Variations on Humanity

by Paul Eslinger

  Rhona looked around the interior. The seats were very comfortable and there wasn’t any road noise.

  “Is this thing driving itself?”

  “Yes. You pick a destination and optionally define route constraints. The AI does the rest.”

  “How do I sign up for driving lessons?”

  Damaris relaxed at hearing Rhona’s friendly request. “You can access a huge training manual through Dulcis and study all you like. However, I can show you the basics by the time we reach Dodge City.”

  The initial instruction on the driving functions didn’t take very long. However, they had only touched on a few of the auxiliary functions when the AI spoke in a mellow voice. “We are five minutes from the hospital.”

  “Thanks,” Damaris said.

  Rhona frowned. “Is the AI programmed to emulate emotions?”

  Damaris laughed. “No. However, it is programmed to interpret emotions in humans. Among other things, it considers the tone of voice, the pace of the words, facial expressions and voice volume in determining the meaning of words.”

  “So, you say thanks to it.”

  “Saying thanks, or thank you, is an easy way to tell the AI you understood the meaning in a verbal exchange.”

  The blustery December wind ruffled the Christmas wreaths hanging on light poles in the parking lot as they walked from the vehicle to the hospital entrance. Damaris veered towards the information desk when they entered the lobby. Fake poinsettias on the edge of the desk made a splash of red against the green walls. “We’re here to visit Helen Pratt. Is she still in room 312?”

  The grey-haired woman behind the desk checked her computer screen. “Yes. Take the elevator to the third floor. Take a right and go towards the area with red carpet.”

  Rhona shivered as the elevator doors shut out the view of the lobby. She and Damaris were the only passengers. “I hate hospitals.”

  “They are depressing.” Damaris tapped the small purse she was carrying. “Our hope is…” She changed subjects when Rhona made a slashing gesture with one hand. “Is there a problem?”

  “Keene’s telling me something.” Rhona held her earpiece in place with one fingertip. “Go ahead, Keene.”

  “The receptionist just called someone and told them Damaris had returned for a visit. Rhona, she also recognized you.”

  The previous shiver morphed into an itch of concern. Rhona took a deep breath to throttle back the irritation rising in her breast. “We’ll keep our ears and eyes open.”

  “It’s more than that,” Keene responded. “Someone else just started monitoring the microphones in the elevator. Dulcis is blanking out this conversation.”

  The elevator jerked to a stop and then sank back just enough that Rhona flexed her knees to adjust to the movement. She laid one finger across her lips and spoke softly to Damaris. “Active surveillance.”

  “Thanks.”

  They exited the elevator side by side and walked past the nurse’s station. Damaris waved at the two nurses working there and spoke in a cheerful voice. “Good morning.”

  The door to room 312 was ajar when they arrived. Damaris pushed it open and quietly entered the room. Rhona entered a step behind her.

  The grey-haired woman in the bed turned her head and looked at the two new arrivals. Her expression brightened. “Hello, Damaris, and you too, Rhona.”

  “Hello, yourself.” Damaris stepped up beside the bed and touched Helen lightly on the shoulder. “You’re looking a lot better than you did yesterday. You were sleeping.”

  Helen nodded. “Yeah, but I had just come out of a coma.” She looked at Damaris and then at Rhona. “The doctor said this morning that the swelling in my brain is gone. They can’t find anything wrong and my bruises are almost totally faded. He is baffled by my quick recovery.”

  “You are healing unusually fast,” Damaris said with a straight face.

  “The nurses said you visited every day.” Helen’s eyes narrowed as she looked up at the Abantu. She raised one hand and pointed towards Rhona even though she continued to talk to Damaris. “I heard how you treated her boyfriend. Did you treat me as well?”

  Damaris smiled and drew a small syringe out of her purse, making sure her body was hiding it from the view of anyone looking in the door. “The doctor is in charge of your treatments.”

  Rhona saw Helen’s eyes widen in the apparent understanding of the multiple meanings in the statement. Her cognitive processes seemed to be working well.

  Helen pulled aside the bed covers and exposed her bare thigh. Her voice signified both acceptance and anticipation. “I need to follow the doctor’s orders.”

  The Abantu looked at Rhona and jerked her head towards the door. “Please check the hall.”

  Rhona pulled the hanging curtain closed and stepped out into the hall. A nurse was heading her direction along the hall, and she was only two doors away. Rhona stayed in position and spoke casually when the nurse came close. “Helen’s making a remarkable recovery from the coma.”

  “Some people do,” the nurse responded blandly and then came to a stop beside Rhona. She made a shooing gesture with one hand. “I need to make a quick check on the patient.”

  “Of course.” Rhona stepped aside in the hall rather than going back into the room.

  Damaris wore a serene smile when she joined Rhona in the hall moments later. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

  “Those words have a lot of meanings,” Rhona replied.

  Moments later, the nurse exited the room. “You can go back in now,” she said.

  Damaris went back in the room. A tingle moved down Rhona’s spine so she stayed in the hall and watched the nurse walk away. She was walking normally, but she accelerated to a much quicker pace a couple of steps before reaching the corner. The change in movement seemed suspicious to Rhona. She walked quickly along the hall and looked around the corner. There were no doors to patient rooms in the next segment of the hall. Through a window, Rhona caught a faint glimpse of the nurse disappearing through an exit door. The door was so far away the nurse would have to have been running to reach the exit before Rhona looked around the corner.

  Why would the nurse run away after checking on Helen? Now concerned, Rhona trotted back to Helen’s room. She darted inside and interrupted the conversation. “What did that nurse just do?”

  Helen frowned and then pointed to the saline drip machine. “She injected some medicine in the drip line of the IV.”

  Chapter 6 – Bad Medicine

  Rhona started thinking up nefarious reasons for the actions of the nurse as she glanced at Helen. Someone had run Glenn and Helen off the road and killed Glenn in the process. According to the doctor, Helen was making a miraculous recovery. The unknown opponent might also be attempting to kill Helen.

  Acting on an impulse, Rhona stepped close to the bed. She looked at Helen and pointed at the implanted IV needle. “Hold up your arm.”

  Helen frowned and glanced at Damaris. She held up her arm when Damaris made a gesture of encouragement.

  Rhona put her finger on the IV and then pulled back the piece of tape holding it in place. She slid it out of Helen’s arm and set it aside. She kept her finger on the injection site for a moment and then pulled the tape back in place to cover the wound.

  “Why did you do that?” Damaris asked.

  “The nurse who came in here ran along the far hall to the exit rather than going back to the nurse’s station. It isn’t time for a shift change and I didn’t hear any announcements calling for help.”

  “You think the medicine is … is bad?”

  “I’m not sure, but I’ve had an itch running up and down my back since Keene called.” Rhona retrieved the tubing and held it up. “It’s not dripping.”

  Helen shook her head. “The nurse turned off the saline drip after I drank a glass of water this mornin
g. She said something about disconnecting the equipment and then she ran out the door to respond to some code announcement.”

  “Was that a different nurse than the one who was just here?”

  “Yes. I’ve never seen the nurse who was just here.”

  Rhona turned and looked at Damaris. “A legitimate nurse would know Helen wasn’t using the IV drip. I’d bet she injected something nasty. We need to get Helen out of here.”

  Even after 200 years of living among often violent humans, Damaris looked shocked. “Ugh. I … I guess you’re right.”

  Rhona gestured at the microphone connected to the edge of the bed. “Please call the nurse,” she said to Helen.

  Keene’s voice whispered in Rhona’s earpiece as Helen reached for the microphone. “We heard your conversation and we have been monitoring the hospital surveillance system. We have a video of the nurse leaving the hall and we tracked her out to the parking lot. We’ll continue following her. Let me know if you need electronic help with the checkout.”

  Meanwhile, Helen was talking on the intercom. Moments later, a nurse bustled into the room. “You need help with your IV?”

  “Yes,” Rhona interrupted. “Did you just administer medicine to Helen through the IV?”

  “No,” said the nurse. “The equipment is disconnected.” She looked at the portable stand beside the bed and shook her head. “Ah, it’s supposed to be disconnected.”

  “A nurse just injected medicine in the IV line. She left the room and went in the other direction from your station.”

  “Really?” The nurse stepped closer, glanced at the machine and then at Helen’s arm. She whirled around and her voice was strident. “Who took out the IV?”

  “I did,” Rhona said. “I told you a nurse just added medicine in the IV line, but you say it’s not in use.”

  “This is highly irregular.” Pink spots appeared on the nurse’s cheeks. “I need to call the doctor. I’ll have to start another IV.”

  “No,” blurted Helen. “I’m leaving.”

  “The doctor hasn’t released you. You can’t leave.”

  “Just watch me.” Helen sat up and swung her feet out on the floor.

  The nurse started towards the door. “I’m going to get security.”

  “Wait!” There was enough bite in Rhona’s voice that the nurse stopped and looked at her.

  Rhona gestured at the drip machine. “Someone ran Helen’s car off of the road, killed her husband and badly injured her. Now, someone put unauthorized medicine in her IV. I’m calling the police and the contents of that bag had better still be here when they arrive.”

  “This is a hospital!” objected the nurse.

  “If I’m correct, this is also a crime scene for attempted murder.”

  The voice in Rhona’s earpiece started talking again. “Sheriff Olga Booker says you can trust detective Mike Kunkel on the local police force. I just texted you his personal number.”

  The nurse looked at Rhona again and then moved back towards the bed. She hit the call button on the intercom. A tinny sounding voice issued from the small speaker. “Can I help you?”

  “Ruth, this is Lacy in room 312. Call Dr. Abbott. Code grey.”

  Rhona pulled out her phone, checked the text message, and dialed the number Keene had sent. She began speaking as soon as he answered. “Detective, my name is Rhona Lantier. We have a possible attempted murder at the hospital.”

  “I’m on my way,” he responded and his voice was loud enough everyone else in the room could hear his words. “Is there an active shooter or combatant?”

  “No, the perpetrator has already fled the building. The nurse in the room doesn’t believe me.”

  “I’ll be there in about five minutes. Where are you?”

  “Room 312. It’s Helen Pratt’s room.”

  By this time, Rhona could hear quick footsteps in the hall. A silver-haired man with a slim build pushed in through the door, flanked by two nurses, one of them a large man. “What’s going on?” he barked.

  Rhona pocketed her phone, stepped in front of Lacy, and spoke quickly. “A nurse put unauthorized medicine in the IV drip line.”

  The doctor looked at the nurse already in the room. “Is that correct?”

  She spread out both hands. “I don’t know.”

  Helen was still sitting on the edge of the bed. Her voice was strong. “I watched a nurse inject a full syringe of something into the tubing. She didn’t log it into the computer like the nurses did with my other medicine.”

  The doctor raised his eyebrows and disbelief was evident on his face. “Really, when did this happen?”

  “A few minutes ago,” Helen replied. “She made Damaris leave the room while she did the injection.”

  Up until this time, Damaris had stood in a back corner of the room without talking. She nodded when the doctor looked at her. “The nurse told me to leave the room.”

  “This nurse?” Dr. Abbott gestured at Lacy.

  Helen shook her head and pointed at the other female nurse. “No, a different nurse. It wasn’t her either.”

  “We’re the only ones on shift,” Lacy protested when the doctor looked at her.

  Rhona intervened. “The other nurse went down the hall and out through the exit. She didn’t go to the nurse’s station. I saw her arrive, and she didn’t come from the direction of the nurse’s station either.”

  The male nurse spoke for the first time. “We have cameras on the exits. I can go check.”

  “That can wait,” Abbott replied. “The drip machine was inactive.” He looked at Lacy. “It was off, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes,” interrupted Rhona. “I extracted the needle before I called for the nurse.”

  The doctor’s face turned an interesting shade of red. “I’m in charge here. What do you–”

  “The important thing is someone tried to give Helen unauthorized medicine.”

  The doctor raised his voice. “It was off. She didn’t get any.” He looked at the male nurse and gestured at the drip machine. “Get this equipment out of here.”

  The man was six inches taller than Rhona and weighed nearly a hundred pounds more than she did. He slowly moved across the room with his open hands at his sides. His voice was half an octave lower than previously. “Please move out of the way, miss.”

  Rhona drew in a breath in preparation for delivering a blistering tirade and then she shut her mouth. The most important thing right now was to get Helen out of the hospital. If she put up too much resistance, they might physically tie her up or inject her with sedatives. Besides, she needed to stall until the police arrived.

  She slowly stepped back from the equipment and turned her attention to the doctor. Her voice was as smooth as silk. “Why are you so insistent about removing the evidence, doctor?”

  “What do you mean?” he blustered.

  “The only way to really know whether the unnamed nurse had bad intentions is to check the contents of that bag and drip line. I suggest you leave it in place for now.”

  Silence descended while the male nurse unplugged the machine. Six pairs of eyes followed his movements while he moved the bed aside to free the tangled power cord. He wrapped up the cords and looked at the doctor instead of starting towards the door. “Your call.”

  Pink splotches showed on the doctor’s cheeks and his forehead turned fiery red. “I already made my call.”

  “Okay.” The two female nurses stepped aside when the man started moving. He stopped in the middle of the room when a uniformed policeman appeared in the doorway.

  “Good,” chortled the doctor when he saw the officer. His color faded towards normal as he waved his hand at Rhona. “This woman is causing us problems. Can you please remove her?”

  The detective raised one eyebrow. “I don’t know who you are, but I assume you are a doctor on
staff. However, I do know who Rhona Lantier is, and I suspect there is a reason behind her actions. Can we discuss the issues?”

  The nurses willingly answered the detective’s questions and then departed to attend to other patients. The doctor was more obstinate and objectionable.

  A few minutes later, the male nurse came back with a color photograph of a woman going through an exit door. He held it up. “Is this the nurse who came in the room? None of us know who it is.”

  Helen looked at it. “That’s her.” Both Rhona and Damaris nodded in agreement when he held the picture where they could see it.

  “Thank you,” Mike said when the nurse handed him the picture.

  The doctor glanced at the picture and Rhona thought there was a glimmer of recognition in his eyes before he shook his head. “I’ve never seen her.” Inexplicably, he became even more stubborn and he refused to sign discharge papers for Helen. Mike’s partner, Chad Mueller, arrived and confiscated the drip machine as evidence.

  After listening to another outburst, Mike held up both hands with his palms outwards and looked at the irate doctor. “Sir, Helen has been sitting here lucidly answering questions since I arrived. I support her decision to seek medical care elsewhere. She is leaving with us.”

  The doctor shook his head and waved both arms. His loud voice bounced off the walls. “She just came out of a coma yesterday. She needs to stay here in bed!”

  Rhona watched a flush move up Mike’s neck and she suspected his patience was wearing thin. His words confirmed her suspicions. “Car crash victims are routinely treated in thousands of facilities around the country. There are other qualified caregivers. Don’t interfere with the departure of this patient or I will arrest you.”

  Silence fell over the room when the doctor flounced out the door in a huff. Mike shook his head. “That was interesting. I’ll get a wheelchair from the nurse.”

  Damaris stepped close to Helen after Mike left. “You’re improving quickly, but do you feel strong enough to travel?”

  Helen grasped the bed rail with one hand and rose to her feet. She looked up at Damaris and the red spots on her cheeks didn’t have anything to do with a fever. “I’m so mad at that doctor I could walk home.”