“Hello.”
“Is this Tami?”
She did not recognize the female’s voice. “Yes, it is. Who's speaking?” she asked with a slight irritation in her voice.
“This is Pamela, I'm your mother's neighbor. I found your number on her cell phone. I hate to give bad news over the phone.”
“What about mother?”
“She’s in the hospital, dear. Carol didn't show up for Bible study. So, I stopped by to check on her. I knew she kept a key under her rabbit statue on the porch, so I used it and I found her passed out on her bedroom floor.”
Tami sat quietly unable to articulate any words.
“Hello? Are you still there?”
“Yes, I'm sorry. I'm still here. Thank you for calling, Pamela. If you're able to see my mother let her know I'll be with her soon.”
Tami hung up the phone and sat silently as she tried to absorb what she just heard. After gaining her composure, she left a message for Josh and caught the first flight out of Houston to San Diego. Crazy thoughts travel throughout her mind as she bombarded herself with what if questions. What if someone came into her house and harmed her? What if she hit her head from a fall and have a brain injury? What if they found her too late? Tami was grateful for the neighbor who found her. And for once she was glad her mother didn't listen to her about not putting a spare key under that hideous orange rabbit statue. She was fearful that she had given anyone carte blanche to her home by leaving the key on the porch. Tami tried to sleep on the three-hour flight but her nerves were too bad, she asked the flight attendant for white wine to help but it did nothing. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer for mother and eventually fell asleep.
Tami arrived at Scripps Memorial Hospital, a nurse escorted her to her mother's room. Nothing prepared her for the sight before her when she entered. There were tubes and wires attached to her mother and machines were everywhere. She pulled a chair closer to her bed and gently held her hand. Even with all the tubes and wires, her mother looked at peace. As she watched the motion of her chest rise and fall with each breath Tami hoped she wasn’t in any pain or discomfort. Tears fell from her eyes as she said another prayer and rested her head on the edge of the bed. Moments later the doctor entered with a nurse.
“Will my mom be okay?” asked Tami, wiping the tears from her face.
“Yes. But she will definitely need a lifestyle change,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“First, let me introduce myself, I'm Dr. Parker and you are?”
“Tami...her daughter, now what do you mean by lifestyle change? What's wrong with her?”
“Your mother suffered a stroke.”
“A stroke! I...I don't understand!”
“Ms. Webber has been under the care of a doctor for hypertension for months and according to her doctor, she has experienced an increased level of stress and anxiety lately. Therefore, her doctor changed the dosage of her anxiety medication. I believe your mother suffered a stroke due to an elevated amount of stress and her hypertension.”
“She hasn't mentioned anything to me about stress. I know she has battled depression off and on since my father's passing. But, it was under control. At least, I thought it was.”
“Your mother needs to avoid whatever is triggering her stress. We won't know until we conduct further testing if she has any lingering effects from the stroke. She could end up with impaired motor skills or speech problems. So, if she awakens while you are here, don't overwhelm her.”
Dr. Parker left Tami alone and confused. After speaking with the doctor, she now understood it was more than depression that plagued her mother. The questions that lingered in her mind would have to remain unanswered. Convincing her mother to move to Texas was a priority. Tami had asked several times before for her to live with her and Josh and each time she had an excuse. Several years ago after Tami’s father had passed Carol up and moved to San Diego. She used the excuse of wanting to live closer to her older sister, Victoria. Tami never bought that story. Her Aunt always traveled and was rarely home. What Tami believed to be the truth was her mother wanted to create distance between them to hide her depression.
But, after having a stroke, she couldn't say no. She would need someone to take care of her and help with whatever was troubling her. Tami made phone calls while her mother continued to sleep. First, she called Josh to fill him in, her next call was a voicemail to Suzette to let her know she was taking at least three days off and to push her presentation back. Her last call was to Alexis because she needed a friend to talk to. After a quick check of the time, she realized it was too late to call due to the time difference. Instead, she fell asleep in the chair next to her mother's hospital bed until a nurse awakened her. She informed Tami that they gave her mother medication to help her sleep, therefore, she might be out for a while. Tami advised the nurse she was leaving but would return later. However, if her mother woke, let her know she would return soon. She caught a cab to her mother's home to shower and change. As she walked up the driveway she heard someone calling out to her from behind. “Hello...Hello,” said the female voice. Tami turned around and was greeted by a short elderly woman with a bright smile on her face. “You must be Tami. My, you look just like Carol.”
“Yes, I am,” said Tami, returning her smile.
“I'm Pamela. I called you about Carol. How is she doing?”
“I just left the hospital. She's been asleep since I arrived, but the doctor told me she suffered a stroke.”
“Oh, dear.” Pamela frowned. “If only I checked on her sooner…”
“I'm grateful you checked on her when you did. Would you like to come in? Maybe we could sit and talk.” Tami had to determine the source of her mother’s stress. Maybe her friend could provide the answers.
“Sure, I have a few minutes to spare.”
Tami led Pamela into her mother's home. It was a neat and tidy three bedroom home. Her mother kept it in immaculate condition, not a single item out of place. The air contained a fresh scent of vanilla with the help of plug-in air fresheners scattered throughout the home. The ladies sat at the round kitchen table while sipping a cup of green tea. “The doctor alluded that stress caused her stroke,” said Tami.
“I don’t know anything about stress, but Carol seemed troubled about something. It was rather out of the blue, you know, like something recent nagged at her,” Pamela said between sips of her tea.
“Really? Do you know what it was?”
“Oh, she never spoke about it. I didn't feel it was my place to ask. She was fine before she went on her trip but when she returned, she seemed nervous all the time.”
It disheartened Tami she didn't pick up on anything during her weekly phone calls with her mother. She would constantly tell her everything was fine. “You said she seemed different after her trip, do you mean her trip to visit me in Texas?”
“Yes.”
Tami could not connect the dots of this mystery. She recalled the meltdown she had at her home when she saw Ramona. Maybe Ramona reminded her of someone or something that happened to her and triggered the anxiety, high blood pressure and eventually the stroke. Tami stood from the table, she had to speak to her mother right away. She explained to Pamela she needed to get back to the hospital. Tami skipped the shower and the change of clothes. She found the keys to her mother's Mercedes and made her way back to the only person who could give her answers.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Ramona has enjoyed playing spy on Tami's computer, she has read every document, email, and file. The best part was she doesn't have a clue due to a genius named Rhonda. She installed the program on her computer on a day Tami left work early. Ramona wanted to do it right, so she had Rhonda walk her through the process over the phone. She's been spying on her for about a week hoping to find as much information as she could about her presentation, the Emergence Project. As Ramona was contemplating ways to sabotage the whole project Tim called her into his office.
�
�Yes?” she asked, annoyed that he interrupted her plotting.
“The presentation meeting is on hold because Tami is out on personal leave. If necessary, I feel I can present it in her place. We might have to move meetings on the calendar.”
“That wouldn’t be wise,” said Ramona. The last thing she needed was for him to step in and mess everything up. Tami needed to look like the incompetent one, not Tim.
“Why not?” asked Tim.
“Because this project is her baby, not yours. I believe she would want to present it.”
“Why do you care?” he asked, suspiciously.
“I don't, really. However, she’s up to speed on it and you’re not. I think the best way to handle it is to postpone the meeting until she returns.”
“It doesn’t matter what you think. I’ll get in touch with Tami and we’ll discuss it. I need you to finish the spreadsheet we discussed earlier.”
Without another word, Ramona left to pay Suzette a visit. She was busy with a phone call when Ramona made her way to her desk. She patiently waited for her to finish the call by helping herself to one of the many files on her desk. Before Ramona could read through them, she snatched them out of her hands. “Excuse you, young lady, everything on this desk is confidential,” Suzette said playfully.
“I was only curing my boredom until you got off the phone,” replied Ramona.
“So, what do you need?”
“Do you have time for a break?”
“I'm sorry but I'm swamped over here. Maybe in an hour or so.” Suzette grabbed papers off her desk and walked to the copy room. Ramona was right behind her. “Tami is out of the office and you’re still buried in paperwork?”
Suzette shook her head yes. “Even with her absence, I’m busy.”
“Oh yeah, with what?” asked Ramona.
“That would be none of your business,” smiled Suzette, grabbing her two copies off the copy machine.
Ramona could hear the sound of heels hitting the tile floor behind her, she turned around to find Alexis.
“Why are you questioning Suzette about Tami?” she asked, with her lip turned upwards and hands on each of her hips.
“Why is that your business?” asked Ramona.
“Can I speak to you in private?” It sounded more like a request instead of a question. She followed Alexis into Tami's empty office. Alexis turned on the lights and motion for Ramona to have a seat while she sat in Tami’s chair behind the desk. Ramona shook her head and laughed to herself. It's obvious Alexis was jealous of Tami and wanted to be her. Ramona remained standing, with her arms folded across her chest, as she waited for Alexis to speak.
“For whatever reason, you and I have an unspoken dislike for each other. You don't like me and I don't like you. But, I am your superior and when we are on the job, you will speak with respect.” Alexis paused as if she was waiting for Ramona to respond. She remained quiet and allowed her to get everything out first.
Alexis continued, “I will let this exchange remain between us, but if you step out of line again, I will go to Tim.”
Ramona laughed and watched Alexis stand and walked towards the door. Apparently, she thought the conversation was over and had the final word. Ramona stepped in front of her to block her from leaving. Alexis flinched when she moved closer towards her. Her goal was not to lay a hand on her only to make her understand that she doesn’t intimidate her. Ramona sharply inhaled to calm herself down and reminded herself to chose her next words carefully, she was at work after all. Still, she could not allow this bitch to get away with trying to demean her.
“Alexis, you are not my superior nor do I work for you. Last I checked this was the tenth floor if you need someone to boss they’re waiting for you on the fourth. The only reason you have your position is that you keep your head all up Tami's ass. So, just because your friend has given you a job with a minuscule of authority doesn't mean you can speak to me any way you please. If you even as much whisper my name in Tim's ear, I will have you thrown out of here so fast there would be nothing your friend Tami could say or do to save you. Do we understand each other?”
Ramona didn't bother to wait around for her to respond, she walked out of the office and told Suzette she would speak with her later. That confrontation was necessary to shut her down. Hopefully, she’s got the message. No longer in the mood to work, Ramona called it a day. Tim would have to complete his own damn spreadsheet.
As Ramona walked through the parking garage to her car, the sound of her ringing cell phone annoyed the hell out of her. She pulled the phone out of her purse and saw it was Chad calling her again. She thought if she ignored him long enough he would’ve caught the hint she was no longer interested. He served his purpose he should move on.
“Hello, Chad.”
“Ramona, I've left you several messages. Did you get them?”
“Look, you’re a nice person and I appreciate you helping me out before but I'm not interested anymore.”
“Get over yourself,” he spat, shocking Ramona. “It's obvious you didn't listen to any my messages because if you had you would know some guy has been coming around asking questions about you.”
Ramona stopped dead in her tracks. “What guy? What sort of questions?”
“I don't know. I've never seen him around here before. He was asking if anyone knew you and how often you came in, those sorts of questions.”
“What did you say?” She panicked. It's not a good feeling to have an unknown person asking questions about you.
“I told him I didn't know you. I don't think he believed me because he left his card and asked me to call him if I remembered anything.”
“I want you to call him.”
“What?! No, I am not getting involved in this.”
“Listen, I'm on my way to you. Don't leave!”
Ramona hung up the phone and jumped in her car. She drove erratically all the way over to the bar with many near misses with other cars. An hour later she arrived at Ronnie's. When she walked in Chad was speaking with a young girl who was pouring drinks behind the bar.
“Hi, we need to finish our conversation in private,” Ramona said to Chad interrupting the conversation he was having with the girl.
“Uh, Ramona this is Hunter our new bartender and my girlfriend.”
“Hi,” Ramona said dismissively she didn’t care who the hell she was, “We need to talk NOW!”
Chad told his girlfriend he would be a minute and walked into the back room with Ramona. Once there, he picked up the card placed on top of the small television and handed it to Ramona.
“Here's the card but I'm not getting involved. I only called you because I thought you should know.”
Ramona read the card. Gordon Bishop Attorney at Law. “A lawyer has been looking for me?” She sat on the edge of the cot as she continued to stare at the card. “I don't know who this is. Call him and arrange a meeting.”
“No! I already told you several times I’m staying out of it.”
“Chad, all I need you to do is call him. I will meet him.”
Ramona watched as Chad hesitated before dialing the phone number. On speaker, he left his name and number on the voicemail.
“When he returns your call, let me know. I will personally handle Mr. Gordon Bishop,” said Ramona.
That night, as Ramona laid in her bed she thought about her journey to the current point in her life. Without the help of Rhonda and her Aunt Melissa, she wouldn’t be in the position she’s in now. She turned off the light switch on the lamp next to the bed and closed her eyes. In her mind, she recalled her quest to find Tami.
◆◆◆
After a thorough search, Rhonda found videos of Tami conducting several news interviews as the grieving friend of Dr. Pennington. She didn’t buy her tears, instead; it intensified her need to track her down. Something inside her told her there was more to Tami’s visit to her father that night. Ramona contacted her Aunt Melissa again to ask if she had access to any of her father’s
paperwork or anything that could help. Her Aunt told her she’s welcomed to go to her father’s office, he kept a paper trail for everything. The next day with Rhonda in tow, Ramona met Melissa at her father’s clinic. The trio searched through boxes of files, they all came up empty-handed. Ramona was about to suggest that they leave when she spotted a folder labeled shred. She looked through the folder but saw nothing with Tami’s name on it. Her aunt gave the papers a second glance and something caught her eye.
“I found an invoice for medication delivered the morning of the robbery,” said Melissa.
“He was a doctor. I’m sure he received medicine all the time,” suggested Rhonda.
“But, this medication to used to end pregnancies.”
“You mean abortion? I wasn’t aware that my father performed those,” said Ramona.
“He didn’t. He was pro-life. I’m not, I believe in the woman’s right to choose. We used to argue about it all the time. I can’t think of any reason he would order these pills,” said Melissa.
“Maybe he ordered them for someone who really needed them, like Tami,” suggested Ramona.
“Possible, but I have my doubts.” Melissa turned on a computer. “If my brother treated her for anything he will have a patient file on her.”
“If he was treating a friend, there wouldn’t be a record,” said Ramona.
“Like I said before, my brother documented everything.” Melissa turned her attention to the computer monitor. She typed in Tami’s name and conducted several clicks with the mouse. “Found it! He gave her RU-486 and misoprostol, to end a five-week pregnancy. It had to be a secret because I don’t recall Tami announcing she was pregnant.”
“But, why would my father go along with it?”
“Not sure. Only Tami can answer that question. I know they were close. Matter of fact, she’s the reason he reached out to apologize for his absence in your life. She encouraged him to take the first step.”
Shattered Lives (The Shattered Series Book 1) Page 10