There was a distinct chill in the area, and a feeling of isolation and quiet.
“Definitely seems unused. Well, except for this one patient,” Elizabeth thought. She continued down the corridor, looking for signs of life, or that she was on the right track. The plain identical doors gave nothing away. She was about to give up and start randomly opening doors when she noticed one was a bit different. She walked closer, and noticed a piece of paper stuck to the door.
“No way. CM!” Elizabeth whispered, surprise and excitement surging through her. But she felt rooted to the floor, unsure of what lay behind the door. She steeled herself and pushed the door open, just like she had done so many times before.
This time there was a man sitting upright in bed. He appeared to be stretching. He had wild brown hair, which looked like it hadn’t been touched in months. But at the same time, there was a thinness to it. In fact there was a thinness to his entire frame.
“Hi I’m...”
“Elizabeth?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“You said you would find me,” Nathan said with a laugh.
“I did. I’m sorry but I don’t know your name.”
“I’m Nathan. Glad to finally meet you. There’s much we need to discuss.”
“I know. Nice to meet you Nathan, you’re actually the reason I’m at the hospital.”
“What do you mean? Didn’t you come here to interview Robin?”
“That was an assignment, one that I took begrudgingly. But it allowed me to investigate a tip. One so tightly held, that my informant left me only a slip of paper with a cryptic message on it. That message consisted of the name of this hospital and two letters. CM.”
“It says that on my door.”
“Yes. I didn’t know until today. I was intrigued by your message, and struggled to find you. But that wasn’t my reason for being here. Until now.”
“I don’t have the answers you are after, but I’m sure that I’m being held here for a reason. And it’s not for my own safety.”
“No, this wing appears to be unused except for you. The door to access it is locked, and I’ve only spotted food and nurses passing through.”
“Doctors too.”
“Yeah, I haven’t seen them yet though. You mentioned a Dr Sterling in your message. Is he your main doctor?”
“I keep getting different ones. He seems to be a leader amongst them. I also remember a Dr Malberg.”
“Hmm that’s interesting, he came up somewhere else too. They’re both members of the Research department so that makes sense. Look, I can’t really stay long, I don’t know when a nurse will come through.”
“There’s usually a gap between breakfast and when Robin comes to check in and take the newspaper.”
“Good, but I’m not going to push my luck today. What’s your full name?”
“Nathaniel Slade Stenson.”
“Anyone who would be looking for you?”
“My mum. Her name is Emma.”
“Ok got it. My first order of business is to get myself a key and to establish a better means of communication. We can’t keep using jumbles.”
“Yeah fair enough.”
“I better go. I’ll be in touch, I promise.”
“Thank you. You’re my last hope,” Nathan said. Elizabeth couldn’t help thinking of the parallels with Dean. They both saw her as their last chance for closure.
“Not your last, just your best bet right now. See you soon,” Elizabeth said then left.
As she left the room Elizabeth heard footsteps. She rushed over to the nearest room and tried the door. It opened, so she snuck inside. She was inside another patient room, but it looked like it had been used as a records room. There were a few filing cabinets and shelves with folders. Elizabeth saw the possibilities, but also the liabilities.
“There could be something useful here, but it’s not a good hiding place,” she thought. She stood beside the door, and tried to listen out. She heard footsteps, but couldn’t really place where they were. The footsteps stopped, and her heart also stopped. A moment passed without any action. And then another.
“Maybe they entered Nathan’s room,” Elizabeth wondered. Then she realised that she finally had a name. He was no longer the mystery patient, but had an identity. She pushed the interesting realisation aside and focused on her current predicament.
It was too risky to enter the hallway without some kind of confirmation that the person who the footsteps belonged to had left. So she kept quiet and listened carefully. A few minutes later she was rewarded by the steady sound of footsteps. She thought that they were heading further away, but it was hard to tell. Once she could hear them no longer, she left the room and looked over the hallway. It was empty.
Elizabeth retraced her steps, trying to be as quiet as possible. Once she reached the T junction she peered around the corner. No one was there. Bolstered by the sight of the clear hallway and the door, she strode out with confidence. She reached the door, opened it and then walked down the corridor as if she belonged. Nobody said anything, and she didn’t see anyone around anyway.
Elizabeth kept walking, making her way to Dean’s room. She couldn’t wait to tell him what she had discovered. There was a lot to discuss and she would value his input. Elizabeth burst through the door, about to speak when she noticed something was off. Robin was in the room too.
“Oh sorry, didn’t mean to intrude,” Elizabeth said.
“Hi there. No problem was just finishing up here,” Robin said, then left the room.
“Is everything alright?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yes, just the normal stuff. No need to go into it.”
“I have some good news.”
“Please, lay it on me.”
“You were right, the lunch lady has a key.”
“I knew it. Now we need to work out how to get you a copy.”
“We do, but I managed to sneak in today as she was leaving.”
“What!”
“Yeah, I found him. His name is Nathan and he’s been here for months. He doesn’t know why they are keeping him.”
“Wow that’s unbelievable. You found him,” Dean said. His voice sounded almost disappointed. Elizabeth picked up on this and quickly responded.
“Yes, but that’s only the first step. I need a way to keep in contact with him, and we need to discover why he’s being held here.”
“True.”
“Also, I did some doctor research last night. There’s a man called Dr Malberg that works in the Research department. I think he’s your guy.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, the name is really similar, and surely the Research department would be responsible for trialling new treatments.”
“You’re right. Although I thought the guys specialising in Cancer would be doing it. But it’s worth looking into.”
“Dean, I know you told me some heavy news yesterday, but I feel like there’s something else going on.”
“Well, I didn’t want to trouble you. It’s what Robin was talking to me about. She said that even if there were a trial available, they probably wouldn’t bother with me because I’m too advanced.”
“Did she come and talk to you because you’ve been asking around?”
“Yes. I think she’s trying to let me down. Get me to focus on other things.”
“I see. So she didn’t know of any trials and tried to get you to drop it?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll get to the bottom of it. There’s clearly some strange things going on at this hospital.”
“There certainly is.”
“But look, there’s certainly some wisdom in what Robin tried to say. Make the most of these days, and I’ll give you updates every day.”
“I appreciate that. But that’s the question isn’t it? What’s worth doing at this stage of your life?”
“I don’t know. Family? Your story?”
“Yes, they’re important. And I f
orgot about my story. Ok let me tell you a story when I can. It’s what we always meant to do right?”
“Of course, let me get out my recorder.”
13
A Tale of Cars
Many years ago when I was a young lad, we didn’t have the technology of today. A lot of things were harder, but many were simpler. You knew all the kids on your street, and you would spend the whole day out playing. Running around, exploring, and getting into mischief. Normal kid stuff.
And when we were older, the only difference was the toys that we used. As soon as we were old enough, it was all about driving cars. The freedom of being able to get into a car and drive wherever you wanted was magic. We didn’t have the money to buy new cars, so we made do.
My friend Joe was really handy, so we would scour the neighbourhood and newspaper for old bombs. You know, cars that were a few drives away from the scrapyard. And we would fix them up, get them going and drive them into the ground. We’d find old paddocks and tear around, hoon around the streets at night, and generally be well-intentioned nuisances. But we never created any real trouble. We never damaged anyone’s property, and we never left a car.
When the cars did give up, we’d try and revive them. We had a pretty good success rate. But eventually they would be too tricky or expensive to repair, so we’d get them to the scrapyard and try again. Find another bomb, get it on the road and be back in action.
They were important years, and set the scene for the rest of our lives.
14
The Missing Link
Elizabeth returned to the office after recording Dean’s first story. She was trembling with excitement. There was so much to do, now that she had made the breakthrough and met Nathan. But she couldn’t neglect her work, and she needed to get onto a new story before George assigned her one.
It was too soon to broach the investigation that she had been doing. Even though she had found Nathan, there was more to find out. She needed more evidence, and a motive. That would make a story. Going to George with anything less would be incredibly risky and potentially blow the whole thing.
“Nice jumble Alan,” she said as she walked through the office. He smiled and nodded, and she gave him a knowing smile in return. She settled down at her desk and pulled out the stack of newspaper story tips she had been given.
“Time to select a winner,” she said to herself.
“How’s the story lottery coming along?” George said behind her.
“I’ve looked through, now I’m going to pick one.”
“You’re lucky that I’ve got nothing urgent for you today. But I need you to brief me today on whatever it is. And have an alternate story if you think I might veto it.”
“Yeah I know the drill. It’ll be done.”
“Good, you know where to find me,” George said as he left. Elizabeth read through the stack again. She was looking for a story that would be nicely publishable, but also time consuming. That way she could burn some time on it, while focusing on the hospital. She noticed the missing persons story again, and read over it in more detail.
“Well if the person is notable, there might be some mileage. And you can waste a lot of time following up with the police and getting a background on the missing person,” Elizabeth thought as she looked over it. This particular story said that the police refused to investigate the case, even though the man had been gone for over a month. As she scanned the details something jumped out at her.
“Emma Stenson is the source. Where have I heard that name before?” she thought. And then she remembered. Nathan’s surname was Stenson, and he had said his mother’s name was Emma. The missing person story was about him, and she had already found him.
“I could work both stories at once. Only I wouldn’t reveal that I had found Nathan until the time was right. It could work,” Elizabeth thought. It was the perfect excuse to investigate Nathan’s background, and build the story that should get him freed. But she also knew George well, and that he might not go for it. So she bottled her excitement, and put the story to the side. She needed another option just in case.
Elizabeth continued searching through the notes.
“Aha, this looks interesting,” she said, picking a page out of the stack. There had been a robbery at the museum. An Egyptian piece had been stolen from the collection, but there were no signs of forced entry. She made a few notes about each story on a small notepad and ripped off the page. She stood up and walked over to George’s desk.
“Picked something?”
“Yes, I’ve got my two options here.”
“Let me hear the second option.”
“There was an Egyptian artefact stolen from the museum a few weeks ago. No signs of forced entry, and nothing on the CCTV footage.”
“Hmm. Give me option one.”
“Missing person. Hasn’t been sighted for three months, has not contacted family and the police refuse to investigate.”
“That’s your number one? People decide to disappear sometimes, it’s not really newsworthy. Unless it’s someone notable?”
“I’m not sure, but the tip doesn’t suggest that.”
“Liz, I swear you love investigating more than actual reporting. Nobody else brings me stories that need the interesting bit dug out of the ground.”
“The mayor story? Biggest scoop of the decade.”
“I know, which is why I let you bring me these oddballs. Ok how about you get me a decent story out on the museum robbery, I haven’t seen it reported yet. You can investigate your missing person in-between other stories.”
“Seems fair.”
“I’m always fair. You’ve got to trust me. You seem to have a knack for ferreting out stories, I’ll hand it to you. But I can’t have you going off by yourself again. You almost died in that fire.”
“I do trust you George,” Elizabeth said, “I just can’t let you in yet,” she thought in addition to that statement.
“Ok good, dazzle me,” George said and Elizabeth nodded and left. Considering the potential, that had gone alright. She could investigate Nathan’s disappearance without raising any red flags. Just as long as she kept her other stories going.
Halfway back to her desk, she remembered her conversation with Dean about Dr Malberg. She returned to George.
“Yes?” he said. His uncanny ability to know who it was still caught her by surprise at times.
“Do we have the contact details for Lucy Margot’s PR agent?”
“Yeah, what for?”
“I want to follow up on something. Not for printing.”
“Is it going to give me any grief?”
“No, it won’t offend her in any way.”
“Fine, let me dig up the details,” George said, rifling through his contact card filing system. He found the appropriate card and copied the details out on a slip of paper.
“Here you go. Destroy these details after you’ve made contact. If this number leaks out, they’ll change it and go into lockdown mode.”
“Thanks George. Don’t worry, I’ll be responsible.”
“I know you will, I’m just reminding you,” George said. Elizabeth understood and walked back to her desk. She dialled the number immediately.
“Hello?” a female voice said. Elizabeth did not recognise it.
“Hi, I’m Elizabeth Edmonds. I met with Lucy Margot recently and wanted to leave her a message,” Elizabeth said. There was a pause before she heard a response.
“Ok what’s the message?”
“She mentioned to me a Dr Malburn, who I followed up for a friend. However there is no Dr Malburn working at that hospital. I did find a Dr Malberg however, and I would like to confirm if that is the doctor that Lucy was thinking of.”
“I see. I have taken down your message. How would you like a reply?”
“Please call me on my mobile number,” Elizabeth said, before quoting her number.
“Ok I will confirm your request and give you a reply.”
“Tha
nks. Goodbye,” Elizabeth said and hung up. She had reached out and needed a reply. She didn’t want to approach Dr Malberg directly without a confirmation. Hopefully Lucy got back to her soon so that Elizabeth didn’t need to plan another action.
The next thing she had to do was follow up on the missing persons case. George had said to do it in-between other stories, but it wouldn’t hurt to make a start. She looked up a phone number for Emma Stenson, and luckily there was one listed. The phone started ringing, and continued to ring for a long time. Elizabeth was about to hang up when she heard a reply.
“Hello?” an older female voice said, unsteady and uncertain.
“Hello is this Emma Stenson?”
“Yes.”
“Hi I’m Elizabeth and I’m from the Stately Herald. We got your letter about a missing persons case that’s being ignored by the police.”
“Oh yes, but that was some time ago. I thought my letter was ignored.”
“Dammit George,” Elizabeth whispered under her breath.
“I’m sorry, these letters get buried under paperwork sometimes. But I’m looking into it now,” Elizabeth said over the phone.
“I’m very worried. He’s been gone for three months now. Nobody seems interested in looking into it. I live in hope, but don’t know what I should be doing. What can you do?” Emma said. Elizabeth could hear the pain in the woman’s voice. She wanted to reach out and comfort her, let her know that she had seen and talked to her son. But something stopped Elizabeth from revealing more. Her gut told her not to raise the woman’s hopes unnecessarily.
“It’s a tough situation, and I understand the pain you are in. I hope that we can bring some light onto it and get your son’s disappearance the attention it deserves.”
The Secret Patient Page 10
