Silent Fear, a Medical Mystery

by Barbara Ebel

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  Joelle itched to get done with the last hour’s worth of routine research. She couldn’t abandon it because it was the basis of the backbone of a paper she was writing. Rhonda Jackson from the vet school was on her way. They were going to evaluate the meningoencephalitis amoeba research together.

  A med school lab assistant left for the day after logging Joelle’s last hour’s data into the computer. She went into the rest room for the mirror and tied her hair tighter off her face. She stayed extra careful around the epidemic research with her hands and face, clothes and equipment.

  When Rhonda still hadn’t arrived, Joelle lined up two more microscopes. That would save time. Besides other antibiotic research, they had three simultaneous experiments going on with the dogs’ saliva because they had used three different dogs. She went to the other side of the lab which housed shelves of equipment, and pulled three clean microscope slides from a small box. While there, she turned up the volume of soft rock on the radio, then went back to her main bench.

  Joelle began preparing the three slides as Rhonda showed up.

  “Hi, Joelle,” she said, pulling gloves over her pink nail polished fingers. “I left a group of students with rat dissections. That’ll keep them busy.”

  “I hope so, now let’s see what we’ve got here.” Joelle placed the three slides under the three scopes as Armageddon’s “I don’t wanna miss a thing” began on the radio. “Well, that’s appropriate,” she said. “Let’s see if we can live up to the song.”

  Joelle and Rhonda looked into the microscopes from left to right, in order of the dogs they had selected. Silence and disappointment enveloped the two women until the third slide. Joelle shot her head up. “Rhonda, look at this,” she said excitedly. “We’re onto something. Let’s go get some more dog samples.”

  Chapter 22

  When he left the hospital, the humidity in the air hit Danny like a warm washcloth. He turned the air conditioning in his car on high for the short ride to the office. As he slipped out of his Lexus and went in the back door of the office building, his cell phone rang. Danny peeled up the back staircase two steps at a time as he answered.

  “Danny, it’s Joelle. I’m with Rhonda and we’re at the lab. Come on over if you get a chance. We’ve got good news and bad news.”

  “I’ve got some personal matters to take care of at the office, but I’ll be there after that.”

  Danny hung up as he arrived at the office. A cluster of patients still sat in the waiting room. “Hi everybody,” he said, passing the girls at the front counter. Cheryl saw him and stepped up close. She motioned him into the kitchen where Bruce looked in the refrigerator for a patient’s medication.

  “Danny, are you okay?” Cheryl asked.

  “Better yet, what did you do?” Bruce asked. “There were gun-carrying cops in our office this morning looking for you. Did someone pay your bail?” Bruce smiled at his last remark.

  “It’s a long story, but they were barking up the wrong tree. Actually, my attorney is taking care of it now. He’ll be here soon for me to sign paperwork to go before a judge.”

  Cheryl still had a question mark on her face. “My baby daughter has signs of child abuse so I didn’t give her back to her mother this weekend. I’ll get it straightened out.”

  Bruce finally let the refrigerator door close. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Me, too, Danny, that’s terrible,” Cheryl said. “That woman has given you nothing but trouble, but she doesn’t have to hurt an innocent child.”

  Danny nodded. When he left the kitchen with both of them, Mark Cunningham stood in the waiting room.

  “Mark, come on back,” Danny said. He looked dapper in a light brown suit and followed Danny with quick baby steps to his office. “Have a seat,” Danny pointed to the couch and sat opposite him, wondering if his sixty year old attorney had ever lost a strand of hair in his life.

  “I weaseled my way into getting a medical statement from that pediatrician upstairs,” Mark said. “And he’ll testify if it comes to that.” He opened his brief case and laid out several papers on the table. Danny read the one pertaining to Julia. On paper, the description of breaks and bruises and burns were enough to make a normal person livid.

  When Danny finished, Mark pointed to the other papers. “These are what you need to sign. I’m not asking for a restraining order for the mother, but supervised visitation. The current arrangement I want flip-flopped. You have Julia, and she gets the visitation. I think it’s what the judge will agree to until a more formal hearing and requests are made.”

  “So, does this change the definition of the actual joint custody?”

  “No, custody is still joint. Changing that would be another big deal and I don’t think we’d get that changed anyway. For now, let’s focus on your baby girl’s safety.”

  “Perfect,” Danny said. “I hope this works.” Danny started skimming over Mark’s motion and then signed.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow if I get any action on this.” Mark got up. “Another thing. I hope you’re not seeing more women like her now that you’re single. I’ve got enough business.”

  Danny grinned at his straightforward lawyer.

  “And I hope you’re not getting contaminated with that deadly disease,” Mark added, “or you may need to find another attorney.”

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  Danny got back into his car. He’d cracked the windows open while he was gone only to find the heavy air’s moisture on the dashboard. The weather better turn nice in the next month, he thought as he started the engine, or Casey and Mary’s wedding plans would be foiled. He drove back to the medical campus, and entered the glass bottomed building. A mixture of students and residents passed him with books and backpacks. They carried high hopes of someday being in his physician shoes.

  Upstairs near the lab, he heard Bob Dylan singing “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” He donned the precautionary lab clothing and came up behind Joelle and Rhonda. “Sounds gritty in here,” he said, “like the OR sounds sometimes.”

  “Hey, Danny,” Joelle said. “Yes, soft rock helps me think.”

  “Makes me dance,” Rhonda said. She bowed and strummed an imaginary guitar.

  Joelle turned sideways beaming at Danny. “Wait until you see this.”

  “Let’s show him the others for comparison,” Rhonda said, her elation showing with her bobbing head.

  With Joelle’s feverish enthusiasm, she pushed Danny to the left. “So look in here.” She motioned for his head to lean forward and get his forehead on the scope.

  Danny shot her a glance and laughed. “Don’t you both know I do microscopic work on people’s brains?”

  “That’s right, sorry.” Joelle nevertheless waved her hand for him to get looking.

  Danny positioned his eyes at the eyepiece and rotated the coarse adjustment knob.

  “See our culprit? It’s the trophozoite form. You can see it’s intact, even it’s pseudopodia, responsible for its movement.”

  “Got it,” Danny said.

  “Sample number 1, the Golden Retriever’s saliva, hasn’t done a thing to it.” Joelle pulled him back to the middle microscope. “Look under here, and it’s the same thing with sample number 2.”

  Danny nodded in agreement while looking. “That one’s the mixed collie,” Rhonda added.

  Before Joelle dragged him again, he stepped over to scope three and fine tuned the focusing.

  “And voila,” Joelle said, “there’s a trophozoite, there’s a difference. The amoeba’s cell membrane has been violated. I think it’s from an enzyme in the dog’s saliva.”

  “The Newfoundland gets the filet mignon,” Rhonda said.

  “I see it,” Danny said, echoing their excitement. “I can understand the importance. But now what?”

  “We’re close yet so far,” Joelle said. “Right now, there is nothing in the samples that disarms this organism. I even injected the saliva in
to other trophozoites, but nothing happens. We’ll hope to get into the cell with something extractable from this saliva, but now we need to find a missing link. We must find what can be carried along with this enzyme into the cell to destroy it.”

  “And we still wonder about your situation, Danny,” Rhonda said. “Joelle and I went and got more dog samples and have started working on them.” She checked their notepad on the lab bench. Samples four, five, and six are a beagle, Labrador retriever, and a greyhound.”

  “Have you contacted Ralph yet at the CDC since time is of the essence?” Danny asked. “Perhaps they can parallel the path you’re both on.”

  “I’m calling him as soon as we wrap up here,” Joelle said.

  “Speaking of wrapping up,” Rhonda said, “I’ve got some students who wanted to meet with me after their dinner break. I ‘gotta run. It’s been real.”

  “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Rhonda,” Joelle said. “Appreciate all the help.”

  “No prob. Bye, Dr. Danny.”

  Rhonda pulled off her protective accessories at the door and was gone.

  “One more thing about dog saliva. I’m going to give you the tools to get and bring in some of your dog’s saliva, the one that licked you. Can you do that tomorrow?”

  “I’ll work it in.”

  Joelle pulled a silver pen from her lab coat. “I’m making him number seven. What’s his breed?”

  “Chesapeake Bay retriever.”

  “Okay, got it,” she said, writing it down. Why don’t I come by your office tomorrow and pick it up? Will you be there?”

  “That’ll work.”

  “Now, please, I didn’t ask in front of Rhonda. What’s going on with your daughter’s situation? Is there anything I can do to help? And has there been any healing with the other love of your life, your ex-wife?”

  Danny could tell her a lot, but he also had to get home to Julia.

  “That’s all right, we can save some of it for another time,” Joelle said. “I must admit, part of my curiosity is because I don’t know anyone as interesting as you.” Joelle patted him on his arm. “However, I’m willing to give you a woman’s perspective.”

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  Half way home, Danny went by a flower shop he passed every day since living with Mary and Casey, but had never stopped in. He made a right hand turn and parked in their lot behind the building. The inside smelled gloriously sweet. The arranged flowers came in so many vibrant colors, he couldn’t decide. Mary had been a life saver to help him out with Julia. She deserved a token of his thanks.

  He wanted the stop to be brief, so he smelled a bouquet of mixed carnations, orchids, and roses and took them out of the bucket. Then he grabbed another one and went to the counter. “One I’d like to take with me, and the other one I’d like you to send tomorrow with a gift card.”

  The smiling woman wore an apron full of daisy pictures and handed Danny a form for the recipient’s address. Danny filled in Sara’s address and took a gift card. He wrote Sara’s name on the envelope and inside the card he only wrote, Just because … He signed it Love, Danny.

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  At home, Mary was pulling a meatloaf out of the oven. When she turned around, Danny presented her with the flower arrangement. “For me?” she asked.

  “Yes, thank you for helping me with Julia.”

  “You’re welcome. She’s a sweetheart.” She placed the pan on a trivet and took the flowers. “But I think Dakota deserves these more than I do.”

  “Where is Dakota?”

  “He’s upstairs with Casey right now. They’re putting Julia to bed.”

  “Yikes, I guess it is a baby’s time for sleep. I better go up. I would have been here already, but I had to stop at the lab.”

  Danny hurried up the steps. Casey stood over Julia, patting her back as Danny entered the room and Dakota rushed to greet him. “I didn’t know you had a way with babies. I sure do appreciate you, Mary, and Dakota helping out.”

  “If Mary and I decide to have kids, at least I’ll have a jump start. I bet you have a lot to tell me after that talk with the cops.”

  Danny nodded. He wanted to hold Julia, but knew better than to disturb her going to sleep. “Let’s go down. Mary has prepared dinner.”

  The flowers were nicely arranged in a vase when they got downstairs. “From Danny,” Mary said to Casey.

  “Nice bouquet,” Casey acknowledged while Mary handed them plates from the cupboard and then placed down a bowl of vegetables and Italian bread.

  “Dig in,” Mary said.

  Danny sliced the meatloaf. “So here’s my update. The cops were also at our office today, but Bruce wasn’t as annoyed as he usually gets.” He sat down on a stool. “Mark Cunningham is working on my keeping Julia and PAM is still spreading like wildfire. And in the lab? Joelle and a vet named Rhonda found a research tidbit that may prove useful. I have to bring in a sample of Dakota’s saliva in the morning.”

  Casey squeezed ketchup on his meat. “That’s progress,” he said. “And how did that patient from the texting accident do?”

  “No head case,” Danny said. “She stayed on the trauma service.” Danny looked across at his sister. “Did you get a chance to call the cleaning lady about babysitting?”

  “I did. She’s thrilled to death with the offer. She was going to start looking for a part-time job besides the cleaning she does. I told her we don’t know how long we’ll have Julia, but she’s coming tomorrow. Let’s see how she works out.”

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  Danny woke up before the alarm. Dakota trotted after him into the bathroom and settled on the rug while Danny brushed his teeth and washed his face. “I’m taking your saliva into the lab this morning,” Danny said, after rubbing his face with a towel. He dressed in tan trousers and a light blue shirt and went in to see Julia. He was glad to see her awake, especially since he had some time built in to change her diaper and clothes and hold her for a few minutes. “Bye, Julia, I’ll see you later today.” He put her sitting up in her crib with a small teddy bear.

  Dakota followed Danny downstairs where Danny put on a pot of coffee and grabbed the container packet and swabs Joelle had given him. He placed Dakota in a sit. “For this, I wish you were more of a slobberer.” But Dakota was no trouble at all and Danny left the house with a coffee mug and Dakota’s sample.

  Chapter 23

  Danny dropped off Dakota’s container on his desk and made coffee for the staff. Matthew came in and avoided Danny’s eyes. “Did the cops hunt you down yesterday?” he asked.

  “They found me all right.” Danny frowned. Matthew was always last to hear things. “Looks like we’re in charge today,” Danny said, changing the subject, “Bruce has a full load at the hospital.”

  Matthew checked his watch, as if he was timing laps. “We’ve got overflow today, too,” he said lightheartedly. “I wore my most comfortable shoes.” Danny checked. They did look as comfortable as the sneakers Dr. Jeffrey Foord wore on his interview.

  With a bounce to her step, Cheryl walked in. “Morning, docs,” she said. “Dr. Tilson, your first patient arrived a little early. Feel like getting a head start?”

  “You’re a slave driver.” Danny belted out a laugh. “Let’s go.” He was out the door before her.

  Danny shook the hand of his first patient. “May I call you Toby?” he asked the twenty-three year old. After evaluating the notes from his primary care physician and taking a full history, he had him read from the eye chart on the back wall, had him take a mini mental exam, and tested his coordination and balance. He had the young man get dressed and then met him in his office.

  “Toby, I’m writing an order for you to get an MRI. They’ll schedule the appointment at the desk, okay?”

  “I guess if you say so.”

  “I’m being safe rather than sorry. Everything may be fine, but it’s wise to get images of your brain.” The young man nodded and carried the paperwork
to the front desk.

  Except for post-op patients doing well, Danny’s morning was peppered with potential cancer cases. He shuddered at malignancies – it certainly didn’t discriminate its prey. At eleven o’clock, Danny called the local pizza place and rattled off a delivery order for lunch. He no sooner put down the phone when Joelle rounded the corner into his office. Her hair shined like her earrings and she wore a smart casual dress.

  “I do have a present for you,” Danny said, standing up. He moved Dakota’s sample in front of her. “So tell me. You’re always asking about me. Don’t you have your own dog at home to get a sample from?”

  “No time for a dog, so I have a cat. She’s like a dog, does that count?”

  “It depends. Why do you think she’s like a dog?”

  “She begs.”

  “Oh, I see. Is she enough company?”

  “Plenty. And every once in awhile I get tangled up in a relationship, and then have to untie a dozen knots to get out.”

  “Sounds complicated.”

  Joelle smiled.

  “You’ll be happy to know I sent my ex-wife flowers on a whim today. I’m hoping the man she had a date with Saturday night isn’t doing the same thing.”

  “You can’t go wrong with flowers. It’s a time tested romantic gesture.” She opened her handbag and carefully put the sample inside. “Oh, by the way, we’ve decided to do a press conference late tomorrow. The press is hammering Robert for our hospital’s update. Ralph is going to come up, too, so we’ll also have a general summary.”

  “And maybe you’ll have some lab info to spill?”

  “I hope so.”

  Danny walked her to the door. “By the way, pizza is coming if you’d like to eat with us.”

  “No, I better run. Bugs are waiting for me. And Danny, I hope the situation with your baby is getting resolved.”

  “Thanks, Joelle.”

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  Danny paid the teen delivering the pizzas at the front desk. He started to carry the pies to the kitchen when Joelle came back through the entrance. “Danny,” she said in a quiet tone since the room had patients, “Peter Brown just paged, can I use a phone?” They exchanged serious expressions while Danny scooted her through the front desk door and handed her a phone.