Chapter 10
James traveled home in “Barney” lost in his thoughts. He swung into the drive using his automatic control to open the garage door. Zeke greeted him enthusiastically at the door of the garage. James absent mindedly rubbed Zeke’s ears. He entered the house and walked over to kiss Abbey. She moved a stray, blonde hair from the side of her face and straightened up from bending over in the cupboard. She kissed James on the cheek.
“Hi honey. How was your day? You made it home for dinner with family after all,” observed Abbey.
“Busy and interesting. I met with Sister Mary Rosarita today and we went over all the nursing schedules. Sue Wilson seems to have been on all three nights the patients died. We are considering the possibility she may be linked to the deaths. Is that beef stew I smell? Did you make plenty of stew? I forgot the Chinese on my way home. I guess I got distracted with all the stuff involving Mary’s death,” said James apologectically.
“Are you serious about Sue Wilson? Sue doesn’t seem like that kind of person at all. At any rate, we ought to discuss this later when the children are in bed. You’re right, we’re having beef stew tonight from the crock pot. And yes, I made enough for us all,” smiled Abbey.
“Smells really great. I’ll go and find the girls and get them ready for dinner,” said James.
James found the girls upstairs playing with their dolls. James built one large doll house for them to share that summer. They seemed to love playing with the house and dolls all the time.
“It’s time for dinner ladies. We need to go down and get the table ready for dinner,” said James to all three girls.
“Daddy! You’re home for dinner! Look at our doll house. Doesn’t it look great, Daddy? We fixed it up for our dolls. I put my doll Lisa in the living room. She’s working on her cross stitch for a pillow,” explained Sara enthusiastically.
“That’s great sweetie! Let’s get downstairs and have some dinner,” suggested James.
“Okay, Daddy. Let’s all go wash up,” bossed Sara.
“Okay,” chorused Martha and Elizabeth together.
James grinned. His daughter sure could be bossy. He figured she got that from her mother! The two O’Brien girls good-naturedly accepted the bossing most of the time. Once in awhile Martha or Elizabeth would disagree with Sara. Then, the sparks would fly. James knew they needed to work on Sara’s bossiness.
“I’ll see you ladies downstairs then,” said James.
Dinner seemed so pleasant after the stressful day. James completely forgot about the patient deaths and Mary O’Brien. He relaxed and spent the time learning about what Sara, the O’Brien girls, Abbey, and Sam did that day. The girls learned about how the solar system worked that day. They shared all the information how the earth revolves around the sun and spins on its axis. Sam reported he’d secured a good bull for the cows and knew a buyer for the calves. He was excited because James told him they were going to start going into shares with the livestock. Part of Sam’s bonus would be a cow a year to breed. He’d just received the first heifer and couldn’t wait to breed her and get the calf to sell. Sam certainly had changed. He’d come out of his shell, given up drinking, and found his niche. Sam truly possessed a gift for farming. Everything thrived under his careful management. James remained thrilled with the progress on the farm. The calves flourished, the corn crop had been magnificent, the chickens grew ready for market, and the garden produced bushels of produce. James even thought he might try and see if Sam was interested in buying part of the farm next door and starting his own place. The next door neighbor had just put 50 acres for sale.
Abbey looked so lovely this evening. Her skin shown with that healthy, pregnant glow. Pregnancy this time really agree with her. James realized how much he had to be thankful for yet again. Abbey smile across the table and James had to take her hand. She looked at him quizzically. He mouthed “I love you” to her. Sara looked and caught him in the act.
“Daddy, are you being mushy again with Mommy? Yuk!” she teased.
“Careful little one or I’ll plant a big kiss on you in front of everybody!” returned James.
“Daddy!” exclaimed Sara.
“Yukky!” added Elizabeth.
“I think you two are so romantic,’ sighed Martha shyly.
Abbey squeezed James hand. He caressed her fingertips and grinned at her. Dinner finished without further interruptions. The girls headed up to take baths, brush teeth, and get ready for bed. Prayer time was long and full of giggles. The girls loved to their Dads and mostly stall going to sleep. Many times, though, Sara and James had a chance to discuss important father-daughter things. Sara would share her fears and hopes while James rubbed her back. James would listen, adding wise counsel from God’s immovable word. It was a special time for both.
James returned downstairs and found Abbey sitting on the sofa and reading a country living type of magazine. She loved to look in them to get ideas for furniture, remodeling (ugh), and gardening. She looked up and patted the seat next to her.
“I saved this spot for special man,” she said coyly.
“Good luck finding one,” replied James as he flopped down beside her.
“I think he’s the father of my baby,” responded Abbey smiling.
“Sure hope so. I need to bounce some more of my ideas about Mary and the others off you. You seem to think Sue is not a good suspect. What do you think about Wil McAllister? He’s new here and seemed very defensive about Bessie and Mr. Field’s deaths,” said James.
“I don’t blame him. How would you feel if someone questioned you about your pateints’ deaths? You’d think a little defensively as well. Does he have anything in his past to make you suspicious?” inquired Abbey.
“I’m not sure. I am going call my old buddy Bill Adams at Mass General and see if he remembers anything unusual about Wil. I just feel like I am not getting any closer to the answers here at all. Nothing seems to really fit well. I suppose Sue is the primary suspect since she was on duty when all three deaths occurred. Two patients were Wil’s. They all stayed in different semi-private rooms without roommates. Other than that, I am running up against a brick wall,” declared James in frustration
“Why don’t you spend some time praying on it tonight. Things may be clearer in the morning. You can call Bill tomorrow and talk to him about Wil. Are you to do anything about Sue,” asked Abbey.
“Sister and I think we ought to have someone else work with her each shift so we can watch her a bit. But we are not going to formally investigate the cases. We don’t have enough information yet. Sure wish we had autopsies on Bessie and Mr. Fields. Maybe then we’d have a connection,” finished James.
“Could you request autopsies? Do you think the families would agree?” asked Abbey pensively.
“Probably not. And that would stir up a lot of questions we can’t answer right now. Say, wait a minute. Both Mr. Fields and Aunt Bessie had lab tests done. That means the hospital may have clots of blood saved that can have toxicology run on them. My good friend Dr Skinner could have that done quietly at the State lab. It’s worth a try. Abbey you are a genius!” exclaimed James excitedly.
“So you say right now. If that is so, how about looking in this magazine at this cute set of kitchen cabinets I saw? They would be perfect in the kitchen when we remodel it,” said Abbey with a smile.
The kitchen remodeling was something of a family joke. James promised over two years ago to redo the kitchen. Abbey wanted it done before she delivered their second child, but, James kept putting off the job.
James groaned, “Not another article with pictures of a fabulous and unrealistic kitchen we can’t afford or have to do!”
Abbey sniffed dramatically as if suppressing tears, “You did promise me and in my ‘delicate condition’ I thought you might relent. . . “
James heaved a huge sigh. He knew he was beaten.
“Okay, Okay. I’m whipped. You may have the kitchen. Talk to Stan Collins and tell him to start right away to get this remodeling done. I must have rocks in my head to do this when you are six months pregnant,” complained James.
“Oh thank you James! We need to talk now so we can pick out the colors of counter tiles, cabinets, floor tile, paint, and maybe some wall paper. And we may need a new refrigerator, dish washer, trash compactor, and freezer to match,” bubbled Abbey as she hugged James’ neck
James laughed, “I surrender! Let me look at the article and we’ll decide on colors tomorrow if you’ll bring them by the office at noon. Bring some lunch for you and me. We’ll do the deciding then.”
They spent the next hour laughing and talking about the remodeling. James had to admit that Abbey pretty much had things arranged. She obviously organized this a long time ago. James felt grateful to have such a talented wife.
The next morning James spent an extra twenty minutes in prayer with the Lord. When he finished, James knew what questions he needed to ask Bill Williams. He also knew he needed to call Josiah Skinner and discretely get the blood from the hospital.
James arrived thirty minutes early at the office and called Josiah Skinner up on the phone.
“Josiah, this is James Phelan. You remember when we talked about Mary O’Brien’s death? I discovered two other suspicious deaths at the hospital. The only link seems to be Sue Wilson and that they were both patients of Wil McAllister. I want to see if we can get a clot of blood from the blood bank or hematology to do a toxicology screen. What do you think?” asked James.
“I think it is a marvelous idea. I never did like leaving Mary O’Brien’s death unsolved. Now this is something we can get our teeth into. I’ll go right away. I know the hospital lab director and we’ll get the blood discretely. The boys at the State crime lab owe me few favors. I’ll get them to run the screens for us right away. You may be onto something James boy,” said Skinner with obvious relish in his voice.
“I’ll check with you next week for the results. I am going to call about Wil McAllister at Mass General. I’ve got a good friend on the faculty there in the internal medicine department. Hopefully, he can give me some insights into Wil. Talk to you later,” said James.
“I’ll be in touch,” replied Skinner.
James hands trembled as he dialed his old friend Bill Williams. They had met in residency when James consulted the medicine service about the management of a very sick cardiac patient in the intensive care unit. They hit it off right away. Abbey, and Bill’s wife Nancy, became fast friends as well. James even delivered Bill’s first child: Bill, Jr. Now Bill helped run the general medicine service for the residency. He would know about Wil McAllister. James dialed the phone and let the phone ring.
“Hello, William’s residence. How may we help you,” came the crisp voice of Bill.
“Bill, it’s me James,” began James.
“James!! You rascal! What’s up? You don’t just call me in the early morning for nothing. Are Abbey and Sara alright? You okay? “ asked Bill worriedly. He knew of James past problems with alcohol.
“No. Nothing like that. I am fine. So are Abbey and Sara. I am calling about one of your previous residents, Wil McAllister. Can you give me your impression of him?” inquired James.
“You mean professionally? He’s very bright. Borders on down right brilliant. The chairman wanted him to stay here but he insisted he wanted to practice in a small town like New Bedford. Why, is having problems with patient care,” asked Bill curiously.
“No. He appears very competent clinically. There have just been some deaths with his patients we are concerned about. I can’t give all the details yet but there may be assisted death involved,” explained James.
A long pregnant pause made James think he’d lost the connection with Bill. Bill began, “Oh, I see. I suppose I ought to tell you some of the other side as well.”
“Other side?” asked James quizzically.
“Yes, the other side. Wil is brilliant but was part of three very controversial cases her at Mass General. He took it upon himself to order do-not-resuscitate orders (DNR’s) on patients without attending physician input. Wil seemed to see himself as the crusader of patients’ right to ‘die with dignity’. The first case we merely counseled him. The second case we placed him on academic probation. The last case we nearly booted him out of the residency. In fact, I strongly urged his dismissal because of his inability to be submissive to authority but the department chair overruled me. The cases consisted of the usual patients with severe illnesses on life support or undergoing therapy of questionable clinical survival. The families were uncertain about what to do so we backed off on DNR. Wil hounded the families until he achieved DNR status for the patients. Wil could be a scary guy at times. I don’t know his spiritual back round but he did not like ‘meddling Christians or religious fanatics’ as he called them,” finished Bill.
“Do you think he is capable of euthanizing a patient?” asked James.
“I don’t know. Were your patients terminally ill or just sick?” questioned Bill.
“They were sick but not terminal. One had bad diabetes with poor control and the other had bad COPD,” said James.
“Hard for me to judge. Although we know it is small step to go from ‘death with dignity’ directly to euthanasia. Not that I am saying because you support non-heroic efforts in terminal patients that you want to kill people,” replied Bill thoughtfully.
“I understand. You’ve given me some good information. I hope and pray that Wil is not in the middle of this. But, I need to consider all possible angles. Thanks for the info. Tell your wife ‘hi’ and that we plan on being up your way next month to visit Abbey’s folks. We’ll call and get together brother,” said James.
“Good luck. Nice talking with you again, and God bless,” finished Bill.
Death By Intention Page 10