Beneath the Surface

by Lynn H. Blackburn

  He sat down in one of the chairs and sipped the coffee. Couldn’t he drink his coffee in another room? Like in his own office, maybe? Or the doctors’ lounge? This was what they got for having the best coffee in the hospital. Couldn’t keep anyone out.

  A few nurses came in, and their chatter eased the tension in the room.

  She finished off her chicken salad and eyed the mandarin oranges she had packed. Maybe she’d save them for later.

  “Dr. Fowler? Dr. Fowler, are you okay?” she heard one of the nurses ask.

  Dr. Fowler was bent over, his arms tight around his stomach. He jumped to his feet, stumbled to the trash can, and vomited.

  Great.

  The nurses excused themselves. Chickens.

  Leigh walked to the sink and ran water over a couple of paper towels. She handed them to Dr. Fowler. He reached for them, but then began heaving so violently she was afraid he was going to fall over.

  “Dr. Fowler? Were you feeling ill tonight?”

  “No,” he gasped.

  “Have you had anything to eat?”

  “Just—” He pointed to the coffee cup on the chair.

  “Okay. Would you like to sit?”

  He shook his head no and proceeded to heave for the next minute.

  Leigh went for more paper towels.

  The door burst open and Keri ran in. “Oh, hey,” she said as she reached for a duffel bag. “Claire is puking her guts out. Didn’t make it to the bathroom. It’s a mess.”

  “Dr. Fowler is puking his guts out right here,” Leigh said with a gesture toward the trash can.

  Keri frowned. “That’s weird.”

  “Is anyone else sick?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  One of her favorite transporters, Glen, stumbled into the room. “I don’t feel so hot,” he said. “Mind if I sit for a minute?”

  “This might not be the best place—”

  “Too late,” Keri huffed as Glen lost it.

  “I hate vomit,” she said. “Blood. Protruding bones. No problem. But vomit?” She shuddered.

  Leigh pulled a chair over to the trash can and helped Dr. Fowler into it. She handed him the damp paper towels. “Sit here.”

  What a night. She turned to Keri. “Take the clothes to Claire, but make a pit stop at the nurses station and get housekeeping and one of the officers to come in here. Okay?”

  She didn’t wait for Keri to answer. She grabbed another trash can and took it to Glen.

  “You’re a saint,” Keri said as she ran out the door.

  Leigh looked from Dr. Fowler to Glen. Every nerve ending was tingling. Something wasn’t right about this. Maybe it was because she was alone in this room with two men? No. She couldn’t possibly be in any danger from either of them. They could barely hold their heads up.

  The officer arrived first. “Leigh? You okay?”

  “I am,” she said. “But I need you to find out if anyone else has been violently throwing up tonight.”

  “What?”

  “At least three people are puking right now. Doesn’t that seem odd to you?”

  The officer shrugged. “I guess?”

  “Please ask around.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She looked at her watch. One in the morning. If she called Ryan, she’d wake him. And he hadn’t gotten much sleep last night.

  She was probably overreacting. Seeing danger in nothing more than a nasty stomach bug.

  That hit three people within ten minutes of each other?

  But if she called Ryan, he’d be convinced she wasn’t safe in the ED. Except none of these people worked in the ED. Claire worked in the lab, Glen took patients all over the hospital, and Dr. Fowler worked in radiology.

  “We got another one,” Keri called from the door.

  Seriously? “Who is it now?”

  “Dr. Price.”

  Oh no. “Where is he?”

  “In the OR.”

  That did it. Leigh reached for her phone.

  Ryan strode through the emergency department. He tried to tell himself his sense of urgency was due to his concern about the ones who’d gotten sick tonight. But he knew the truth. Right now all he cared about was Leigh.

  He scanned the area.

  “She’s in room three,” Keri said.

  “Is she all right?”

  “She’s with a patient.”

  Right.

  “What are you doing here?” Keri asked.

  Interesting. Leigh must not have told anyone she’d called him. “Just checking on things here.”

  “It’s been a doozy. I won’t be sorry to go home and crawl into bed. After I take a very hot shower.” She pointed to a row of rooms numbered from one to ten. “Room three.”

  “Thanks.” He walked down the hall. No one gave him any grief about being there, but then his badge and weapon were in clear view. He waited outside the room. Five minutes. Ten minutes.

  Twelve minutes later, Leigh emerged, giving orders to the nurse who was with her. Something about starting an IV and some pain medicine. The patient called out from the room and Leigh and the nurse shared an exasperated look.

  “Go on,” Leigh told the nurse. “I’ll see what he needs.”

  The nurse hurried down the hall, but Leigh came close enough that he could smell her shampoo. She squeezed his forearm. “Give me five minutes.”

  He grabbed her hand as she walked away. She turned back to him and he saw surprise but no fear in her eyes. He tugged and she stepped back to him. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Completely fine,” she said with a soft smile that eased the raging creature inside him that was prepared to destroy anyone or anything that caused her pain. “Promise.”

  This time he let her go.

  She returned to her patient and, true to her word, was back at his side five minutes later. She led him to a small break room.

  “I’m sorry to wake you over something like this.”

  “I told you to trust your instincts.”

  “You may not feel that way after tonight.”

  “Try me. How many have gotten sick?”

  “It was four originally.”

  “And now?”

  “Since I called you, we’ve checked with the other departments. Three in post-op. Two in pediatrics.”

  “Where are they?”

  “Everyone is in a room down here right now,” she said.

  “No, I mean where is pediatrics?”

  “That’s what’s crazy. Post-op is on the second floor. Pediatrics is on the fifth. None of the people who got sick in pediatrics or post-op left their department all night. At first I thought it might be something specific to the ED, but now I don’t know.”

  Ryan couldn’t keep the smile from his face. “And you said you would make a lousy cop.”

  “And I was right.” She put her hands on her waist. “I would make a lousy cop because my investigating has come up with a big fat nothing.”

  “Welcome to my world.”

  She huffed in frustration. It was adorable.

  “Do you have any idea what caused it?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Care to share?”

  “It might be the coffee.”

  “The coffee was bad?”

  “More like tampered with. There are quite a few drugs in a hospital that can be used to induce vomiting. And most of the coffee around here is so bad, you might not even notice it. We have great coffee down here, but all the people who drank it used flavored creamers. It could have been in the creamer or in the coffee. Either way, it might have been enough to disguise the taste.”

  She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “It’s probably none of those things, but that was all I could come up with. Unfortunately, by the time I made the connection, all the departments where someone got sick had made fresh pots of coffee.”

  “Even down here?”

  “Things got crazy for a few minutes when they brought a nurse and one of the
nursing assistants from pediatrics down. One of the secretaries came in and saw the pot was almost empty and figured there’d be a run on the coffee later. She dumped it out and made a fresh pot.”

  She pointed to herself. “Like I said. Lousy cop material.”

  He pulled her hand away. “Not a chance,” he said. “You’ve given me a lot to work with. And I’m glad you’re okay.” He squeezed her fingers.

  On the job, Ryan. No time for this right now.

  He released her and pulled out his notebook. “Give me the timeline of events.”

  She grimaced.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “No?” She said it like a question.

  “I’m going to assume there is a problem, but for some reason you’re hesitant to share it with me.”

  Why did that bother him so much? Was he already so far gone that the thought of her keeping any secret from him was physically painful? Man, he was in big trouble.

  “It’s not a problem, exactly.”

  He waited.

  “While I was eating, Dr. . . . Dr. Fowler came in and got a cup of coffee. He sat in the chair and was surfing on his phone. He said he was glad I was doing better. I said thank you. That was the extent of our conversation until he doubled over and then started vomiting.”

  “Dr. Fowler. You mean Clay Fowler?” He should not feel this way. Should not. But if anyone had to get dosed with some sort of vomiting drug, the fact that it was Clay made him ridiculously happy.

  “Yes,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

  “Why are you sorry?”

  “Because you’re going to have to go talk to him.”

  Oh. That. “It’s okay. Part of the job. We’ve had a few conversations over the past couple of months. All of them unpleasant. I’m sure this one won’t be any different.”

  “It might be.”

  “Why is that?”

  She looked at her shoes. Then the wall. She chewed the inside of her lip.

  “Leigh? What’s going on?”

  She leaned closer to him and spoke quietly. “She’s here.” The emphasis was on the she.

  There could only be one she who would generate this response. The girlfriend.

  “You’re kidding.”

  Leigh wouldn’t joke about something like that. He knew it. She knew it.

  “Okay. Give me the rest of it.”

  Leigh filled him in on the events from her perspective. Then she went back to work and he interviewed everyone he could think of before he quit stalling and went to Clay’s room.

  Keri found him standing outside Clay’s room. “I’m on my way in. Mind if I hang around while you grill him?”

  Ryan couldn’t keep himself from laughing. “I don’t care.”

  “Awesome,” Keri said with a mischievous grin. “Follow me.”

  He followed her into the room. Clay lay in the bed. Ashen. Eyes red. A beautiful woman sat in the chair beside him. Ryan knew who she was. He knew where she’d gone to school. Knew what hospital in Raleigh she worked in. Probably knew more about her than Clay did. But he never referred to her by name, even in his own mind. To him, she was the girlfriend. The home wrecker. Or a few other names that weren’t as kind.

  “Dr. Fowler,” Keri said with more volume than was necessary, “Investigator Parker needs to ask you a few questions about the events of the evening.”

  Clay’s only response was a slight dip of his head.

  “Can you tell me what happened tonight?” Ryan asked.

  “I threw up.”

  Keri snorted. Ryan glared at her. If she couldn’t be professional, then she was going to have to leave. But he had to admit he rather enjoyed the way she didn’t try to cover up her thoughts.

  She gave him an apologetic shrug and then made quite a show of checking Clay’s IV.

  “I heard that part. I mean before. What were you doing down here?”

  Clay swallowed. The action seemed to cause him some discomfort. He winced and the girlfriend rubbed his hand.

  Ugh. If he had to watch much more of this he might be the one vomiting soon.

  “I was on call tonight. Came down to grab some coffee. Decided to sit in the break room a few minutes. It was quiet. Leigh was the only one in there and she’s not a big talker.”

  Keri rolled her eyes in spectacular fashion. They both knew why Leigh didn’t talk to Clay. She didn’t like him. She was too professional to be rude, but she didn’t make any effort to be nice either.

  “After a few minutes, I started to feel queasy. Then dizzy. I was afraid if I got up, I might fall over. Cold sweats. Stomach cramps. Then it hit. I have no idea how long I threw up. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

  Ryan tried to keep his face impassive. There was sweet justice here. He’d be willing to bet his next paycheck that Clay had no idea that when Rebecca found out what he’d done, she’d thrown up.

  “Anything unusual about this evening before that point?”

  Clay’s head moved back and forth on the pillow. “No. We had that bad wreck. I had a heavier load of emergency cases all at once, but that’s part of being on call. I wouldn’t say that is unusual.”

  “Okay. If you think of anything else, give me a call.”

  They both knew that would never happen.

  Ryan refused to allow himself to run from the room, even though he wanted to. Just being in there, watching that hussy fawn all over Clay. Had she no shame?

  Keri followed him out of the room and muttered several words Ryan wanted to say.

  “How long will he be here?”

  “Not long,” she said. “The vomiting has stopped, so once he gets the rest of that bag of fluid in, he’ll probably be released. He’s a doctor. She’s a nurse. If they can’t figure out how to handle this at home, they need to find different professions.”

  Leave it to Keri to call it like she saw it.

  “Thanks.”

  He leaned against the wall. Keri called over her shoulder, “She’s in eight.”

  Ryan gave her a small salute and made his way to where Leigh was.

  He only had to wait a couple of minutes before she came out.

  “How did it go?” she asked.

  “I survived.”

  “Did he?”

  “Sadly, yes.”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “Sometimes I do.”

  She led the way to a small sitting area with more privacy than the hallway. “What happens next?”

  “This won’t be my case by lunchtime,” he said. “I don’t technically have jurisdiction in town. I’ll hand it off to someone in the police department. They’ll look through all the security footage. I’ll tell them specifically to look for the movements of our victims—and anything that ties them to each other. I’ll give them your tip about the coffee. We’ll see if anything comes up.”

  “I’m sorry I woke you for this,” she said. “You said to trust my instincts.”

  “I’m glad you did.”

  “But my instincts were off.”

  “I’m not sure about that,” he said. “Something weird happened tonight. We’ll make a note of it. We won’t forget it. We’ll look for patterns. Who knows where they might lead.”

  “Yeah, but someone else could have taken care of it. I could have called the police department and let you sleep.”

  “You most certainly should not have. If I’d gotten up in the morning and heard about this . . .” He stopped himself. She wasn’t a child. He wasn’t her boss. He could tell her that the thought of anything happening to her made him wake at night in a near panic or that the thought of another man even thinking about her in a romantic way made him want to run away with her to a deserted island where no one could ever find them.

  But that might not be the best plan either.

  She could have forced the issue, but she didn’t. “I’d better get back to work,” she said.

  “I’ll be back for you at seven.”

  “You don’t have to d
o that. I can catch a ride with Keri. You need to rest.”

  The worry in her voice did funny things to his insides.

  “I’ll be here.”

  13

  Ryan held the car door for Leigh and raced over to the driver’s side.

  “This is ridiculous,” Leigh said. “You should be catching up on some sleep. Keri could have given me a ride. She volunteered.”

  “So did I,” he said.

  She didn’t respond. When he glanced over, her eyes were closed. She had to be exhausted.

  He certainly was.

  “All the sick nurses and doctors and nursing assistants have gone home,” she said. “I can’t help but think there’s something significant about this.”

  He didn’t disagree.

  “Maybe I’ll be able to make some sense of it when I wake up,” she said.

  “Let me know if you come up with anything,” he said. “Sometimes a good night’s—or I guess in this case, day’s—sleep is exactly what’s needed.”

  “Hmm.”

  They rode in silence the rest of the way to Leigh’s. He wasn’t sure if she was asleep or not, but he didn’t want to risk waking her if she was. He waved at the officer who had been on guard duty during the night. The officer gave him a thumbs-up. So things had been quiet here. Thank goodness for small mercies.

  She stirred when he put the car in park. “Thanks for the ride,” she said.

  “My pleasure.”

  She stared at her house. Something was bothering her. Her entire body was tense, and she kept squeezing the armrest and releasing it.

  Was she frightened? That would be completely understandable. But he didn’t want to plant the idea. “Would you mind if I walk through the house before you come in? For my peace of mind?”

  The relief on her face pulled at every protective instinct he had. He’d been right, but it frustrated him to no end. She shouldn’t be afraid to come home.

  “Stay in the car,” he said. “I’ll be back in two minutes.”

  He started in the basement and worked his way upstairs. He hesitated at the door to Leigh’s room. He didn’t want to invade her privacy, but if she had a stalker, her room was a logical place for them to violate.

  Her room was as neat as he’d been expecting. Bed made. Bible on the arm of a chair by the window. He opened the blinds. She had lovely views of the lake from here. The houses across the lake wouldn’t be visible after all the leaves came back, but for now he had a clear view of two houses. He made a note in his notebook to find out who lived in those houses. High-powered binoculars would give them a view into Leigh’s room.