She peeked out at Ethan Dayton waiting patiently in front of the building. “Well, here goes nothing.”
The administrator took them directly to their apartment and pointed out the details of their new living quarters. A large flat-screen TV, microwave, coffee-maker. His parting shot, “I hope you’ll be happy here with us at Comstock Medical.”
As soon as the door closed behind Ethan, Harry spun Gina around in a full circle. “Well, what do you think of our new digs, Ms. Mazzio?”
“Not bad. I think we can make it work.” She pointed at the living room window. “And, guess what? Another hunk of granite.”
“Admit it. Isn’t it nice to have something you can depend on? Sort of solid, like … a rock.”
“Yeah, yeah!” She moved closer to the window. “Take a look at that … if we get desperate we could probably jump right out the window and onto this one.” She pointed for him to see a weathered-sculpted ledge on the side of the huge boulder.
“You are an absolute nut,” he said, standing beside her. “Besides, who cares about these monsters anyway?"
“I do,” she said, kissing his nose. “Tell me, you can’t possibly think that’s a natural formation?”
“Why not?”
“Because all these boulders are uniform in size and shape. That’s not the way Mother Nature works, not even in the wild, wild West.”
“A nature freak from the Bronx?”
“Go ahead, make fun of me. But I’ll bet they were placed there to either keep something out, or something in.”
“You are the most suspicious broad I’ve ever met.”
“And I don’t know how you’ve managed to live this long calling women broads. So dated; right out of a noir movie.” She flicked her fingers at him.
“Right about that. A male nurse surrounded by all those women … I should be dead, my balls hammered to the wall.”
Gina giggled.
“But you’re my solo target and it’s worth it to watch you go into hyper-drive.” He pulled aside an accordion-pleated partition to reveal the small kitchenette. “Come on, admit it. This is a great apartment.”
“Go ahead, change the subject.”
Harry laughed. “Survival instinct to the rescue.”
They both began to unpack their suitcases and claim drawers and a share of the closet. “Sort of like a large studio,” Harry said. “And our bed is stashed up and out of the way into the wall. Hmm. Never had a Murphy bed before. With the screened-off kitchen, it becomes a really nice living room with plenty of space to chase you around and then nail you on the sofa.” He bounced down onto it and leered at her.
Gina gave him a wicked smile and leaped at him. “I only let you think you’re nailing me.”
“Uh, huh.” His hands slid to her bra strap.
“Harry Lucke, I’m much too excited to mess around with you right now. I want to see what’s on that second floor…besides bars on the windows.” She stood and tried to pull him up.
“Hey, I was just beginning to warm up.” He checked his watch. “Look, we have an hour to ourselves before we meet the boss for an official tour … and we’re getting paid for it.” He patted the cushion next to him.
“I want to check it out now. Why would a place like this have bars on the windows of the second floor? It’s a drug study, not something illegal that needs a cell.”
“We’ll see everything later.” He patted the cushion next to him again.
Gina, hands on hips, said, “Why does everything have to be about schedules with you?”
“I get into less trouble that way.”
“Yeah, and what does that do for you?”
“Three squares and a fistful of dough.”
Gina turned her nose up, gave him an I-don’t-believe-you frown, and walked up to the window again. “Did you get an eyeful of those two orderlies who rode the elevator with us on the way up earlier? Kind of rough and tumble for a hospital facility, don’t you think?”
“I gotta admit they didn’t look much like orderlies to me, more the mop and pail type, but this is Nevada, remember?”
“Yeah, so?”
Harry shrugged. “I’m more concerned about the fact it takes a card key to get the elevator to stop on the second floor.”
“How do you know that?”
“I’ll bet if those muscle-bound guys hadn’t been headed for the third floor, you would have seen what I saw—the button for the second floor was slotted for a card key. My take? No key, no visit to the second floor.”
Gina grabbed an apple from their newly filled fruit bowl and started munching. “And that’s where our patients are.”
* * * *
Gina went into their new bathroom and washed her face with cold water. It was the kind of ritual she often used to slow herself down so she could think about whatever was bothering her. When her ex-husband, Dominick, bullied her—tried to make her give into some scheme or idea he thought would bring him “millions,” or when he’d been drinking and getting mean and physical—she would head for the bathroom. It not only got her away from him, it gave her time to think, to find some kind of inner grit to outsmart him.
She looked at the bathroom mirror as she patted her face dry with a flowery hand towel.
Whatever makeup she’d had on when she started the day was now gone. Her eyes looked darker than usual, large and frightened; her short black hair barely stood up as she ran her fingers through its thickness.
Why did she feel so scared, like a trapped animal wanting to scoot into a corner, scrunch itself up, make itself smaller and smaller, so no one could find it, hurt it?
No!
She might be afraid, but she wouldn’t allow herself to be like that. She would not, could not live in the shadows.
Gina reached for her makeup kit and did a pencil job around her eyes and left her dark eyebrows au natural. She finished the job with a touch of lipstick.
“There,” she said to the mirror and left the bathroom.
* * * *
“Stop looking so guilty, Harry. We’re employees. We have a right to walk around the place, with or without Ethan.”
“The last time, your curiosity almost got you killed.”
“Don’t be such a wuss.” She pulled him toward the staircase. “I just want to see if we can get onto the second floor. What’s wrong with that?”
“In another thirty minutes we can do everything on the up and up. This seems invasive.”
“Bulltaki!” she said as they headed down.
They’d only taken a few steps when Harry held back. “Do we really have to do this now?”
“Yes, we do.”
“Why? Can’t you at least wait for Ethan, do the very same thing, and avoid getting into some kind of mess?” He sighed. “Gina, it’s our first day.”
“Number one, I don’t like those disclosure papers we had to sign. That was a red flag. If it had been about patient confidentiality, that would’ve been one thing. But all that legal mumbo-jumbo about industrial espionage had a steel edge to it. More like a warning … and I don’t mean a slap on the hand.”
“It’s a drug study, Gina. Caution seems logical with all the cut-throat competition in the pharmaceutical industry.”
“So, you think it’s all about money?”
“Yeah. What isn’t?”
She ignored him. “Number two, those rocks lined up on the road and all around the building. I swear, it’s like being in a prison.”
“The rocks again? Do you know how weird that sounds?”
She shook her head. “Number three, the census … thirty patients. How do they get by on the kind of staff they have? Or should I say haven’t? All I’ve seen are two muscle men and Ethan Dayton. Weird, huh?”
“It is weird,” Harry said, “but I’m willing to wait and see how it all shakes out. Maybe the tour will explain it.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Okay, babe. I do agree this is the craziest assignment I’ve ever had … and you
know I’ve put many years into this type of nursing. But sometimes off the wall can turn out to be interesting and challenging … and the money is damn good. At least let’s give it a chance. If you don’t like it after a few days, I promise we’ll leave.”
“I wasn’t finished.” Gina gave him a big smile. “Number four, and don’t you dare laugh at me,” Gina said, “the place doesn’t have the right smell to it.”
Harry laughed out loud. “That’s the nuttiest thing I’ve ever heard.”
When they got to the landing, Gina looked into one of the security cameras over the door. “Something tells me, we’re being watched right now.”
He caught her around the waist, and hugged her to him. “Stop it, Gina. Please stop it, right now! Let’s go back up.” He looked into her eyes with his I-love-you softness and all the fight went out of her.
Why did he always have that effect on her? She went limp as his lips found hers.
The door to the 2nd floor opened, startling them.
“A little early for our tour, aren’t you?” Ethan Dayton said from the doorway of the second floor.
Chapter 5
“Oh, hi, Ethan,” Gina said in her friendliest voice, though her wobbly knees had their own agenda … they shook so much she had to shift from one foot to another, or look like a total freak.
Can’t I ever get away with anything?
She said, “Thought it would be fun to explore the building before our meeting.”
Ethan’s flinty eyes said he wasn’t fooled for a minute.
And Harry didn’t help. “Yeah, we hit the stairs early for some exercise.” His forced laugh made everything even worse.
A smile that never touched the administrator’s eyes cracked the lower half of his face. He made a point of looking up at an observation camera over their heads, which made Gina feel really stupid—they’d been watched the whole time. Had Ethan also heard every word they’d spoken since they arrived? She wracked her brain, jumping from one thought to another like a crazed grasshopper, trying to remember any specific negative things they’d said. Her mind drew a complete blank.
And I thought we were being so smart.
They should have realized the bars on the second floor windows, along with all that talk about industrial espionage, meant that Comstock would have an air-tight security system.
“Now that you’re here, we’ll bring you in the back way.” He stepped aside so the two of them could walk into the second-floor patient unit.
Gina wanted to grab Harry’s hand and run, but she was a professional and would stand on her own two feet and do what had to be done. Still, she crushed her thumb and forefinger together—her secret fear neutralizer—and entered the second floor, with Harry close on her heels.
Her mind had conjured dark and dingy rooms and corridors, with patients wandering and crashing into each other like zombies. Or maybe there would even be loud screams of terror.
She’d been wrong about everything.
At first glance, it was no different than most other hospital floors she’d worked on—long corridors lined with rooms that could be closed off with wooden doors for privacy. Soft, classical music floated through the air, making her feel totally foolish for thinking there was something sinister about the place.
Not exactly a snake pit.
Ethan pointed ahead to the nurses’ station. The three of them ambled over to where one of the two husky mop and pail orderlies sat. Close up, she studied this one's large, flat nose and black-button eyes that stared back at her. He was big, his huge shoulders made her shiver.
Steroid freak!
He nodded and gave them what could be considered either a smile or a leer, depending on your point of view. He was sitting next to the floor nurse—middle-aged, dressed in burgundy scrubs, and wearing a very, very tired face.
“Hi. You must be Gina Mazzio and Harry Lucke.” She stood and walked over to them, hand extended. “I’m Delores Scott. Great to meet you. And this is Rocky.” She pointed to the gorilla next to her. He nodded.
“Delores, why don’t you show our new nurses around. I’ll see them when you’re finished.” Ethan walked back down the corridor toward the elevator and turned around. “I’ll catch up with the two of you later in my office.” Before Gina or Harry could respond, he was out of sight.
“So how do you like this gig?” Harry said to Delores the minute Ethan was gone.
Gina noticed Delores’ whole body language had changed to not only wary, but antagonistic now that Ethan wasn’t around. “I’d like it a hell of a lot better if I had more staff, or if those we have weren’t so damned lazy.”
Rocky watched the exchange with an empty look on his face, as though he couldn’t have cared less. But his eyes bounced back and forth between Delores and them. Gina could tell he was listening very carefully.
Mmmmm. Looks like a dork but there’s something more going on there.
“You can make a lot of money,” Delores continued. “And other than the killer hours, how bad can it be?” She paused. “Well, there is the fact that the patients are … let’s just say … a little loopy.”
“Ah, loopy? A brand new medical term." Gina forced a laugh.
“Come on, I’ll show you around.” Delores walked down the hall; they followed close behind. The first stop was a glassed-in spa that held a small hot tub and massage table.
Harry and Gina opened the door; steam drifted up, filling the room; the air was heavy with the moisture. Gina smiled at Harry. Being on the unit, in the actual work place made her feel more assured about the whole assignment. After a twelve-hour shift, this could be just what they’d need to become human again.
“Hey, does the staff get to use this?” Gina said laughing.
Harry smiled. “Pretty classy. Don’t see these very often in hospitals.”
Delores ignored Gina’s question. Instead, she turned to Harry. “Well, we’re not officially a hospital,” she said, “more on the order of a rehab facility.”
“Rehab? That’s seems weird,” Gina said, raising an eyebrow at Harry.
Delores again ignored the comment.
They visited some of the rooms; each held a single patient. It was pleasant enough: high ceilings, brightly colored drapes on the windows, matching spreads on the beds, fairly spacious, and generally the kind of upscale environment Gina wasn’t used to seeing in medical facilities.
Delores introduced them to some of the residents, most of the people they met had dazed, drugged looks, and weren’t very responsive.
“These people look absolutely stoned,” Harry said.
Delores laughed. “Not stoned, but definitely heavily medicated.”
“Doesn’t it make it difficult to deal with them when they’re medicated like that? I mean, most of them can’t even talk. Can they answer your protocol questions?”
Delores looked at Gina in a puzzled way. “Didn’t you know?”
“Know what?”
Delores’s face turned a bright red. “I just assumed you knew. It’s not my place to give you the particulars. I’m sure the doctor will explain everything.”
Gina and Harry looked at each other.
“Looks like Ethan continues to have a lot to explain,” Harry said, taking Gina’s hand. “I wonder what other secrets he’s sitting on.”
* * * *
They sat across from Ethan in his austere office. After giving them the necessary card keys and setting up their identification information, he ran through the care protocols. Gina was starting to feel very antsy again; she kept tugging at the magnetic ID that they were required to wear at all times. It felt like an anchor chain around her neck.
She could see now why the second floor needed so few licensed personnel. Every patient on the unit was so tranquilized they were more like the walking dead. Well, at least none of them had blood dripping from their teeth. But the barred windows made more sense now―couldn’t have stoned patients climbing out the windows.
“So this facilit
y is participating in a clinical drug study for the treatment of Alzheimer’s?” Gina said. “That’s really fantastic. What health professional wouldn’t want to be a part of something as exciting as finding a real treatment for such a devastating disease?”
“Of course,” Ethan said, nodding like a bobble-head doll planted on a dashboard. “As health professionals, I understand your dedication. It’s plain to me that the two of you are humanitarian types, so the extra thirty thousand for your three-month commitment would have nothing to do with your willingness to stay.”
The words were spoken in a reasonable voice—the kind administrators use when they don’t want to tell you everything. But there was also an undercurrent of cynicism that jumped out and slapped her in the face.
Out comes the viper.
“Don’t hold a carrot out in front of us if you don’t want us to eat it,” Harry said in a crisp voice that Gina recognized as part of his on-going battle with his demons.
“And you think we need to sit here and swallow your cynicism,” Gina said. “We really don’t need your money as much as you seem to think we do.”
Ethan held out his hands, palms up. “I wasn’t trying to put the two of you down. I’m sorry if you took it that way.”
Gina looked at Harry; he stared back at her. She was ready to walk, had been from the moment the Jeep edged down that creepy driveway. But travel nursing was Harry’s career choice. Any final decision would have to rest with him.
“So far, this has been a pretty hostile environment,” Harry said, obviously still pissed with the administrator’s jab at their motives for taking the job.
Gina couldn’t stop herself. “Why are the patients we saw so …” Gina waved her hands around trying to find the right word “so … neutralized? How can you evaluate the efficacy of any new drug, especially one for Alzheimer’s dementia, with people who can barely talk?”
“These patients are no longer receiving Zelint Pharmaceutical’s new drug.”
“What!” Gina knew her eyes must be bugging out as she gaped at the man. “So they were on the drug but they aren’t any more?”
Bone Pit: A Chilling Medical Suspense Thriller (The Gina Mazzio Series Book 3) Page 3