Bone of Contention: A Medical Thriller With Heart (The Gina Mazzio Series Book 4)

by Bette Golden Lamb

  Last night that hope was crushed. Forever!

  What she feared most, happened: Richie posted some smutty stuff about her on his FaceBook page. Bottom line: she was a whore and slept around – and the post ended with the promise of more to come.

  More to come?

  She knew what that was. Pictures the guys had taken when she was drunk and out of her mind.

  And it wasn’t only the pictures. There was plenty more to tell if they hadn’t told everybody already. They could let the whole world know that she was knocked up.

  Jody tried to keep herself together, but it was as though someone had carved a hole in her heart. At the beach, she collapsed onto the sand, broke into tears.

  I am so stupid.

  She sat and watched the shallow waves, only a few feet away, come onto and recede from the beach. Everything looked so peaceful, timeless. No school, no pressures, no worries about college, her parents. That’s why she usually came to this spot. In the past, right here next to the sea, her problems usually evolved into solutions.

  Solutions?

  No, that wasn’t going to happen. Not this time. She was trapped, backed into a corner.

  How could she ever go back to school and face everyone? Even her best friend Sarah was ignoring her, hadn’t even called to see why Jody wasn’t in class. And she thought about yesterday, in the corridor when all those kids looked at her as if she were trash.

  Trash!

  They were right. This parasite growing inside of her had turned her into trash. It would destroy her life and there was nothing she could do about it.

  Nothing.

  Jody thrust her fists into her belly, looked across the vast horizon. The ocean had always been her friend. It had never disappointed her. Today would be no exception.

  She slipped out of her shoes and socks and aligned them on the sand next to her. The beach was deserted. It was if she were the only person in the world.

  She stood, walked into the water until it was up to her knees – it was very, very cold and she remained motionless while her feet cramped and turned into frozen stumps.

  She forced herself to take two more long steps. Her skirt floated on the waves, her teeth chattered; her whole body felt strange and separate.

  Tears rolled down her cheeks. She wanted to back away but there was no other place to go. She closed her eyes – she needed to end it, end her fear, her pain.

  And she needed to do it now.

  Her mind emptied for the first time in three months, and she was calm and unafraid.

  She was ready.

  Someone grabbed her hand and yanked. A black Labrador barked and jumped at her. She screamed and tried to pull away.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” An older guy grabbed her around the waist. He tugged, pulled hard until she was stepping backward. “Those waves will pull ya down before ya know it.” He smiled kindly but there was fear in his eyes. “Let’s go back. Okay?”

  Jody was shivering so hard, she couldn’t speak. When they were out of the water, she collapsed onto the sand. The man shucked his jacket and covered her.

  “Hey, child.” He squatted next to her. “What were you doing out there?”

  Jody looked at his white hair, weathered skin, and dark brown eyes. “I wanted to sleep in the ocean.”

  The man was silent as he lifted a thermos. “Brought me some coffee to sit and study the waves rolling in. Want some?”

  She watched the steam rise in the cool air as he poured the hot drink into a cup; she reached out for it.

  Chapter 29

  Harry had talked the afternoon ICU nurse into swapping shifts with him so he could check out Gina’s car and pick up a loaner for however long it took to get the Fiat back on the road. He needed to get all of that done before her scheduled release around 11:00 a.m.

  On the way home from the hospital, Gina was like a kid just set free from school detention. All she wanted to do was talk, talk, talk. When she couldn’t engage Harry in conversation, she began to playfully hit him with a running critique of the six-year-old loner car he’d been given at the garage where the Fiat had been taken.

  She also had things to say, at every stop sign, about his driving skills; none of it terribly good.

  Finally, Harry reached over and took her hand in his. “Would you prefer to drive with a conked out head, Ms. Mazzio?”

  “As a matter of fact, I would. But why should I put both of our lives in danger when you’re already doing such a great job.” She ended the statement with a wide grin and then crossed her eyes. She knew that drove him crazy.

  “If you hadn’t already beaten yourself up in a fight with a platoon of garbage cans, I’d stop the car and turn you over my knee.”

  “Uh, huh. You and what army?”

  “Oh, my tough little doll,” he said, bringing her hand up to his lips, “one of these days you’re going to push the wrong button, and then...”

  “And then what?”

  “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

  She burst out laughing. “I’m looking forward to it.”

  It was about noon when they found a parking place near their apartment. Harry helped her out of the car, and as they walked to the entrance, his cell buzzed.

  “Harry Lucke?” said an unfamiliar voice.

  “Yeah, that’s me.”

  “You can get the Fiat some time tomorrow, probably in the late afternoon.”

  “That’s great! You mean it doesn’t have to go to a body shop?”

  “Naw! You lucked out ... no body damage. Wasn’t even a scratch in the paint, which surprised the hell out of me. Anyway, I called around and found a like-new front bumper down on the Peninsula. Should get that later today. And they just dropped off a new windshield. We’ll have that installed before the day is over.”

  “Fantastic!!”

  “Yeah, well, I think you should know that this was no accident. Someone cut the brake lines.”

  Harry was silent for a moment. “You’re sure about that.”

  “Hey, man, you’d have to be flat ass dumb not to figure this one out. A cut line is a cut line.”

  “What time do you close tomorrow?”

  “We’re open until six.”

  “I’ll call you tomorrow to set a time to pick up the car.”

  In their apartment, Gina collapsed on the sofa. “I take it that was the body shop that has my poor little Fiat.”

  “Nope. It’s still at the garage. It didn’t need to go to the body shop after all.”

  “Oh, good. When can I pick it up?

  “You, my darling buttercup, are staying home from work tomorrow; you’re also definitely not driving.” He walked into the kitchen, poured them each a glass of tomato juice, came back, and handed her a glass. “I, on the other hand, will pick up the car after work at the end of my shift and bring it home to you.”

  “Mr. Lucke, sometimes I love it when you’re bossy. But not this time. That’s my car.”

  Harry sipped his juice slowly. “Gina, the brake line was deliberately cut.”

  “So I was right, wasn’t I?”

  Harry sat down next to her.

  Gina set her glass on the coffee table and leaned back into the sofa. “I knew something was wrong. I could just feel it. Dominick! It has to be Dominick.”

  “Why go there right off the bat?” he said. “As far as we know, your ex is still in New York.”

  She knew he wanted to snap at her, but was trying to remain calm and reason it out. But she knew her Harry, and he was losing the battle. Carrying his empty glass into the kitchen, she could see that he was tense, and the plastered smile on his face didn’t hide his true feelings.

  “Who else could it be?”

  “You were parked in a lousy neighborhood ... it could have been kids ... someone out for a few laughs.” He came back and sat down next to her again. “Any number of idiots ... you know that.” He reached over and drew her close, held her so tight she could barely breathe. “I’m not going
to let anything bad happen to you. Not one thing!”

  * * *

  Gina was up and out of bed early the next morning, same time as Harry. The bathroom mirror and her aching bones told her she’d really been banged around in the car crash.

  They had breakfast together, but Harry was barely moving and looked like he might fall asleep at any minute.

  “What happened to you?” Gina asked.

  “Kept checking on you,” he said. “You didn’t even wake up when I checked your pupil response with the flashlight.”

  “Oh, was that you?” She laughed and patted the top of her head. “See, I told you there was no bleeding up here.” She pointed to her head. “You are silly. When are you going to give this up? I’m fine. You know they wouldn’t have discharged me if I wasn’t. In fact, I think I should go to work ... they’re short-handed, you know.”

  “Don’t mess around, Gina. We agreed you were taking the day off, and your department’s been told that. “That’ll give you today and the rest of the weekend to recuperate.”

  “All right, already. Get out of here, go to work, and come home with my car.” At the apartment door, she threw her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear. “Take care, baby. You’re all I’ve got.”

  He held her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. “I’ll see you later, beautiful.”

  * * *

  Harry called her a couple of hours later and filled her in on the autopsy details for Elyse.

  Another patient gone. Dead.

  When Gina worked in Oncology, death and dying had become a way of life, an everyday occurrence. But in Women’s Health?

  The same questions kept poking at her over and over – how could Carrie and Elyse Kyser have died from routine TABs? The autopsies said there was no retained tissue in either of them – that would have accounted for the bacterial explosion. But they each had an empty uterus. Nothing there except globs of bacteria that had entered the rest of their bodies, carried by their own vessels. Somehow, deadly bacteria had invaded and killed both women within hours after their procedures.

  Loss of blood was definitely a complicating factor, but it was the microbes that killed them.

  How?

  There’d been no problem with the procedures; they were as sterile as possible. Everything had gone by the book, routine.

  Routine!

  Yet, both women were flooded with strep.

  A wave of sadness swept over Gina.

  Maybe I don’t belong in nursing anymore. I’ve always loved patient care, but lately it all seems so complicated. Is it really the profession, or is it me?

  If only she could talk to Harry, that would help. But he’d agreed to start his shift early. ICU was loaded again -- eight patients, which might mean his staying on at the end of his shift, at least until they could bring in an extra nurse.

  She pictured her guy, with his shaggy hair and bright blue eyes. Thinking about him always made her feel better, lifted her spirits. She couldn’t help but smile.

  Harry seemed to understand people, but in a different way. He was more down to earth, more real about the loss of life. He cared as much as Gina did, but working in ICU gave him a whole different perspective about dying. It was the kind of outlook she used to have. It was basic, simple – nurses do their absolute best to save lives. That’s all anyone can do.

  At least, working in ICU, Harry had the latest technology on his side; life-saving equipment was right at his fingertips. That not only helped ground him, it gave him a greater sense of control. Gina only had basic tools and, for the most part, she’d come to rely on her knowledge and intuition to help people. Her gut rarely let her down.

  But with Elyse she’d been totally wrong.

  * * *

  Gina hoped Harry wouldn’t call again and find out she hadn’t stayed in the apartment as she’d said she would.

  As the bus rolled along, she watched the people on the streets, going in and out of stores, sitting at outside tables sipping coffee under awnings and working with laptops, tablets, or smart phones. There were even a few actually reading a book or newspaper. She loved the Muni even though riders were always complaining about it.

  Every now and then she felt a little light-headed, but shook it off. She might have enjoyed not having to go to work if she wasn’t so worried. But she couldn’t let this thing with her sabotaged car slide.

  Fortunately, there was a bus stop only a block away from the police station. She walked into the precinct and spoke to the desk sergeant, happy to see it wasn’t the same nasty guy who’d tried to hit on her the last time she was here a year ago.

  “Would you please let Inspector Mulzini know that Gina Mazzio is here to see him?”

  “Is he expecting you, Miss?”

  “He is.” She smiled, glad he hadn’t called her ma’am.

  He picked up the phone, spoke softly into the mouth piece. When he hung up, he said, “Have a seat, Miss Mazzio, and make yourself comfortable.” He gave her a half-hearted smile. “He’ll be with you in a minute or so.”

  Gina had just sat down on a hard, straight-backed bench when Mulzini came through the swinging gate that separated the front of the station from the back where all the plainclothes officers worked. He gave her a big smile as he walked toward her, one hand extended out in front of him.

  “Well, hi, Ms. Mazzio, RN. It’s great to see you again.

  Gina stood and shook his hand. “Hi, Inspector.”

  “How about something to eat?”

  “I purposely skipped lunch. She patted her belly. “Trying to keep my girlish figure, and losing the battle.”

  “You look pretty damn good to me” Mulzini said, laughing. “Come on, I’ll treat you to a bite.”

  They walked out the door in the direction of the bus stop. He stopped at a food truck and they got in line. “Tacos or hot dogs?”

  Gina burst out laughing.

  “Hey, you didn’t think we were going for a sit down, did you?”

  “Well, I—”

  “I’m just a poor cop ... can’t take every pretty gal I meet out to eat in this city. I’d need to earn more bread for that.” He gave her a big smile. “No pun intended.”

  “Hey, if you’re buying, I’ll have a taco with lots of hot sauce.”

  The Inspector ordered the taco and a couple of hot dogs with “the works” for himself. “I hear you gave Inspector Yee a rough time while I was in Hawaii.” They started walking towards a small city park.

  “Yeah, well, people expect me to do my job,” Gina said. “I expect the same of others.”

  “You have to give her a little slack ... she has a lot of personal problems,” Mulzini said, taking a massive bite of his dog and chewing very slowly.

  When they reached the park, a couple was about to vacate a bench; Mulzini and Gina waited for them to pickup after themselves, then took possession of the wood-slatted seat.

  “What’s going on with you?” Mulzini mumbled through a mouth half-filled with food.

  “I need your help, Inspector.”

  “I’m listening.”

  Gina took the last bite of her taco, crumpled the paper and her napkin in one hand, and told him about her marriage, from the beginning until the moment Dominick was sent to jail. “Right now, I think my ex-husband is trying to kill me.”

  “But he’s back east, isn’t he?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t. What I do know is that someone cut the brake line of my Fiat yesterday. My money’s on him.”

  Mulzini took her napkin and paper wrap, wadded then together with his, and threw it all into a nearby trash barrel. “Not much to go on, but I’ve developed an appreciation for your gut reaction to things. Let me do some checking around, Gina, then I’ll get back to you; if not later today, then tomorrow for certain.” He took his notebook from an inside jacket pocket and made a couple of notes.

  “Give me his name, the prison, and his last-known address.”

  After she’
d given him all the details and he'd written everything down in his notebook, said, “You still at Ridgewood?”

  “Yup.” She touched his arm. “I really appreciate this, Inspector.”

  He tipped an imaginary hat. “Anything for a nurse, especially you, Gina.”

  She knew she was blushing when she turned and walked away. “Thanks for the lunch, Inspector.”

  Chapter 30

  “I can’t do it,” Thelma said softly.

  “What?” Marvin fired a crazed look her way. Thelma’s insides turned to dust.

  He’s going to hit me.

  “I can’t do it anymore,” she said again, this time in an even quieter voice.

  I need to get away, start running before he grabs me.

  Her injured leg always slowed her down, never the same after he broke it. She still limped in pain.

  His eyes turned crafty. “Say it one more time, woman.”

  “I have to stop.” She took a step back, putting herself out of his range.

  He quickly closed the distance between them. “Joining The Holy Eye changed everything, Thelma. There is no I can’t.”

  “Marvin, I almost got caught Friday.”

  “But you didn’t, did you?”

  “Not this time.”

  Without warning, he cuffed her face – her cheek stung. She turned away from him, stepping back again.

  “Come back here, you bitch.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her against him. “Do you want them to get away with murdering unborn children?”

  “It’s time to look for another way to make them pay.”

  “This is working.”

  “I don’t want to get caught ... that new nurse is on to me. It feels like she’s watching my every move.”

  “You were supposed to bring me a picture of her. Where is it?”

  “I have it in my phone. I just haven’t downloaded it.yet.”

  “Maybe it’s time we took care of her. She’s a murderer, too ... she helps with those abortions.”

  Thelma looked at her husband and again wondered why she ever married him ... and why she stayed with him. She’d known from the beginning that he wasn’t all that bright, but he was a hard worker and she’d been at an age where she’d begun to worry that she might never get married. It’s been a bad decision on her part; he treated her like dirt and he’d gotten dumber instead of brighter.