Life Support (9 page)

She used the cord to haul it back up.

"Hello?"

"Dr. Harper? It's Robbie Brace."

She lay in a stupor, struggling to remember who this man was and why his voice sounded familiar.

"Brant Hill Nursing Home?" he said. "We met two days ago. You asked me about Harry Slotkin."

"Oh. Yes." She sat up, her mind suddenly swept clear of sleep. "Thanks for calling."

"I'm afraid there's not much to report. I have Mr. Slotkin's clinic chart in front of me and I see a clean bill of health."

"There's nothing at all?" "Nothing that would explain his illness.

Physical exam's unremarkable.

Labs look good . . ." Over the receiver, Toby could hear the rustle of pages being turned. "He had a full endocrine panel, totally normal."

"When was this?"

"A month ago. So whatever you saw in the ER must've been fairly acute."

She closed her eyes and felt her stomach knotting up again with tension. "Have you heard anything new?" she asked.

"They dragged the pond this morning. Haven't found him. Which is good, I guess."

Yes. It means he could still be alive.

"Anyway, that's all I have to report."

"Thank you," she said, and hung up. She knew she should try to fall back to sleep. She was scheduled for another shift tonight, and she'd had only four hours of rest. But Robbie Brace's call had left her agitated.

The phone rang again.

She grabbed the receiver and said, "Dr. Brace?"

The voice on the other end sounded startled. "Uh, no. This is Paul."

Paul Hawkins was chief of Springer ER. Officially he was her boss, unofficially, he was a sympathetic ear and one of her few close friends on the medical staff.

"Sorry, Paul," she said. "I thought you were someone else calling back.

What's up?"

"We have a problem here. We need you to come in this after noon.

"But I got off just a few hours ago. I'm scheduled for another shift tonight."

"This isn't for a shift. It's for a meeting with Administration. Ellis Corcoran's asked for it."

In the hierarchy of doctors at Springer Hospital, Corcoran, chief of the Med-Surg staff, was at the top of the authority pyramid. Paul Hawkins, and every other department chief, answered to Corcoran.

Toby sat up. "What's this meeting all about?"

"A couple of things."

"Harry Slotkin?"

A pause. "Partly. There are other issues they want to discuss."

"They? Who else is going to be there?"

"Dr. Carey. Administration. They have questions about what happened that night."

"I told you what happened."

"Yes, and I've tried to explain it to them. But Doug Carey's got some goddamn bee in his bonnet. He's complained to Corcoran."

She groaned. "You know what this is really about, Paul? It has nothing to do with Harry Slotkin. It's about the Freitas boy. The one who died a few months ago. Carey's trying to get back at me."

"This is an entirely separate issue."

"No it's not. Carey screwed up and the kid died. I called him on it."

"You didn't just call him on a mistake. You got him sued for it."

"The boy's family asked for my opinion. Was I supposed to lie to them?

Anyway, he should have been sued. Leaving a kid with a splenic rupture on an unmonitored floor? I'm the one who had to code the poor kid."

"All right, so he screwed up. But you could've been more discreet with your opinions."

And therein lay the real problem. Toby had not been discreet.

It had been the sort of code every doctor dreads, a dying child. The parents shrieking in the hallway. During her struggle to revive the boy, Toby had blurted out in frustration, aWhy isn't this boy in the ICU?

The parents had heard it. Eventually, the lawyers heard it too.

"Toby, right now we have to focus on the issue at hand. The meeting's scheduled for two o'clock this afternoon. They weren't going to invite you, but I insisted."

"Why wasn't I invited? Is this a secret lynching?"

"Just try to get here, okay?"

She hung up and glanced at the clock. It was already twelvethirty, she couldn't leave until she found someone to stay with her mother.

Immediately she picked up the phone again and called Bryan. She heard it ring four times, and then the answering machine picked up. Hi, this is Noel! And tlvis is Bryan! We're absolutely dying to hear from you, so leave a message . . .

She hit the disconnect button and dialed another number�her sister's.

Please be home. For once, Vickie, please be there for "Hello?"

"It's me," said Toby, releasing a sigh of relief.

"Can you hold on a minute? I've got something on the stove . .

Toby heard the receiver clunk down and the rattle of a pot lid.

Then Vickie came back on the line.

"Sorry. Steve's partners are coming for dinner tonight and I'm trying out this new dessert�"

"Vickie, I'm up against a wall. I need you to watch Mom for a few hours."

"You mean . . . now?" Vickie's laugh was sharp and incredulous.

"I've got an emergency meeting at the hospital. I'll drop her off with you and pick her up again as soon as the meeting's over."

"Toby, I've got company coming tonight. I'm cooking, the house still needs to be cleaned, and the kids're coming home from school."

"Mom's no trouble, really. She'll keep herself busy in the backyard."

"I can't have her wandering in the yard! We just put in new grass�"

"Then set her in front of the TV. I've got to leave now or I'm not going to make it."

"Toby�" She slammed the receiver down. She didn't have the time or patience to argue, Vickie's house was half an hour's drive away.

She found Ellen outside, happily mucking around in the compost heap.

"Mom," said Toby. "We have to go to Vickie's house."

Ellen straightened, and Toby was dismayed to see her mother's hands were filthy, her dress soiled. There was no time to get her bathed and changed. Vickie would pitch a fit.

"Let's get in the car," urged Toby. "We have to hurry."

"We shouldn't bother Vickie, you know."

"You haven't seen her in weeks."

"She's busy. Vickie is a very busy girl. I don't want to bother "Mom, we have to leave now."

"You go. I'll just stay home."

"It's only for a few hours. Then we'll come right back."

"No, I think I'll just tidy up here in the garden." Ellen squatted down and thrust her trowel deep into the black mound of compost.

"Mom, we have to go!" In frustration, Toby grabbed her mother's arm, and hauled her back to her feet so abruptly Ellen gave a gasp of shock.

"You're hurting me!" Ellen wailed.

Instantly Toby released her. Ellen took a step backward, rubbing her arm as she stared in bewilderment at her daughter.

It was Ellen's silence, and the glimmer of tears in her eyes, that cut straight to Toby's heart.

"Mom." Toby shook her head, sick with shame. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I just need you to cooperate with me right now. Please.

" Ellen looked down at her hat, which had fallen and now lay on the grass, the straw brim trembling in the wind. Slowly she bent down to retrieve it, then straightened, hugging the hat to her chest. In a gesture of sorrow, she lowered her head and nodded. Then she walked to the garden gate and stood waiting for Toby to open it.

On the drive to Vickie's, Toby tried to make up with Ellen. With forced cheerfulness she talked about what they would do this weekend. They'd put up another rose trellis against the house and plant a bush of New l>own, or perhaps Blaze. Ellen did love red roses. They would spread compost and plan a bulb garden. They would eat fresh tomato sandwiches and drink lemonade. There was so much to look forward to!

Ellen stared at the hat in her lap and said nothing.

They pulled into Vickie's driveway, and Toby steeled herself for the ordeal to come. Vickie, of course, would make a noisy deal about just how big an imposition this was. Vickie and all her responsibilities! A faculty position in the biology department at Bentley College. A snooty executive husband whose favorite word was me. A son and daughter, both in sullen adolescence. Lucky Toby, single and childless! Of course she was the obvious one to take care of Mom.

What else would I do with my life?

Toby helped Ellen out of the car and up the front steps to the house.

The door swung open and Vickie appeared, her face flushed with annoyance.

"Toby, this is the worst possible time."

"For both of us, believe me. I'll try to pick her up as soon as I can."

Toby urged her mother forward. "Go on, Mom. Have a nice visit."

"I'm cooking," said Vickie. "I can't watch her�"

"She'll be fine.

Sit her in front of the TV. She likes the Nickelodeon channel."

Vickie frowned at Ellen's dress. "What happened to her clothes? She's filthy. Mom, is something wrong with your arm? Why're you rubbing it?"

"Hurts." Ellen shook her head sadly. "Toby got mad at me."

Toby felt her face redden. "I had to get her into the car. She wouldn't leave the garden. That's why she's so dirty."

"Well, I can't have her looking like that. I have company coming at six!"

"I promise, I'll be back before then." Toby gave Ellen a kiss on the cheek. "See you later, Mom. You listen to Vickie."

Without a backward glance, Ellen walked into the house. She's punishing me, thought Toby. Making me feel guilty for having lost my temper.

"Toby," said Vickie, following her down the front steps to the car. "I need more warning next time. Isn't this what we pay Bryan for?"

"Not available. Your kids'll be home soon. They can watch her."

"They don't want to!"

"Then try paying them. Your kids certainly seem to value the almighty buck." Toby slammed the car door shut and started the engine.

Why the hell did I say that.? she thought as she drove away. I have to cool down. I have to get back in control and get ready for this meeting But she'd already blown it with Vickie. Now her sister was pissed at her, and so was Ellen. Maybe the whole goddamn world was pissed at her.

She had the sudden impulse to step on the gas and keep driving, to leave this all behind. Find a new identity, a new town, a new life. The one she had now was a mess, and she didn't know whose fault that was.

Certainly not all hers, she was simply trying to do the best she could.

It was 2,10 when she pulled into a parking stall at Springer Hospital.

She had no time to collect her thoughts, the meeting was already under way, and she didn't want Doug Carey shooting off his mouth in her absence. If he was going to attack her, she wanted to be there to defend herself. She hurried straight to the administrative wing on the second floor and stepped into the conference room.

Inside, all conversation ceased.

Glancing around the table, she saw friendly faces among the six people sitting there. Paul Hawkins. Maudeen and Val. Toby sat down in the chair next to Val, and across from Paul, who gave her a silent nod of greeting. If she had to stare at someone, it might as well be at a good-looking man. She barely glanced at Dr. Carey, who was at the far end of the table, but his hostile presence was impossible to ignore. A small man�in more ways than one�Carey compensated for his short stature by a ramrod posture and a gaze that was threateningly direct. A mean little Chihuahua. At that moment he was looking straight at Toby.

She ignored Carey and focused instead on Ellis Corcoran, the chief of the Med-Surg staff. She didn't know Corcoran very well, she wondered if anyone at Springer did. It was hard to get past his Yankee reserve. He seldom showed emotion, and he was showing none now. Neither did the hospital administrator, Ira Beckett, who sat with bulging abdomen crammed up against the table. The silence went on a little too long for comfort. Her palms were damp, under the table, she wiped her hands on her slacks.

Ira Beckett spoke. "You were telling us, Ms. Collins?"

Maudeen cleared her throat. "I was trying to explain to you that everything happened at once. We had that code in the trauma room. That took all our attention. We figured Mr. Slotkin was stable enough�"

"So you ignored him?" said Carey.

"We didn't ignore him."

"How long did you leave him unattended?" asked Beckett.

Maudeen glanced at Toby with a silent plea of help me out here.

"I was the last one to see Mr. Slotkin," Toby said. "That was around five, five-fifteen. It was sometime after six when I realized he was gone."

"So you left him unattended for almost an hour?"

"He was waiting for a CT scan. We'd already called in the X-ray tech.

There was nothing else we were doing for him at that point. We still don't know how he managed to leave the room."

"Because you people didn't keep an eye on him," said Carey. "You didn't even have him restrained."

"He was restrained," said Val. "Both ankles and wrists!"

"Then he must be some kind of Houdini. Nobody gets out of four-point restraints. Or did someone forget to tie the straps down?"

Neither nurse spoke, they were both staring at the table.

"Dr. Harper?" said Beckett. "You said you were the last one to see Mr. Slotkin. Were his restraints tied?"

She swallowed. "I don't know."

Paul frowned at her across the table. "You told me they were."

"I thought they were. I mean, I assumed I tied them. But it was such a confusing shift. Now I'm�I'm not so sure. If he was tied down, it seems impossible that he could have escaped."

"At least we're finally being honest about this," said Carey.

"I've never not been honest!" she shot back. "If I screw up, at least I admit it."

Paul cut in, "Toby�"

"Sometimes we're juggling half a dozen crises at once. We don't remember every single detail of what goes wrong during a shift!"

"You see, Paul?" said Carey. "This is what I'm talking about. I run into this defensiveness all the time. And it's always the night shift."

"You're the only one who seems to complain," said Paul.

"I can name half a dozen other docs who've had problems. We get called in at all hours of the night to admit patients who don't need to be admitted. It's a judgment problem."