The pager on David’s belt interrupted his thoughts. Looking at the LCD screen he recognized the number: it was the emergency room. Replacing the charts, David hurried downstairs.
The patient was Donald Anderson, another one of David’s frequent visitors. Donald’s diabetes was particularly hard to regulate. It was the main source of his frequent medical complaints. This visit was no exception. When David entered the examining stall he could immediately tell that Donald’s blood sugar was out of control. Donald was semi-comatose.
David ordered a stat blood sugar and started an IV. While he was waiting for the lab result, he spoke with Shirley Anderson, Donald’s wife.
“He’s been having trouble for a week,” Shirley complained. “But you know how stubborn he is. He refused to come to see you.”
“I think we’ll have to admit him,” David said. “It will take a few days to get him on a new regimen.”
“I was hoping you would,” Shirley said. “It’s difficult when he gets like this with the kids and all.”
When David got the results of the blood sugar he was surprised that Donald hadn’t been even more obtunded than he was. As David walked back to talk with Donald, who was now lucid thanks to the IV, David did a double-take. Looking into one of the other examining stalls he saw a familiar face: it was Caroline Helmsford, Nikki’s friend. Dr. Pilsner was at her side.
David slipped in alongside Caroline, opposite Dr. Pilsner. She looked up at David with pleading eyes. Covering the lower part of her face was a clear plastic mask providing oxygen. Her complexion was ashen with a slightly bluish cast. Her breathing was labored.
Dr. Pilsner was listening to her chest. He smiled at David when he saw him. When he finished auscultating, he took David aside.
“Poor thing is having a hard time,” Dr. Pilsner said.
“What’s wrong?” David asked.
“The usual,” Dr. Pilsner replied. “She’s congested and she’s running a high fever.”
“Will you admit her?” David asked.
“Absolutely,” Dr. Pilsner said. “You know better than most that we can’t take any chances with this kind of problem.”
David nodded. He did know. He looked back at Caroline struggling to breathe. She looked so tiny on the big gurney and so vulnerable. The sight made him worry about Nikki. Given her cystic fibrosis, it could have been Nikki on the gurney, not Caroline.
“You’ve got a call from the chief medical examiner,” one of the secretaries told Angela. Angela picked up the phone.
“Hope I’m not disturbing you,” Walt said.
“Not at all,” Angela answered.
“Got a couple of updates on the Hodges autopsy,” Walt said. “Are you still interested?”
“Absolutely,” Angela said.
“First of all, the man had significant alcohol in his ocular fluid,” Walt said.
“I didn’t know you could tell after so long,” Angela said.
“If we can get ocular fluid it’s easy,” Walt said. “Alcohol is reasonably stable. We also got confirmation that the DNA of the skin under his nails was different from his. So it’s undoubtedly the DNA of his killer.”
“What about those carbon particles in the skin?” Angela asked. “Did you have any more thoughts about them?”
“To be honest, I haven’t given it a lot of thought,” Walt said. “But I did change my mind about it being contemporary with the struggle. I realized the particles were in the dermis, not the epidermis. It must have been some old injury, like having been stabbed with a pencil when he was in grammar school. I have such a deposit on my arm.”
“I’ve got one in the palm of my right hand,” Angela said.
“The reason I haven’t done much on the case is because there’s been no pressure from either the state’s attorney or the state police. Unfortunately, I’ve been swamped with other cases where there’s considerable pressure.”
“I understand,” Angela said. “But I’m still interested. So if there are any more developments, please let me know.”
After hanging up Angela’s thoughts remained on the Hodges affair, wondering what Phil Calhoun was doing. She’d heard nothing from him since she’d visited the man and had given him his retainer. And thinking about Hodges and Calhoun made her remember how vulnerable she’d felt when David had left in the night to go to the hospital.