by Judith Lucci
It took about five minutes to get Alex and the backboard to the snowmobile. Mary pressed a button and a special stretcher appeared cross-ways over the rear cargo-platform. Mary moved the vacuum mattress behind the passenger seat, slid the backboard onto the cargo platform, and it moved up directly behind the cargo platform. She added extra seatbelts and motioned for Kathryn to get in the passenger seat.
Uncertain, Kathryn hesitated. “Aren’t you afraid she’ll fall off or that the vibration from the ride will jostle her? Maybe I should hold the straps.”
Mary shook her head. “No, the snowmobile has a shock absorbing system to prevent vibrations and trauma to the patient, even in cases of severe back injury. She’ll be fine. Now get in.”
Kathryn breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the lights of the mansion through the blinding snow. The snowmobile roared to a stop just as they reached the kitchen door, and a dozen pair of hands quickly emerged, reaching for the stretcher with Alex on it.
“Get her inside, in the downstairs guest bedroom. Take her clothes off and place several soft, warm blankets over her,” Mary barked to the men and women at the back door.
Several men lifted the stretcher off the snowmobile moving toward the kitchen. Mary warned again, “Be very careful when you move her. She is so cold her arms and legs will break like twigs.”
One older gentleman whispered to another, “She sure ‘nuf looks frozen to me. Do you really think she’s even alive?”
“Dunno,” responded his friend. “It don’t look good a’tall to me. She looks dead.”
His friend grunted in agreement.
Chapter 37
“Mr. Destephano, can you hear me? Mr. Destephano, are you awake?”
Louis Destephano lay sleeping in what he later supposed was the sleep version of the twilight zone. He kept dreaming about a blinding pain, and about Alex and fire. He felt he was being jostled along a rocky road on a pack mule, but he had no idea where he was going. The bumpy ride was causing him pain all over. He opened his eyes and was blinded by the overhead light. He immediately closed them again, and was dozing off to blinding pain when he heard a voice.
“Mr. Destephano, are you awake? Try to wake up and talk to us.”
Louis opened his eyes again and saw a pretty young woman dressed in teal scrubs with a stethoscope around her neck. She spoke again and her voice was distinctly southern. Probably from Alabama, he thought. Her voice rustled like silk and it beckoned him to speak.
For a moment he thought he had died and gone to heaven, and the young woman with her blonde hair and green eyes was an angel. But a harsh sound, a beeping alarm, jostled him from his dream. His eyes darted around the room. Everything was unfamiliar.
“Wh … Where am I,” he asked hesitantly. His voice was raspy and his throat burned like fire.
“You’re in the NYU Med ED. I’m Dr. Madison. Can you tell me what happened?”
Once again Louis was startled by the melodious silky, southern voice. He hesitated for a moment trying to process information, but he was slow. He felt like his mouth was filled with cotton and his brain was foggy. “Could I have some water? My throat hurts and so does my chest.”
Dr. Madison pushed some medicine into his IV and immediately looked at the EKG machine. “You’ve had a heart attack and you stopped breathing in the ambulance. The paramedics put a tube down your throat and that’s why it hurts.”
“A heart attack? But I don’t have a heart problem. Why did I have a heart attack?” Louis was alarmed, his face validated his surprise and he was obviously panicked. His eyes were wide open and anxious.
Dr. Madison met his dark eyes with her green ones and said, “Unfortunately, you have a heart condition now. I’m giving you some morphine for the pain and some medicine for the cardiac arrhythmia you currently have.”
“How bad is it?” He paused for a moment and added, “The pain is much less now. Thank you.”
Dr. Madison smiled, her teeth straight and white, “Good, we aim to please here. Now, can you tell me what happened?”
Louis reached back in his brain for answers. Oh no. The bomb, the explosion. Alex. The alarm squawked again.
The cardiac monitor alarm went crazy and two nurses ran into the room. “Get me another lidocaine bolus. NOW,” Dr. Madison ordered, “and some more morphine. Mr. Destephano, you’ve got a run of PCVs, premature ventricular contractions, a serious cardiac arrhythmia, so I am going to put some more medicine in your IV. Can you tell me what you remember about earlier this evening, before you came in here?”
Louis gulped and began slowly, “I was at home, watching the news, and they were talking about the explosion at Congressman Lee’s farm in Virginia …,” his voice trailed off as he remembered. “And then they said ….” Once again his cardiac monitor spiked, and his hand flew to his chest in a reflex action to stop the pain.
Dr. Madison placed her hand on his shoulder and said, “Wait a minute and rest while I get these drugs on board. Then you can finish your story.”
Louis lay quietly and listened to her as she talked to him. Calmed by her southern voice, the pain receded in his chest. “Do you know if they found her? The Congressman’s granddaughter?”
“I do not know,” she replied. Turning toward the nurse who stood on the other side of the bed, Dr. Madison said, “Maria, do you know if there are any survivors? Horrible stuff, those jihad bastards.”
Maria shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. The news said they are still looking for the farm manager and a Secret Service agent. I haven’t heard anything else, and that was a while ago. It’s awful though. Those people bombing a party on New Year’s Day. The news said there could have potentially been hundreds of deaths, but luckily there weren’t.” She shook her head in disgust.
Louis digested the information from the nurse, but said nothing. Once again Dr. Madison asked the same questions. “Earlier this evening, had you eaten dinner or consumed any liquids?”
Louise shook his head and replied, “No dinner. I was having my scotch, single malt. I do that every evening when I get home and watch the news.”
“But no food? You’re sure?”
Louis nodded. “Positive. My housekeeper makes dinner and leaves it in the microwave for me. I generally have dinner about eight.”
“OK.” Dr. Madison seemed satisfied. She thumbed through his thick medical chart. “I see that you have a history of cancer, correct?”
Louis nodded, “Yes, Lymphoma. I was treated several years ago. But I was fine on my last checkup,” he related, his voice faltering. Could this heart attack be because of my cancer?
Madison digested that information and began, “So you’ve had no chemotherapy in two years? According to your chart, April two years ago was the last time you had chemo. Does that sound correct?”
“Uh huh.” Louis was feeling better. They would have mentioned on the news if Alex were still missing. I am sure Adam and Kathryn had God and country out there searching for her in the blizzard. He smiled to himself and relaxed. The pain medicine was making him feel good and sleepy. He just wanted to rest. He closed his eyes and drifted off.
Dr. Madison shook his shoulder gently, “Mr. Destephano, did you have your last chemo in April two years ago?”
Louis scratched his head, trying to remember. “Why, yes … I think so. What’s this about? I thought it was my heart,” he said crossly.
Dr. Madison nodded, “It is your heart, but I believe you were poisoned. By someone who knows your medical history.”
“What the hell are you talking about,” Louis asked in an alarmed voice, as he raised himself off the bed and rested on one elbow. “Poisoned?”
“Yes,” Dr. Madison’s voice was firm. “In fact, I’m convinced you were. Your blood work shows extraordinary high titers of Anthracycline, a chemotherapy drug. It’s also called Adriamycin, which was one of the major chemotherapeutic agents you received for your lymphoma.”
“But poisoned, how? I don’t understand.” Louis�
��s face confirmed his confusion.
“Anthracycline, particularly doxorubicin, has an uncommon but serious side effect of interfering with the pumping action of the heart. This drug is a type of antibiotic that damages the DNA in cancer cells and while it kills cancer cells, it can also cause cardiotoxicity. The effects of the drug are cumulative, and someone gave you just enough to put you over the edge.”
Louis was uncertain and perplexed. He repeated his question. “I don’t understand. But how did they poison me?”
“My guess is someone got to your scotch bottle and has been poisoning you for quite some time. Tonight, you reached your limit. Adriamycin, as I said, is cardiotoxic in excess doses, and tonight you got the mother lode.” She paused for a moment and continued, “It’s quite possible you’ve been gradually poisoned over a period of time with this drug.”
Louis stared as her, speechless. What the hell was happening? As his tired brain was trying to put things together two NYPD officers entered his room. He sighed deeply. Here we go again, and I thought I had put all of my enemies to rest, but there are so many of them out there that I don’t even know who they are.
He turned his head toward the police officers.
Chapter 38
Kathryn Rosseau Lee stood over the pale form of her granddaughter, her heart filled with fear. Something’s not right here. I can feel it in my gut. After several hours of warming, Alex had still not woken up. Mary was directing the team of women who worked incessantly on Alex’s arms and legs. Her temperature was 97 degrees and had gone up one degree an hour since she’d been in the house. Her chest barely moved and her respiration remained labored and shallow.
“What do you think, Mary? Is she any better?” Kathryn’s voice was low, almost as whisper.
Mary examined Kathryn’s worried face and said, “I think so. Her body is warming up. Do you remember the blue-gray color she was when we first brought her in here? That has gotten much better.”
Kathryn nodded, “Yes, she is less gray, I agree.”
“I have given her all of the powders and medicines I can and we can see where the blood flow has returned to her lower extremities, for the most part.”
“So, do you think it’s just question of time?” Kathryn’s voice was anxious. “Are you worried that she hasn’t woken up?”
Mary shrugged her shoulders, “I hope it’s just a matter of time, but I would like to get a physician out here as soon as possible, or get her to a hospital. Do you know what has happened with Dr. Bonnet?”
Kathryn’s heart jumped. “A doctor? I thought you could handle hypothermia. You are scaring me, Mary.”
“I can handle the hypothermia, Kathryn, but do you see the faint blue marks on the side of her head? I think she may have hit her head when she was thrown by the blast. That concerns me because she may have a closed skull injury or a concussion or something else.”
Kathryn’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my God, we must get her somewhere. I didn’t even think of injuries beyond her being outside for hours in the cold.”
“There’s more, Kathryn. Her breathing is shallow and labored, so I’m afraid she may have broken ribs or something worse. Her abdomen is hard and I think it hurts her when I press on it. Go see if Adam can get someone out here to get her to MCV ... the sooner, the better.”
Kathryn’s heart hammered in her chest and she felt dizzy, but she steadied herself by holding on to the bed post. She nodded, left the guest room, and found Adam in the hall.
Adam saw the concern on his wife’s face and asked, “What’s the matter, Kathryn? Is something wrong with Alex?”
Kathryn folded herself into his arms. “Yes, Mary says we need a doctor, possibly the hospital. She thinks Alex may have a head injury or broken ribs or perhaps something worse.”
Adam patted his wife’s back, comforting her as he had for over fifty years. “There, there, Kathryn. We’ll work something out. Let me talk to the state police and see how the roads are. Perhaps we can get her to MCV in an ambulance.” He checked his watch. It was after ten o’clock at night. “Let me go check. I’ll be right back.”
Kathryn walked from the bedroom, through the kitchen, back into her bedroom. She picked up the house phone and dialed Robert Bonnet’s cell phone. He answered on the second ring.
Robert’s voice was breathless as he spoke. “Kathryn, I have been trying and trying to reach you for hours. Did you find Alex?”
“Yes, we did. Several hours ago. Mary has gotten her body temperature up, but she wants her to go to the hospital. She thinks she may have a head injury or broken ribs because she’s not breathing that well ….” Kathryn tried to continue, but her voice cracked and she lost her composure. The day had caught up with her. She sobbed and sobbed into the phone.
“Kathryn, Kathryn, we’ll take care of this. It’ll be OK.” Robert’s voice was soft and soothing, but his heart thumped and he could barely breathe from anxiety. “We need to get her here. These guys here at MCV seem to be top notch.”
Kathryn gathered her self-control and replied, “Yes, it’s a great hospital. Adam is working on getting an ambulance out here ASAP, with a police escort into the ED.”
Robert nodded, “OK, will you call me when they leave?”
Kathryn relaxed a bit and Robert could hear it in her voice. “Of course, how is Jack?”
“Still in surgery, but I think he’ll be OK. They said they hope to save his leg. It was touch and go in the ambulance, but we made it. Is it still snowing?”
Kathryn sighed in relief. “Thank goodness. That is great news! I have never seen so much blood in my life as was in the snow when he was hit.” She shivered as she recalled the bloody scene and hugged her own body for warmth. She paused for a moment and continued, “Yes, it’s still snowing, but I think it is supposed to end by daybreak. There is some fear of ice on top of the snow, so that’s a huge problem.”
“Yeah, any idea about the condition of the main roads,” Robert asked.
Kathryn thought for a moment and said, “No. I’ve been in with Alex the past couple of hours and helping out in the kitchen. I’ll find out and let you know.”
“Sounds good. Oh, here is Monique, all cleaned up and looking great. I’ll wait for your call, Kathryn. And in the meantime, I’ll go check out the ED.” Robert’s voice had a great deal more bravado than he felt. He was worried about Alex and hoped she didn’t have extensive internal injuries or a head injury.
“Give Monique a hug and my love. I am glad the prognosis for Jack is looking good.” The strain in Kathryn’s voice was palpable.
“I’ll tell her. In the meantime, I want you to lie down and get some rest. Mary can handle things until we can get Alex here.”
“I will, I am a little tired,” Kathryn admitted. “Oh, wait a minute Robert, here’s Adam. Let me let him talk to you so I don’t have to interpret.”
“Sure, sounds like a plan. Adam, are you there? Have you been able to arrange for transport for Alex?”
“Good evening, Robert. Yes, I have. Hanover’s finest were able to reach West Hanover Rescue Squad and they’re on their way here. Route 715 is passable and just in case, VDOT is plowing it right in front of them. The State Police will accompany the ambulance to MCV. Can you meet the ambulance in the ED?”
“Of course. I’ll be there. Just text me when you leave Wyndley. How long is the transport normally, without a ton of snow?”
Adam thought for a minute and calculated. “Probably 45 minutes. I think it will be two hours before she arrives there, but I’ll have the State Police escort notify you 15 minutes out. They can take Interstate 95. Supposedly, it’s been plowed recently,” Adam finished. “Of course, it’s probably snowed a few inches since then,” he added.
“Thanks, Adam. Keep me in the loop.” Robert’s voice was strong and he felt less anxious about Alex. He loved her so much, and they’d had nothing but chaos and bad luck for the past year. Things had to change.
“Yeah, man, will do,” Adam responde
d and then added, “Robert, take care of my girl, will you?”
Robert could hear the catch in Adam’s voice and could picture him brushing a tear from his eye.
“I will, Adam, I always do. You know I love her.” Robert’s voice was solemn.
“Yes, I do,” Adam responded, his voice husky as he clicked off.
Robert placed his cell on the table and turned to tell Monique the latest news.
Chapter 39
Robert walked out to heavy glass door onto the snow covered portico at the emergency entrance of MCV Hospital in Richmond. He’d met every ambulance that had pulled into MCV for the past hour and there had been quite a few. He checked his watch. It was after one in the morning.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. It was a text from Monique. “JACK IN PACU. SURGERY WENT WELL. IS ALEX HERE?”
Robert shot a quick text back. “NO, NOT YET. SOON. WILL LET YOU KNOW.”
He reentered the ED and looked around for the triage nurse, Jane, who he had befriended several hours ago. She was in the sterile utility room. “Jane, any word from the ambulance coming from Congressman Lee’s farm?”
Jane looked up. She’d been totally enamored by the southern Creole charm of the dashing Dr. Bonnet. “Not yet, Dr. Bonnet. Let me check with communications. I’ll be right back.”
Robert flashed her a smile, and watched the tall nurse as she moved through the main ED doors. Several minutes later she returned.
“They’re about 10 minutes out,” she reported. “It won’t be long now,” she assured him.
“Did they say anything about the Congressman’s granddaughter,” Robert asked anxiously.
Jane nodded, her face unsmiling. “Yes, her condition is quite serious. They think she is bleeding internally. My guess is they’ll assess her quickly and send her up to the OR.”
Robert’s heart sank. He’d wanted to be able to take her home to Wyndley tomorrow, but that wasn’t going to happen if she had to have emergency surgery. “Anything else,” he asked.