Blind Faith - Sharon Sala Page 0,29
on Annie.
“Morning Light Memory Care. This is Pinkie.”
“This is Charlie Dodge. I’m calling to get an update on Annie.”
“Good morning, Charlie. Just a moment and I’ll ring the nurse’s office.”
Charlie rubbed at the back of his neck as he waited. Still stiff, but a hot shower would take out the kinks.
“Mr. Dodge, this is Nurse Egan. I’m new to Morning Light. I don’t believe we’ve met. How can I help you?”
“Annie Dodge is my wife. She’s in Room 204. I’m well aware of the deterioration of her condition, but I wanted an update.”
“Of course,” Nurse Egan said. “Actually, Dr. Dunleavy is still here making rounds. Would you care to hold and speak to him personally?”
“Yes, please,” Charlie said. He put his phone on speaker and headed for the kitchen to make coffee.
He filled the reservoir, popped in a coffee pod, put his mug beneath the spigot and was watching the thick, dark brew filling his cup when the call was answered.
“Good morning, Charlie.”
“Morning, Dr. Dunleavy. Glad I caught you. I want an Annie update. Have there been any changes since we spoke last?”
Dunleavy hesitated. “Let me check my notes... Let’s see. The last cognizance tests we ran were about two weeks ago, right?”
“Yes. That’s when you called me and told me she was losing abilities faster than before. I was there four days ago, but she was asleep. I didn’t stay long. I’ve been out of town on a case and just got back and wanted to check in.”
“Right, right. So, the notations here indicate that feeding her is becoming more difficult.”
“What can you do to offset that? Different kinds of foods? Or just drinking supplements?”
“I’m sorry, Charlie, but we’re getting to the point where any nutrition she receives may be through an IV.”
Charlie groaned. “But why?”
“It’s actually a facet of the disease’s progression. Forgetting tastes. Forgetting to chew. Forgetting to be hungry. Forgetting how to swallow. That’s pretty much the issue we’re dealing with now. She doesn’t remember how to use a straw, and doesn’t remember how to swallow liquids, either.”
The helplessness Charlie felt at that moment was unlike anything he’d ever felt before.
“What are you saying?” he asked.
“I just wrote up orders for hospice to be called in. This doesn’t mean she’s in her last hours. But the kind of care for what’s left of her life is best left to them.”
“Will I have to move her?” Charlie asked.
“No. They come here.”
Charlie looked down at his feet. He’d spent two days and taken thousands of steps looking for a lost boy, and found him.
Yet, even if he began right now and started running, there was nowhere to go and nowhere to look for the Annie he was losing. She was already gone, and it was breaking his heart.
“Okay, and thank you. I have some loose ends to tie up this morning on the case I just finished, but I’ll be in this afternoon to see her.”
“Don’t worry, Charlie. We’re taking good care of your girl. She’s not in pain or suffering. That part of this disease is always harder on the family. Call me anytime. I’m forever grateful for what you did for my family, and anything I can do for yours, I do gladly.”
Charlie disconnected, then carried his coffee back to the bathroom, sipping it between his shower and a much-needed shave.
By the time he was finished, it was just after 8:00 a.m., a decent enough time to call in a couple of favors from the Texas branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Special Agent Hank Raines owed Dodge Investigations big-time for finding and identifying all those missing children who were being held at the Fourth Dimension, and they owed Wyrick for finding them a way into the compound without alerting them that they were there.
* * *
Hank Raines was on his way to work when his cell phone rang, and when he saw who it was from, he grimaced. He and Charlie Dodge hadn’t parted on the best of terms, but that was all Hank’s fault, so whatever it was Charlie wanted, it must be important.
“Hello.”
“Agent Raines, this is Charlie Dodge.”
“Good morning, Charlie. What’s going on?”
“I have a favor to ask,” Charlie said, and then began to explain the story from the beginning.
“Holy shit! That’s some bad stuff,” Hank said. “But you said the kid you found is still unconscious.”
“Yes, but I’m not telling them that. And the crimes...on whatever level they fall under...happened in a national park, which means it falls under the auspices of