Make Quilts Not War - By Arlene Sachitano Page 0,47
going to have to leave, Detective,” he said.
“I hope you feel better soon,” Morse said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I’ll check back with you tomorrow.”
“I’m Doctor Mitchell,” the new arrival told Harriet, “and I’m going to take a look at that burn. If that’s okay with you.”
“Sure,” Harriet said. She wasn’t sure what he’d expected her to say. Did people in this situation refuse treatment? she wondered.
The nurse—Mary Gonzales, according to her name tag—pulled a bundle wrapped in blue cloth from a cabinet and unfolded it next to her arm. It contained a pair of bandage scissors and several pairs of tweezers, along with a plastic tray. Mary removed the ice packs, and Dr. Mitchell moved Harriet’s arm onto the cloth and began cutting away the glove. Harriet turned her face away and studied the curtain on the opposite side of her cubicle. Whatever else they were going to do to her arm wasn’t anything she wanted to see. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Someone must have slipped pain medication into her IV while her eyes were closed, because when she opened them again, her arm was wrapped in a new dressing, and Lauren was sitting in a chair at her bedside.
“How long have I been asleep?” she asked, her voice hoarse.
“Shhh.” Lauren held her forefinger to her lips. “Listen,” she whispered.
Harriet could hear two voices coming from one of the cubicles farther down her row.
“That was one of the strangest cases of food poisoning I’ve ever seen,” a woman said.
Harriet looked at Lauren.
“She sure recovered quickly,” a deeper female voice commented.
“Yeah, just in time to avoid the stomach pump.”
“She made a real point of the fact that Dr. Jalbert’s housekeeper made the soup she’d eaten.”
“Funny how no one else got sick.”
“Hard to imagine how vegetable beef soup poisoned even one person. Especially since it was served hot, according to the patient.”
“If you ask me, she was faking,” deep voice replied. “It’s a shame people like that are willing to waste our time and resources when there’s a waiting room full of sick or hurt people who really do need care.”
“It takes all kinds, I guess,” the first woman said.
Harriet and Lauren heard the crinkling of paper and the sound of a broom. Michelle and Aiden must have gone.
“You’ve been out at least an hour. I passed Aiden and that witch he calls a sister as I came in. I assume that conversation was about her,” Lauren said. “She was screeching about Carla trying to kill her.”
“Oh, my gosh! Michelle is trying to get Carla fired,” Harriet said.
“Seems like,” Lauren replied. “I think we need to call your aunt now. I mean, it’s great to let her and Jorge have their moment at the prom and all, but she needs to be here with you. Your nurse was just in here a while ago asking if you’d had a tetanus shot recently. I told her I didn’t have a clue. If your aunt was here, she’d know.”
“She doesn’t have her cell phone with her.”
“Robin has hers—she never goes anywhere without it. Connie, too. She’ll have hers in Rod’s coat pocket.”
“Let’s wait until you take me home. As soon as they figure out that I don’t need a tetanus shot, I should be good to go. My arm is bandaged, so I assume they’re through with it.”
“I asked while you were napping. They want to wait until the test results from the liquid in the bottle are back. They want to be sure the crazy lady didn’t add anything poisonous besides the acids.”
“Did they give any idea how long that would take?”
“Not really,” Lauren told her. “If you’re going to lay there and whine, I’ll go see if I can find anyone who can tell us anything. If they don’t say you’re leaving in the next thirty minutes, I’m calling Robin. The prom is going to be ending in an hour or so, and your aunt is going to be looking for you. She knew you were going to be protesting, right?”
Harriet nodded and closed her eyes. The next thing she knew, Dr. Mitchell was at her bedside holding a clipboard full of papers.
“Your blood test looks okay so far. You should see your regular doctor tomorrow and have your dressing changed. Have you had a tetanus shot recently?”
“Sadly, yes,” Harriet replied. The nurse was looking it up on a tablet. “I was hit on the head and had to have a couple of