Bone Dus

by Bette Golden Lamb

  “Well, I—”

  “—Do we understand each other, Jenni?”

  “I just thought—”

  “—Forget what you’ve been thinking. Just leave all of this to me. I’ll find a way to make sure she’s all right.”

  “Okay, but please call me the moment you find out anything.”

  “I’ll let you know,” Helen said, running a comb through her hair. “I promise. Right now I’ve got to get ready to go to work.” She quickly hung up the phone.

  “What’s happened to my sister?”

  Helen spun around. Vinnie was standing in the bedroom doorway in pajamas, wiggling his bare toes. She rushed to him, took his arm, and led him back to bed.

  “What on earth is the matter with you?” Helen helped him crawl under the sheets and blankets, placed a hand on his forehead, and stared into his droopy eyes.

  “Tell me about Gina,” he mumbled.

  “She’s off today and she hasn’t come home from a date.”

  “A date?” he said, his voice thick and raspy. “Harry’s not back. He would have called me first thing.”

  “Listen to me, dear boy, just get it through your head once and for all, Gina and Harry are kaput. Sad as that may be, that’s the way it is. So, if your big sister wants to go out with another man, she has that right.”

  “I get it! Gina’s a grown woman, and I ought to just butt out of her affairs.”

  “Now, you are getting it.” Helen tucked the covers around him. “If you want to have any kind of relationship with her, you have to respect her decisions.”

  “I know ... if I didn’t feel so lousy, I’d probably be up and out looking for her.”

  “And that’s something her little brother is going to have to stop doing. You can’t run her life just because you think she should spend it with Harry.” She smiled at him. “Capish?” She laughed. “See, you’ve even got me talking Italian.”

  Vinnie gave her a weak smile; his eyelids blinked a couple of times, then stayed closed.

  Helen went into the living room and gathered up her purse, reached for the phone, and called Gina’s number.

  “Little phone freak that you are, I know you’ll be checking in for your messages,” she said when she heard Gina’s recorded message. “Well, dear girl, here’s one for you. Call me right now. And I mean now!”

  * * *

  Jenni put her phone back into her purse after talking to Helen.

  She didn’t seem all that worried, and she and Gina are best friends.

  Jenni stared into space, tried to remain calm and centered. Mostly, her thoughts were on the kind of life she’d led before Gina started working in her unit. She’d made bad decision after bad decision. She was worried Gina might do the same thing now that Harry was out of her life.

  When Jenni first came to San Francisco she was angry at everything—her ex-boyfriend, who’d dumped her for her best friend; her parents, who blamed her for the breakup.

  She’d wanted to get lost in a new life. She moved to San Francisco from Reno and took a job at Ridgewood. As soon as she settled into her new digs, she started dating. But she didn’t just date, she slept around—a lot.

  Most of the men were nice enough and she was excited to be in a magical city like San Francisco. Everyone seemed so buoyant. But she’d had a couple of close dating calls, almost been raped.

  One of those men was Russell Thorpe.

  * * *

  Second thoughts had plagued Jenni about going on a second date with Russell. They’d gone to a movie on the first date and there wasn’t a lot of interaction and she’d been a little uneasy with him. When he’d asked her out again, she’d said yes, on a whim.

  He really hadn’t done anything bad! Besides, he’d said he was going to teach her how to use a bow and arrow. Sounded like fun, even a little romantic. Like Robin Hood and Maid Marian.

  “Hey, Russell, where’re we going?” she said when he came by to pick her up.

  “Something real special, Jenni,” he said. “Not a city date. You’ll see.”

  He took the coast road and drove north—drove and drove and drove.

  “You promised me something different, but all we’ve been doing is riding around in your truck for an hour. Kind of boring, you know?”

  “We’re almost there. You’re going to love this place, Jenni.” He pulled off the highway onto an auxiliary road, and after a while they turned onto a dirt road that wound itself deep into the woods.

  “It’s beautiful here.” she said. She clutched her sweater tighter around her, protecting herself from the cooler air under the shadow of the redwoods.

  “And this is it!” He sounded very proud when he slowed down and then stopped in a small clearing about one hundred feet in front of a rundown log cabin.

  A pile of wood was stacked haphazardly in front of the structure and litter was scattered all around the grounds surrounding the parking area—rusted out cars, broken farm implements, concrete blocks, a jumbled pile of bricks, tumbled trees, and broken limbs poked up out of tall weeds.

  Jenni was disappointed, wished they would just turn around and leave. But Russell was out of the car, motioning for her to follow him towards the cabin.

  She’d accepted that he was a little strange, but she’d never felt intimidated by him ... until now.

  Russell waded through the weeds and went inside. Jenni sat in the truck, trying to make up her mind whether to follow him, or just sit and wait until he came out, then tell him she wanted to go home. The keys were in the ignition and she was tempted to start the truck to hurry him along.

  But when Russell came out carrying a bow and quiver of arrows, she got interested again and climbed out of the truck.

  She walked on the uneven ground, kicking aside the weeds. As she got closer to the pile of wood, she not only saw shards of bone tossed everywhere, but on one side of the cabin there was a stack of bones waist high.

  “What’s that about?” She pointed to the bones.

  “Deer bones.” He gave her a measured stare.

  Why is he looking at me that way?

  He raised the bow and arrow over his head and headed for the woods. “Come on, I’ll show you how to shoot.”

  Jenni’s heart started to race and her breath was coming fast and hard. All the blanched deer bones were creeping her out. Before she followed him, she picked up a fist-size jagged rock and stuffed it into her sweater pocket.

  They had been walking for a while when they came to another small clearing. A tree trunk had a white bull’s eye painted unevenly on the bark. Russell took a shooting stance and fired an arrow.

  Bull’s eye.

  “Come on,” he yelled. “Give it a try.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Aw, come on, Jenni. You can do it.”

  She walked up to him and he handed her the bow and a steel-tipped arrow. He moved behind and pressed against her.

  Ugh! Smells like greasy fried food.

  Russell wrapped his arms around her, positioned her hands on the bow and bowstring, and showed her how to set the arrow.

  Jenni pulled back on the bowstring, and was ready to release the arrow when his hand shot down between her legs. The arrow fell to the ground.

  She dropped the bow and tried to get away, but Russell grabbed her with both hands and threw her to the ground. He fell on top of her, held her down with one fist and ripped open her jeans.

  “Stop it! Get off of me!”

  “Word gets around, you bitch. You put out for all those other guys ... now it’s my turn.”

  He unzipped his pants, pulled out his cock, and tried to wedge himself between her legs. She grabbed the rock from her sweater pocket and bashed the pointed end against his head.

  She struck him again and again until he went limp.

  Jenni pushed and shoved to get out from under him. Once up, she ran back to the truck, pulled her purse from under the seat, found her cell, and punched in 9-1-1.

  No signal.


  Russell was crashing through the woods. He would be on her in no time.

  She jumped into the driver’s seat, turned the key, and started the truck.

  He came out of the woods yelling, “I was only kidding with you. Come on, Jenni.”

  “If you ever come near me again, I’ll kill you! You hear me, Russ?”

  “My name’s not Russ, you bitch.” He raised the bow and aimed an arrow at her. “Get out of my truck. Now!”

  The arrow whizzed past her nose and out the passenger window. She stomped the accelerator and took off.

  Before she could report Russell to the police, they were waiting for her at her apartment. Russell had out-maneuvered her, reported that she’d stolen his truck.

  It was a real mess.

  Jenni got a good lawyer and managed to avoid getting into deep trouble; it cost her a bundle. Criminal records didn’t sit well with the Board of Registered Nursing.

  No one believed that he’d tried to rape her. Not even her lawyer.

  * * *

  After morning report on the unit, the first thing Jenni did was go through the database for Dr. Brad Rizzo’s home telephone number. She jotted it down and took her cell into the workroom where no one else was around. After three rings he picked up.

  “This is Dr. Rizzo.”

  “Hi, this is Jenni Webb, one of the nurses Gina works with.”

  “Oh, hi, Jenni. Hey, I’m off today, so if there’s something you need, Dr. Grayson is on call.”

  “No, no, that’s not it. I’ve been rooming with Gina and I’m a little worried. She didn’t come home last night and I know she was having dinner with you. So—”

  “—Hold on a sec.”

  Oh, boy, if Gina’s there, I’m going to catch hell.

  “Jenni?” Gina said. “Is there problem?”

  Oh, that voice.

  “I was worried about you when you were gone all night.”

  There was a heavy pause. “Well, now you know I’m fine. I appreciate your keeping track of me. I’ll talk to you later.”

  One day I’ll learn to keep my nose out of other people’s business.

  * * *

  Jenni picked up the nurses’ station telephone. It had been ringing for a long time, but with everyone running back and forth trying to keep up with the increased patient load, answering the telephone had dropped far down on the priorities list.

  “This is Jenni Webb.”

  “And this is Helen Trent.”

  “Oh, Helen. I meant to call you, but I’ve been too busy with patients. This flu epidemic is driving us crazy. Anyway, Gina’s okay.”

  “I know that already,” Helen said coldly, “especially since she called me, fuming about your calling Brad Rizzo at home.”

  “I’m sorry, Helen. I was worried.”

  “Both of us appreciate your concern, but the next time I tell you that I’m taking care of something, I’d expect you to have the decency to listen to me.” Helen hung up.

  Oh, shit!

  Chapter 25

  “You have a fabulous view from almost every room,” Gina said, placing their bacon-and-cheese omelets on the dining room table. Brad followed with English muffins, orange juice, and their coffee.

  She smiled her thanks as he pulled out her chair, a curved piece of clear acrylic. She sat on the cushion of purple, blue, and abstract swirls.

  “This is really cool, dinner in the kitchen and now breakfast in the dining room.”

  Before Gina could take her first bite, Brad asked, “Why did you give Jenni such a bad time on the phone? She’s a nice gal, and a great nurse.”

  “I know I came on pretty strong, but everyone is freaking out over my breakup with Harry.”

  “Can’t really blame them,” Brad said, reaching for his orange juice. “You two were an item for a long time.”

  “Don’t tell me you’re trying to make me feel guilty like everyone else.”

  “Of course not.” He reached under the table and gently squeezed her thigh. “But it’s hard for people to move on, even if you have.”

  “Have I?” She finished the last of her omelet.

  “After last night and this morning ... it feels like you have. Am I wrong?”

  “I think it’s going to be a while before I have an answer to that.” She put her fork down and leaned back in her chair.

  “Not too long, I hope.”

  “Right now it’s almost a fulltime job dealing with Vinnie, Helen, and Jenni. And they’re merciless.”

  “As am I,” said Brad, smiling, “but for different reasons.” His cell phone rang, he picked up, looked at the window, and threw his napkin down in the table. “This is supposed to be my day off,” he growled. He tapped the button to answer the call. “This is Brad Rizzo.” He nodded. “Yes ... okay.”

  Gina could see he was listening carefully; the lines in his face deepened.

  “Who told you she was here? ... yes, I’ll ask her.”

  He hung up the phone and started clearing away the dishes. “I have to go back to the hospital.”

  “What’s happening?”

  “The ER is swamped with influenza patients ... the staff can’t keep up with the crush. They’re diverting, but so is every other hospital. They want you back, also.”

  “How did they know I was here? It’s supposed to be my day off, too.”

  “Jenni told them,” Brad said with a smile. “They tried your phone, but you had it turned off.”

  “Oh, well. I guess the whole world knows now that I spent the night with you.”

  Brad bent over and kissed her. “There are no secrets at Ridgewood.”

  * * *

  Russell was packed in the elevator with the extra staff who had been called back in to work. There were rumors the hospital had to pay top dollar to the temp agencies to bring personnel from other states to help cover the increased patient load.

  He hated being trapped in this confined place where he was so physically close to everyone.

  They were all bumping against each other, and him. They gave off disgusting aromas of annoyance and agitation. It reminded him of the dead animals he and his foster dad had cut up at the cabin; they also had reeked of fear. He could smell some of that stink here, too.

  After he stepped out of the elevator, he could breathe again. He spotted Jenni talking on the phone in the nurses’ station but he kept on walking down the corridor before she could focus her attention on him.

  With the hospital’s overloaded census, he had to cover larger numbers of patients, plus more than the usual number of tests were being performed on each individual.

  His tray was very heavy. He could have taken one of the carts, like most of the other lab personnel, but they didn’t have anything to hide, and the tray made him more mobile.

  People might start asking questions.

  No, they would definitely ask questions.

  Usually, his day started early when the staff was involved in taking report from the night shift in the nurses’ stations—normally there weren’t too may people out on the floors working with the patients. Today, at every patient room, staff members floated in and out.

  It was too busy for him to drain anyone. But nothing could stop him from observing each and every individual, in each and every bed, looking for his next victim.

  The first name listed on his assignment page: Room 214. Lena Dobbs, Blood cultures.

  The room’s blinds were closed and a reading light was positioned so it shone on the wall behind the patient. She was sitting up and coughing, her face contorted by a worried expression.

  She gazed over at him, played with the tubes in her nostrils that provided oxygen. He could see she was scared and physically exhausted. Her arms dropped away from her face and lay limp by her sides.

  “Lena, I’m here to take blood for some lab tests.”

  “They took blood from me when I was admitted.” She began to cough again. “I don’t want to be stuck again.”

  “Sorry.”
He lifted her wrist and verified her name, went to the sink and washed his hands. “They have to do repeat blood cultures. I won’t be able to talk much with a mask on so why don’t you just let me do what I have to do.”

  Why do these patients always give me these strange looks when all I’m doing is telling them the truth?

  Now he was annoyed with her. He turned away and slapped on his mask.

  I’m the one in charge here, little girl, and don’t you forget it.

  Snapping on his gloves, he removed the cap from the culture solution bottle and replaced it with an alcohol pad.

  “How long is this going to take?” Lena asked, tears running down her cheeks. “I’m cold.”

  He said nothing.

  Jenni walked into the room and glared at him when she saw the patient crying.

  “Hey, Lena,” Jenni said softly. She took an extra blanket from the bedside chair and covered the patient’s shoulders. “This will be over soon.”

  Goddam bitch! She would have to show up.

  Jenni took Lena’s hand and glared at Russell. “Don’t worry; I’ll stay right here with you.”

  I’ll bet you will.

  He quickly wrapped the tourniquet around her arm and found a good vein right away.

  He circled and scrubbed the site with alcohol, let it dry, than opened an ampoule of 1% tincture of iodine and scrubbed again.

  Waiting for that to dry, he replaced his gloves with a fresh sterile pair.

  The patient started to cough just as Russell was about to puncture her vein. “You’ll have to hold still or I can’t do this.”

  Lena started to sob and then she was coughing at the same time. He could see Jenni was furious and Russell’s head started spinning.

  A blast of hatred and memory was building. Every time he saw Jenni, he remembered her stealing his car, the long walk from his cabin, the reporting her to the police. She’d gotten away with it when she should have been locked up for bashing him on the head. She should have had to pay.

  He looked at Jenni and the sobbing patient. If he didn’t get out of the room soon, he would start screaming at both of them.

  “It’s all right,” Jenni said. “Let’s just get through the next few minutes and it’ll all be over.”

  Russell took the 10cc syringe and had to keep himself from stabbing the needle into her arm instead of calmly finding the vein and getting what he needed.