  think we should call to see if she forgot about her shift? Maybe she has the wrong schedule and we should let her know what’s up.”

  “I already tried to call her three times this morning, but she didn’t answered. I left a voice message twice, so I think she will get the idea when she gets home.”

  Steve paused ever so slightly as he heard they were talking about Sue. They were right: it was strange for Sue to be late. He always thought of her as an early bird. She was usually at work by the time residents were making rounds. Steve had seen her several times in the cafeteria when his team stopped by for breakfast. Maybe Sue had, in fact, gotten her schedule mixed up. With all the commotion and stress over the last week, she might have simply read her schedule wrong.

  Steve reached his locker, grabbed his wallet, and set off to the cafeteria.

  “Carmichael, how the hell you doing today?”

  The familiar voice of Jake Douglas made Steve want to cringe. “Not too bad, Dr. Douglas. How about you?” The man was still unusually pleasant, but Steve wanted to enjoy his break.

  “Good. Nothing new since the last time I saw you a few hours ago. Where are you off to?”

  Steve really didn’t feel like company, and he knew which direction this conversation was going. Unfortunately, he knew he wasn’t a good liar. “I thought I would get an early lunch. I don’t feel like reading right now, so that was my best solution.”

  “That sounds like a terrific idea. Hey, you don’t mind if I join you, do you?”

  Steve tried not to pout. “Not really, if you want. I just thought-”

  “Great, Steve. Give me a second to grab my money, and I will be right back.”

  “Super,” Steve lied.

  Steve knew that Jake was having a tough time with everything over the last few days, but the incident with Karla was the worst. Jake was usually not a very touchy-feely kind of guy. However, over the last few days he has been very talkative, understanding, and nice to be around. Steve actually felt sorry for the guy. He tried to remember if he had ever seen Jake with any friends in the cafeteria or around the hospital, but no such memori
es came to mind.

  Jake came from around the corner and nearly plowed Steve into a locker. “Alright, Carmichael. Let’s do it!”

  “You must be pretty hungry,” Steve joked as he dashed out of the other man’s way. They headed out of the locker room and toward the automatic doors in the front of the OR near the nurses’ station.

  The mood of the operating wing had already shifted. The three residents were no longer flirting with the nurses, and the staff surgeon was no longer pleading his case for getting his surgery on the schedule. Instead, all attention was on the two nurses behind the desk at the front of the OR. Police officers stood on the opposite side of the desk talking to the nurses.

  One of the officers was leaning across the counter that separated them with a small notepad open. He looked up occasionally to ask questions. Then he would look back at his notepad and scribble something down before repeating the process. This continued for several minutes.

  Meanwhile, people in the hallway, including Steve and Jake, lingered to eaves drop. All of a sudden, one of the nurses put her hands to her mouth in horror and screamed, “I don’t believe it. I just don’t believe it! It just can’t be. I just talked to her a day ago. She is just late, damn it! Now leave me alone

  and get out of here, now!”

  As she started to cry, the other nurse put her arm around her shoulder and tried to console her. Soon they were both crying as the officers continued to ask them questions.

  Steve and Jake didn’t move. Their appetites were gone. One

  of the nurses walked closer to them and started to cry. Jake put his arm around her and asked what had happened.

  “I just can’t believe it,” the young woman cried softly. “Apparently Sue was attacked last night in her home. They think she was raped and then killed. It is so not right. I just can’t believe all that has happened to the OR staff in the last few days.”