Royal Pains

by D P Lyle

“Not really, but she sees the necessity. It was so sad. To see her sitting in her house, knowing she was going to have to give it up and move to a strange place.”

  “We’ll need to keep a close eye on both her and Oscar. This move will be stressful.”

  “It won’t happen for a week or so. I told Maria I would come by in a few days to check on them.” She looked up at me. “How did your meeting go?”

  I sat down and went through everything with her, including what Boris had uncovered.

  “What now?”

  “Jill thinks I should involve the police.” I shrugged. “That might be the only option we have.”

  Chapter 39

  Evan returned from seeing Rachel off. He flopped in a chair across from Divya.

  “How’s that?” he asked.

  “How’s what?” I said.

  “Eight new patients.”

  “Eight?” Divya asked.

  “Rachel, her father, and their six employees.”

  Divya nodded. “Very good, Evan R. Lawson, CFO.”

  Evan aimed his cell phone at her. Evan R. Lawson is right.

  “Will you quit that?”

  “I never tire of hearing it.”

  Divya took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. “You are so exasperating.”

  Evan R. Lawson is—the message was interrupted by the ring tone. Evan flinched as if unsure what had happened. Then he answered.

  After he listened for a minute, he said, “I had fun too. You’re a great tennis player.” Again he listened. “Sure. Tomorrow should work. Maybe around noon?” More listening. “How was shopping?” A nod. “So you’re headed back home?” A pause. “A half hour? I’ll let him know.” He disconnected the call.

  “Let who know?” I asked, sure that the “who” was me and that I might not like it.

  “That was Ashley,” Evan said. “I called her earlier and told her that you wanted to talk with Nicole again. They were shopping, so she said she’d call when they finished. She’ll be home in half an hour. You can call her then.”

  “Does Nicole know I’m going to call?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “What does that mean?” Divya asked.

  “Ashley’s been trying to talk her into seeing Hank and getting those tests done, but Nicole has resisted.”

  “So this is an ambush?” Divya said.

  “Sort of,” Evan said.

  Divya looked at me. “Well?”

  “I think an ambush should be done face-to-face.”

  Divya closed her computer. “Do you think she’ll be any more receptive now than she was the other day?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. But based on what we’ve uncovered, I think I have to tell her about the pills she’s taking.”

  Divya nodded. “I agree.”

  “Whether she’ll listen or not is another story.”

  When Divya, Evan, and I arrived at Westwood Manor forty-five minutes later, we walked into a fashion show. Nicole modeling her purchases.

  Sam escorted us into the great room, where the entire family had gathered. Ellie sat on the sofa, beaming as she watched Nicole spin around in a sleek black cocktail dress. Her mother, Jackie, sat in a wingback chair, Mark standing behind her.

  Ellie waved us in. “What a pleasant surprise. Please, come and enjoy the show.”

  Nicole turned toward us and gave a mock curtsy. “What do you think?”

  “I think you look stunning,” I said. “Every girl needs a little black dress.”

  “It’s too short,” Mark said. “And way too low-cut.”

  It was. On both counts. On Nicole it looked outstanding.

  Nicole laughed. “You always say that.”

  “Try this one,” Ashley said, holding out a pewter-colored evening gown.

  Nicole took the dress and on bare feet hurried down the hall to change. Ashley followed.

  “What brings you here?” Ellie asked.

  This wasn’t exactly how I envisioned things going. I wanted to talk to Nicole alone and then if necessary enlist Ellie’s help. The hope was that once I told Nicole about Julian’s poison pills, she would stop taking them. This little impromptu fashion show had mucked up that plan.

  “I came to talk with Nicole.”

  “About what?” Jackie asked, undisguised hostility in her voice.

  “Julian Morelli.”

  “Why?”

  “Perhaps I should talk with Nicole privately.”

  “You will not,” Jackie said.

  I couldn’t think of a graceful way to solve this. To isolate Nicole for a one-on-one chat. Better to just jump in and see what happened. If I could somehow recruit Ellie or, less likely, Jackie and Mark as allies, I might be able to make headway with Nicole. I wasn’t optimistic, since if Ashley couldn’t break down her resistance to doing the right thing, what chance did I have?

  “I’ve learned a few troubling things about the pills he’s handing out,” I said.

  “I thought we made it clear that you are to have nothing to do with Nicole,” Mark said. “I don’t think you should be digging around in things that are of no concern to you.”

  “I dug around, as you say, not just for Nicole. A couple of my patients are taking the same stuff.”

  “Then perhaps you should be seeing them rather than Nicole,” Jackie said.

  “I did. And now I’m here.”

  Mark and Jackie responded with steely stares.

  This wasn’t going well. I decided that trying to win over Mark and Jackie wasn’t going to happen. Their hackles were up, their minds closed, and I was the enemy. I looked at Ellie. “Nicole could be in danger.”

  “Aren’t you being a little melodramatic?” Jackie said.

  “Not at all. If you’ll simply listen to what I have to say, you’ll see my concern.”

  “Your concerns, as you say, are of no concern to us,” Mark said. “I don’t know how much clearer I can make it. Let’s try this. If you interfere with our daughter in any way, I’ll come after you with everything I’ve got.”

  “Mark,” Ellie said, “why don’t you listen to what he has to say?”

  Nicole reappeared. The dress was magnificent. It shimmered in the lights, its hem and her bare feet whispering across the carpet.

  “Isn’t this gorgeous?” Nicole asked.

  “You’re going to look so hot at the reception,” Ashley said. “I am going to be so jealous.”

  Nicole stopped short, apparently now aware that there was tension in the room.

  “What’s the matter?” She looked from face to face.

  “Nothing,” Mark said. “Dr. Lawson was just telling us he had an emergency and had to leave.”

  The phrase “in for a penny, in for a pound” crossed my mind.

  “Actually, I’m not leaving,” I said. “I’m going to tell you what I know and then you can decide what you want to do with it.” I looked at Ellie. “If you love your granddaughter, listen very carefully to everything I say.” Then to Nicole. “You, too.”

  “Listen, you . . . ,” Mark said.

  Ellie waved him into silence. “Mark, be quiet.”

  Showtime.

  “I was over in the Hamptons Heritage emergency room the other day. A young girl was brought in by her father. She suffered a cardiac arrest in the backseat of the car.” I now had their full attention. “She was a few years younger than Nicole. We resuscitated her and fortunately she’s doing fine now. But had she arrived at the hospital just a few minutes later, she would be either dead or brain damaged.”

  “That’s all very interesting, but what does this have to do with Nicole?” Jackie said. She seemed to spit the words out.

  “The young lady was taking the same vitamins and herbs that Nicole is taking. Drugs given to her by Julian Morelli.”

  Mark scoffed. “You think a few vitamins and herbs caused that poor girl’s problems?” He shook his head. “Must be the first time in history that vitamins did someone harm.”

  “The pills t
hat Morelli is handing out are not harmless. They contain some very toxic drugs. I have proof. The girl I told you about not only had very elevated levels of things like digitalis, thyroid hormone, and even amphetamines—she also had severely depleted potassium and magnesium levels due to the powerful diuretic he puts in these little time bombs.”

  “But they work,” Nicole said. “I know a lot of people that have seen him for years and nothing bad ever happened.” She looked at Ashley. “Isn’t that right?”

  “I’ve been seeing him off and on for years,” Ashley said. “He’s a miracle worker.”

  “Actually, he’s very dangerous,” I said.

  “I’m not going to stand here and listen to this,” Nicole said. She looked at Ashley. “Let’s go.”

  Nicole and Ashley collected several dresses and half a dozen yet-to-be-opened boxes and headed toward the stairs that led to her second-floor bedroom.

  “That’s about enough, Dr. Lawson,” Mark said. “I think you should leave.”

  From the corner of my eye I saw Evan melt into the background and then slip up the stairs after the two girls.

  “Not just yet,” I said. “You can ignore it all you want, but the facts are that Nicole has exhibited some very bizarre behavior lately. I’ve witnessed it twice, Divya once.”

  Divya nodded. “That’s true. The other night she met some guy in a bar and went off with him. To his home.”

  Mark and Jackie stared at her.

  “I don’t think so,” Jackie said.

  “We tracked her down,” I said. “We went to this guy’s house and brought her here. She didn’t know who she was and didn’t remember anything that happened.” I looked Jackie in the eye. “Does that sound normal to you?”

  “What it sounds like is that you and your assistant here”—Jackie waved a dismissive hand toward Divya—“are trying to trash the reputation of your competition. You saw things that you misinterpreted and now you’re making a big deal out of it.”

  “It’s not just us. Jill Casey, the administrator at Hamptons Heritage, witnessed this behavior, too.”

  “Is this the Jill Casey that’s your girlfriend? I wouldn’t exactly call her an unbiased witness.”

  She was unbelievable. She absolutely refused to hear anything that didn’t fit her perfect little picture of her perfect little family.

  “I could call the guy. Of course he knows Nicole as Tiffany. That’s who she thought she was. Even when she looked at her own driver’s license, she refused to believe she was Nicole.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Mark said.

  “No, it’s bothersome,” Divya said. “It’s a sign of a potentially serious problem.”

  “What about Ashley?” I asked. “She’s seen this behavior for years.”

  “What behavior?” Jackie asked. “Nicole’s a normal, bright, intelligent young woman.”

  “Yes, she’s all that,” I said. “She also has a problem. She has episodes where she doesn’t know who she is or where she is. I don’t know why, but I do know she needs to be fully evaluated.”

  Concern now etched Ellie’s face. “Evaluated for what kind of things?”

  “Things like drugs, brain infections and tumors, a seizure disorder of some type, even several psychiatric conditions.”

  Jackie’s knuckles whitened as she gripped the arms of the chair. Her face tightened and her jaw pulsed. Her words hissed between clenched teeth. “My daughter is not a drug user. My daughter is not a psycho. My daughter is fine and healthy and happy and I don’t want to hear any more about it.”

  The door to Nicole’s bedroom was cracked open an inch or so. Evan knocked gently. Ashley pulled the door open.

  “Can I come in for a minute?” Evan asked.

  “Sure.”

  Nicole perched on the edge of her bed, tears welling in her eyes. Several thick pillows and a dozen stuffed animals were piled near the headboard. Remnants of Nicole’s youth.

  Evan sat down next to her. “Are you okay?”

  Nicole sniffed. “I hate it when people argue. It’s such a waste of energy. It’s so negative.”

  “Hank’s right,” Evan said. “Deep down inside you know that.”

  “I don’t know any such thing.”

  “The other night? Remember how scared you were?” He glanced over at Ashley. “We were all scared.”

  Nicole wound a tissue tightly around her index finger and sniffed back tears. “You don’t have to be, because I’m fine.”

  “Really? Do you remember everything that happened that night? And all the other times this has happened?”

  Nicole stared at the floor but said nothing.

  “Look, I’m squirrelly,” Evan said. “Ask anyone. I say and do things that are odd all the time.” Nicole looked at him. “Been that way all my life. But never have I not known where I was or who I was. Never.”

  Nicole dabbed a tear away with the tissue.

  “The other night you didn’t have a clue. Doesn’t that scare you?”

  Her gaze dropped to the floor again. “I just had too much to drink.”

  “That’s not true,” Ashley said. “I’ve been like totally worried about you for a couple of years. You have these random episodes. When you aren’t yourself. It’s not always after you’ve been drinking.”

  Nicole swallowed hard. Her voice was soft when she said, “It’s no big deal. It’s just something that happens.”

  “It’s something that needs to be checked out,” Evan said. “My brother is pretty smart. If he thinks something’s wrong, he’s usually right.”

  “Usually, but not always?” Nicole said. “He’s being major-league dramatic here.”

  Evan sighed. “Why would you want to ignore this?”

  “I told you, it’s no big deal.”

  “Then where’s the harm in making sure?”

  Nicole stood, walked to the window, pulled the curtain back, and looked out. She didn’t say anything for a minute and then turned back toward Evan. “I’m getting married in four days. I don’t have time to worry about this stuff.” She picked up one of the dresses off the bed and held it up. “Don’t you just love this one?” She plastered it against her body and turned to look at herself gilded in the full-length mirror on the wall. “I think you should go back downstairs so Ashley and I can finish getting these put away.”

  Evan realized this was going nowhere. He left. Before reaching the stairs, Sam intercepted him.

  “Mr. Lawson? A word?”

  “Sure.”

  Sam guided him into the library. Book-filled, floor-to-ceiling shelves covered each wall. A fireplace and two thick leather reading chairs occupied one end, a long table with several glass-encased, very old and very expensive-looking books the other.

  “I’m sorry you have to see the family this way. Jackie wasn’t always like this. Just since she married Mark. Fortunately Nicole is more like her grandmother.” He glanced toward the door as if making sure no one was eavesdropping. “Tell Dr. Lawson not to give up. Tell him that he is on the correct track. There is something wrong with Nicole. I don’t know what it is, but she’s had these episodes for years.”

  “Hank is stubborn, so I don’t see him giving up on this.”

  Sam nodded. “Nicole is very special to me. I would hate to see her mother’s anger and narcissism get in the way.” He hesitated, his gaze to the floor, unfocused, as if in thought. Then he said, “Nicole was always a playful and inquisitive child and now she has grown into a beautiful and intelligent young woman. It would literally kill me if anything happened to her.”

  Chapter 40

  “There have never been any psychiatric problems in the history of our family,” Jackie said. “And it’s not going to start with Nicole.”

  The thought that the family psychiatric problems just might begin and end with Jackie crossed my mind. “All I’m saying is have her seen by a physician. It doesn’t have to be me, but it has to be someone. And it should be soon.”

  Evan came back
into the room. He gave me a slight shake of his head, indicating that he had made no progress with Nicole. I had the same feeling about the family. I racked my brain for something clever to say. Something that would turn the tide. I had nothing.

  My cell phone rang.

  “Excuse me just a second.” I flipped open the phone and I walked into the entry area.

  The call was from Jill. Apparently a middle-aged woman, also a client of the great Julian Morelli, had appeared in the emergency room with dehydration and vomiting. She had similar blood chemistry to Valerie, Rose, and Amanda. Looked like she was going to be okay, but she thought I should know.

  “Any progress with Nicole?” Jill asked.

  “If you mean with getting Nicole to do the right thing, the answer is no. If you mean really pissing off her parents, then mission accomplished.”

  “Anything I can do to help?”

  “Keep your fingers crossed and think pleasant thoughts.”

  I walked back into the great room in time to hear Jackie say, “I know you like him. But he’s not even a real doctor. He just pushes pills to rich old women like you.”

  “I’m not senile, Jackie,” Ellie said. “At least not yet. I’ve seen exactly what he is talking about. Nicole does have episodes where she seems confused and out of it.”

  Jackie looked up at me. “Happy now?”

  “That phone call,” I said. “It was from Jill Casey. Another woman just came into the emergency room with very toxic levels of chemicals in her blood. She was also seeing Julian Morelli.”

  “Is this what concierge medicine is all about?” Jackie said. “Tearing down the competition? If you were a real doctor, if you could make it in the real world, you wouldn’t have to feed on the rich.”

  “You wait just a minute,” Ellie said. “Hank is my doctor. He is my only doctor. He takes very good care of me for one simple reason. He cares. I think you should listen to him and get off your high horse.”

  “Just stop it. I want you all to stop this.”

  All heads turned toward the doorway where Nicole stood. Ashley stood behind her.

  “Why are you arguing about this?” Nicole said.

  “The arguments are over, honey,” Jackie said. “Dr. Lawson is leaving.”