Second Opinion

by Alexander, Hannah

  Lauren took her by the arms, stood her up, and placed the fishing rod in her hands. “Maybe you could start by learning how to fish.”

  ***

  Archer reached the hospital in five minutes and parked in the spot marked for clergy. He leapt out without locking and ran toward the emergency entrance.

  He raced through the nearly empty waiting room to the receptionist’s desk. He recognized the young woman sitting there. “Gayle, I’m looking for Gina Drake. Did she come in here?”

  The receptionist looked up at him with a frown. “Gina? She was in this morning to treat an asthma patient. I guess she’s either on the floor or in her own department. What’s up?”

  She obviously hadn’t taken his advice to come to the ER. “She might be…just have her call me if you see her, okay?” He gave her a wave and ran down the wide tiled hallway toward Gina’s department, dreading what he might find. She’d wanted to talk to Lauren; maybe she was still trying to find her but she wouldn’t be able to reach her.

  He rounded a corner and nearly collided with Sarah Davis, the director of Respiratory. Her curly salt-and-pepper hair stuck out from her head at awkward angles and her glasses rested halfway down her nose as if she’d been too rushed to straighten them.

  “What’s wrong with Gina?” she asked. “I can’t find her anywhere and now you’ve got me scared half to death. What happened? Did she get sick?”

  “I’m not sure. She called me from her desk and she sounded confused. I’m afraid she might be having another bad episode.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t you remember when she hurt her feet?”

  Sarah stared at him blankly. “What are you talking about?”

  Gina obviously hadn’t told her boss about the problem. “I’ll explain later. Right now would you please help me look for her? I think she’s ill and she sounded confused. You check the restrooms. I’ll go outside and see if she’s on the hospital grounds.”

  Sarah’s eyes widened in alarm. “Confused? You’re talking as if she’s lost her mind. What’s wrong with her, Archer?”

  “I’m not sure yet. Can I explain this later? Right now we just need to find her and make sure she’s safe. Would you have someone call Rose Pascal?”

  “The social worker?” Sarah exclaimed.

  Archer controlled his impatience and laid a hand on her arm. “Please. Right now she needs help.”

  “Okay, I’ll help you look for her,” Sarah said. “But when we find her she’s going to have some explaining to do.”

  On his way out the door Archer stopped by the emergency room and asked them to contact Grant on his pager. Honey Spring had lousy cell reception, but maybe a pager would work since it had a different frequency.

  ***

  The smell of Limburger cheese wafted through the air and mingled with the scent of raw chicken liver as Lauren surreptitiously watched Brooke brave the cheese with her bare hands. Her reasoning was acceptable—she did not want to gore a living worm on the hook.

  The girl showed determination to adapt to something that must seem so foreign to her. Impressive. She also had a tender heart beneath the double layer of prickles.

  They had moved upstream about another hundred feet to where the water was deep and clear above a set of rapids that sparkled in the dappled sunlight. Grant and Beau had joined them after Lauren caught three trout within five minutes. Brooke managed to frighten away the remainder of the fish—and probably the turtles, crayfish, birds, and any other living creature in the vicinity—by a loud screech of outrage after each of Lauren’s successful catches.

  The tender-hearted, prickly, determined kid needed a gag.

  “This stream feeds a reservoir that supplies drinking water for about a third of Dogwood Springs,” Lauren explained to them. “The people complain a lot about the minerals in the water messing up their pipes but I envy them. When I come fishing down here I usually bring some water jugs and fill them and use that for drinking water at home. It’s the best I’ve ever tasted.”

  “Ewww.” Brooke looked up from her intense concentration as she tried to fit cheese on a hook and get it to stick. “You drink this water? Animals poop in it you know.”

  “The spring isn’t too far from here.” Lauren gestured toward the shallows that tumbled over rocks and pebbles with a series of whispered splashes. “That’s where I collect it.”

  “But what about the people downstream? That is so disgusting.”

  Beau turned and gave his sister a long-suffering look. “It’s water, Brooke. All water comes from somewhere. The city tests it and if they find a problem they treat it. We’re not that deep in the backwoods.”

  She made a face at him and returned to her baiting efforts.

  Beau cleared his throat and stepped closer to Lauren. “Um, do you think you could get me the information about that health occupations course at school?”

  “I’d love to.” She looked over at Grant. “What do you say? You think he’ll make a good ER doc someday?”

  “The best.” The pride in Grant’s eyes touched Lauren. “I just hope he decides to work in a small town like Dogwood Springs instead of a big city hospital. Burnout doesn’t happen quite so quickly.”

  “Dad,” Brooke said, “Beau’s been sneaking into your medical magazine stash when you’re at work.”

  “I’m not sneaking,” Beau protested. “Dad said I could read them.”

  Beau had a nice baritone voice with a gentle quality much like his father’s. Lauren decided he needed to use it more often—if Brooke would ever give him the opportunity.

  Brooke straightened and lifted the tackle box down from the boulder where she had placed it. “Okay, I’ve got the stupid bait stuck on the stupid hook. Now would you show me how to do this again, Lauren?” She stepped over to the water’s edge.

  Lauren picked up her own rod and demonstrated once again how to cast and actually place the baited hook in the water instead of around an overhanging branch or on the opposite bank. Lauren reeled the line in and Brooke got ready to execute her own cast.

  Grant jerked his line and reeled it in. “Lost my bait again.” He walked over to the boulder Brooke had just vacated. “I think I’m going to need some lessons next.” He sat down and reached for the box.

  Brooke drew her pole back. “Like this, Lauren?” She held the line with her thumb then whipped the rod forward.

  “Ow!” Grant jumped up from the boulder and swung around in alarm, hands on his posterior. “Something bit me.”

  Brooke tried to reel in her line but it snagged. She jerked hard.

  “Ow!” Grant said again. “What’s going—”

  The deep sound of rich laughter reached them and all three of them turned in surprise to find Beau with his hand over his mouth pointing at his father. Although the laughter was obviously genuine, there was no sign of humor in his expression. That was what Grant meant about the damaged nerves.

  “Don’t look now, Dad, but you’re the catch of the day.”

  The fishhook, complete with bait, was embedded in the lightweight khaki of Grant’s pants, in a very delicate rear section of his anatomy.

  Lauren could not resist a burst of laughter at his look of amazement.

  “Oh, Dad, you sat on my hook,” Brooke said. “No wonder I couldn’t cast it. You ruined my bait. Do you know how much trouble this is?”

  Grant reached back toward the seat of his pants.

  Lauren rushed forward. “No, don’t touch it or you’ll—”

  “Ow!”

  “Grant, you’ll just set the hook that way. Here, let me—”

  “Stay away from my pants.” Grant turned and backed away from her. “I can fix this myself.” The natural tan of his face deepened a shade. “I’ll just take a little stroll into the woods and come back with my dignity intact if you don’t mind.”

  “Forget it, Dad,” Brooke said. “You just helped Lauren perform surgery on a snake. What kind of dignity could you possibly have lef
t?”

  “Grant, really.” Lauren took the line in a firm grip to keep the hook from stabbing him. “I can get that out in just a few seconds if you’ll just—”

  He swung away too fast and too hard. The line drew taut and tangled in Lauren’s fingers. There was a quick rip and a gasp. A flap of khaki folded away from the slacks to reveal a flash of white underneath.

  The four of them stared at each other for a moment of shocked silence.

  “Oh Grant, I’m sorry,” Lauren said.

  A small titter reached them over the sound of the creek. Lauren turned to see Brooke red-faced and giggling uncontrollably.

  Above it all came the sound of Grant’s pager.

  He gave Lauren a look of horror, pulled the tiny receiver from the waistband of his damaged pants, and checked the number. He groaned.

  “Who is it?” Beau asked.

  “Only the hospital has my pager number. Lauren, you told me cell reception is bad here so I didn’t bring mine.”

  “No need, and I didn’t bring mine, either, but we can get to the hospital quickly. Let’s get this stuff packed up.”

  “Dad,” Brooke protested. “You can’t go to the hospital with the seat ripped out of your pants.”

  Grant shoved the pager into his pocket and reached for the tackle box. “I don’t have a choice, honey. It could be an emergency.”

  Chapter 19

  Grant’s humiliation had died a slow death on the way to town and was gone by the time they reached city limits. Brooke was right; his dignity had never been terribly important to him, anyway, and Lauren seemed to take it all in stride. He imagined she was as distracted as he was wondering what kind of catastrophe might have caused someone to page him. It had never happened to him in Dogwood Springs before. Of course, he’d never been out of cell reception in St. Louis. The only time he’d been paged was during residency many years ago.

  As soon as the four of them pulled into the employee parking lot of the hospital, Archer Pierce came running from the ER entrance to intercept them. There were no police cars, no ambulances, and no city warning alarms going off. Obviously it wasn’t a city-wide emergency.

  The young minister waved and motioned for them to stop. While Lauren parked, Archer came toward them at a jog. He looked grim.

  Brooke scooted forward, a tiny gasp of appreciation escaping her lips. “Who’s that?”

  “My pastor.” Lauren shoved the gearshift into park, turned off the engine, and opened the door to get out. “The one who was supposed to go fishing with us.” She shut the door behind her and hurried to meet Archer.

  “Whoa Dad,” Brooke said in the sudden silence of the cab. “You’ve got some hefty competition. He’s hot.”

  “I wouldn’t know.” Grant opened the door.

  “Dad!” She scrambled across the seat and grabbed him by his shirt sleeve. “Your underwear. You can’t go in there like that.”

  “Something’s up, Brooke, can’t you see that? I don’t have time to worry about my fashion sense right now.” He tried to pull free but she held firm.

  “This isn’t fashion sense, it’s social suicide!” She turned to her brother. “Beau, do something.”

  “Beau, stay out of this,” Grant said.

  Beau nodded. “Sure Dad, but it wouldn’t hurt you to untuck your shirttail. That’ll cover everything unless you bend over or raise your arms. If you’re going to commit social suicide, you might as well be cool about it.”

  “Okay, I’ll untuck. Keep your sister occupied for a few minutes, okay?”

  “I charge for baby-sitting.”

  “Hey!” Brooke released her dad and reached for Beau’s head.

  He ducked. “Let’s go check out the hospital. There’ll be all kinds of guys doing summer work around here. We might even fill out a job application.”

  Brooke hesitated, obviously torn between the obligation she had to protect her father’s social reputation and the opportunity to flirt with future dating material and take possible steps toward acquiring a car.

  It didn’t take long. “Just don’t tell them who our father is. I’ll beat you to the building. Bye, Dad. Keep your hiney covered.”

  Before Grant reached Lauren and Archer, the kids were racing across the parking lot toward the hospital building. Grant wondered briefly if Brooke remembered she still smelled like Limburger cheese. Now that he thought about it, he caught a whiff of it and realized he’d been smeared with it, too. And in a very unfortunate location.

  “She said someone was after her and that they wouldn’t leave her alone.” Archer’s words made Grant forget everything else. “She was terrified and she was looking for you, Lauren.”

  Grant rushed forward, tugging the tail of his shirt from the waistband of his khakis. “Who are you talking about?”

  “Gina’s having trouble again and they can’t find her,” Lauren said. “Has anyone checked the elementary school grounds? That’s where she went last time. In her confused state she must be looking for her children.”

  “But the school is near her house,” Archer said, “not the hospital.”

  “What direction is the school from her house?” Grant asked. “If she’s disoriented she might instinctively go that way again.”

  Archer pointed west.

  “How long has she been gone?” Lauren asked.

  “Only about twenty to thirty minutes. We can’t rule out a psychological problem,” Archer said, “especially after what she told me. She said ‘they’ were all around her and that ‘they’ wouldn’t shut up. If she’s hearing voices—”

  “Some physical problems could cause that,” Grant said. “Have you called her IIS therapist?”

  “It’s being done.”

  Grant checked his watch. “I hate to call the police on her again but I don’t want to take any chances.”

  “I’ll call Evan Webster,” Archer said. “Poor kid’s still waiting for me.”

  “IIS will see to the kids,” Lauren said.

  Grant nodded. “I’ll have them take care of it. Check your watches and meet me in the ER in thirty minutes if you haven’t found Gina. I sure picked a bad time to leave my cell phone at home.”

  They parted and began the search.

  ***

  Fifteen minutes later Lauren found Gina rounding a corner on the sidewalk in a residential part of town not far from the hospital. Her head was bowed, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

  “Gina?” Lauren ran to meet her.

  Gina looked up. Her face was wet and her eyes were red, but immediate relief eased the tightly drawn tension so obvious in her posture.

  Lauren instinctively held out her arms and Gina walked into them and grabbed her in a tight, desperate grip.

  “Are you okay? What happened? We’ve been looking for you.”

  Gina buried her face against Lauren’s shoulder and shook her head.

  “It’s okay,” Lauren soothed. “You’re going to be—” But she couldn’t promise Gina she would be fine.

  “Help me Lauren,” Gina whispered. “I think I’m losing my mind. I’m messing up everything. I thought I could control this thing if I could just concentrate hard enough to keep it from happening again. I’m so sorry.”

  “You don’t have to apologize for being sick. Tell me what happened.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe Rose was right. Maybe I’m having panic attacks. Or worse.”

  “Don’t jump to conclusions. Just describe what happened.”

  Gina straightened and drew away. “I panicked at my desk and there were these…” She blinked and shook her head. “I tried to call you but I didn’t get an answer and…I tried calling someone else…can’t remember…then I found myself out here walking. I was terrified. How did you know where to look? What did I—did I do something?” She gripped Lauren’s arms, eyes widening. “Did I hurt—?”

  “No, it’s okay, you didn’t do anything wrong. You don’t remember calling Archer?”

  Gina frowned and looked a
round them, as if trying to pinpoint their location. “Maybe he was the one I tried next. It’s so hazy.”

  “He’s on your list, Gina. The plan worked. He located Dr. Sheldon and me. Dr. Sheldon organized an informal search party. Archer doesn’t think anyone in your department even knew you were having a problem until he told them.”

  “Dr. Sheldon didn’t call the police again, did he?”

  “He didn’t want to but I didn’t have time to stay at the hospital. I needed to find you. I do know he’s very concerned.”

  Gina grabbed Lauren’s shoulders as if she suddenly had no strength to stand. “They’ll take my boys. Oh, Lauren.”

  Lauren eased her down onto a three-foot retaining wall. “Slow down, honey. You don’t want to go there. Remember you’re not alone.” She sank down beside Gina, wishing she’d brought her cell phone or at least taken the time to borrow someone else’s. The others needed to know Gina was safe. “Archer said you told him some voices bothered you.” She hoped the younger woman didn’t pick up on her uncertainty. “You told Archer they wouldn’t shut up.”

  Gina’s hands tightened on Lauren’s arms. “Voices.” She nodded. “That’s so not good, you know. It means—”

  “We don’t know what it means yet.”

  “Hearing voices is a symptom of psychosis. Am I—”

  “Dr. Sheldon said there can be physical causes.”

  Gina closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I guess I’m in big trouble. Sarah didn’t know anything about my first trip to the ER.”

  “She might have been able to help today.”

  “Or she might have suspended me for fear I’d have another episode while treating a patient. I’m so new here and I don’t know who to trust. I could have lost my job. Now I probably won’t have one when I get back.”

  “Dr. Sheldon will talk to Sarah. Are you feeling well enough to walk? I want to get you back to the ER. If we can run some tests on you right away maybe there’s a chance we can find the culprit.”

  Gina nodded and stood up. She closed her eyes for a moment, opened them and joined Lauren on the sidewalk. “The fear I felt was real.”

  “We need to find out where that fear is coming from.”