Love M.D. (22 page)

“Why?” Zoë asks.

“We brought your ex-husband in for
questioning. We also secured a search warrant and confiscated some items from
his home. We’re waiting on results, but we think he might be behind this. We
found suspicious items that might place him at the scene of the crime.”

“Did he admit to it?” Zoë asks.

“They seldom do, Ms. Jenkins. He’s
lawyered up, and he’s not talking.”

“So he hasn’t been arrested yet?”
Jonathan asks.

“No. Since he’s not talking we have
to wait on the results of those tests before an arrest can be made.”

“What did you find?” Morgan asks.

“Shoe prints found outside the
house match, at first glance, shoes we found in his home. We’ve sent them and some
dirt samples to the lab for analysis.”

“Any finger prints or DNA?”
Jonathan asks.

“Unfortunately, no, and anything
that might have been left was ruined in the fire.”

“How long will it take before the
results come back?” Zoë asks.

“Weeks. Months. Unfortunately,
other crimes, especially sexual assault and homicide cases, take precedence
over this type of crime. It can take a while to get the results back.”

Sighing, I rake my fingers through
my hair. The pressure mounts within me, “So in the meantime he gets to try and
hurt her again until he’s successful?”

“I’ll make some calls to see if we
can get it sooner,” Jonathan says.

“What should she do in the mean
while?” Jada asks.

“We have him under surveillance,” Detective
Bradshaw responds. “We would still ask that you be cautious until we know for
sure that he is the one behind this and can make an arrest. In the meantime, I’m
still investigating both incidents.”

“Why would he do this now? It’s
been almost three years since the settlement and divorce.”

“Your guess is as good as mine. We
pulled camera evidence from the restaurant where you had the altercation. Maybe
that pissed him off enough to do this. You’d be surprised how small incidents
turn into senseless crimes. Since we have him under surveillance, we’re going
to pull the squad car for now.”

“And what happens if you find out
later that he’s not the one behind this?” Zoë asks. “The person who is really
behind this would be free to come after me or even Morgan?”

“It’s the best we can do for now.
He’s under surveillance, and from what I’ve seen, you have very thorough
security guards here. This property is secure.”

Zoë sighs, limping away. I realize
how frustrating this is for her.

“I’ll be in touch once I have an
update.”

“Thanks,” I reply, walking him to
the door.

When I return, Jada sits with Zoë
on the patio. I check to make sure she’s okay then Jonathan and I head to the library.

As I close the doors, he says, “I
haven’t been able to get that incident you told me about off my mind. I would
advise you to start creating a paper trail from now. You followed protocol by
reporting it to the hospital administrator, but if the hospital tries to cover
this up, for whatever reason, even if an outsider did this, you can be seen as
an accessory to the crime. You could lose your license over something like
this.”

“She asked that we keep it quiet,
and since this took place in a face to face conversation, how do you propose
that I move forward?”

“Send her an email reiterating what
you discussed, CC all who were present, and attach a copy of the results. If
you get no response within a timely manner or you hear nothing about this when
you send her that message, I suggest you file a police report.”

“How much time is enough time?”

“You and the medical examiner
suspect something criminal has gone on, right?”

At that moment, my cell phone rings,
cutting Jonathan short.

“Doctor Drake speaking.”

“Hey Morgan, it’s Deandre.”

“Hi. What’s up?”

“Remember that other case you were
asking me about?”

“The Jenkins case?”

“Yes. I don’t have all the results,
but this is looking eerily similar to the other young lady who died.”

“Catherine Modene?”

“Yes.”

“When do you think the results will
be complete?”

“Hopefully tonight.”

“As soon as you get them, email me
his medical charts and the autopsy results.”

“You got it.”

“Thanks, Deandre.” I take a deep
breath and sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Jonathan asks.

“It’s looking like this isn’t an
isolated case. That was the medical examiner. Zach may have been killed the
same way.”

“He what?”

“He’s not certain. He said he’s
going to finish all the tests tonight and send me the results as soon as he’s
done, but it’s shaping out to be the same way that the other young woman was
killed.”

“We need to get the police back
here.”

“The hospital is involved in this,”
I say, shaking my head in disappointment.

“How do you know that?”

“When Zoë found out I attended to
Zach and didn’t tell her, she approached the hospital. She told me they gave
her a copy of Zach’s autopsy results, which stated the cause of death as anaphylactic
shock. Yesterday, Deandre told me he hadn’t completed those results yet.
Whatever they gave her was fake.”

“Oh, fuck,” Jonathan exclaims.

“Oh fuck is right. She’s been
saying all along that something’s not right, that she could feel something was
wrong, but she didn’t know what it was. I thought she blamed me for his death.
Maybe her instincts were right all along. Something wasn’t right, but I had
nothing to do with it. She told me Doctor Roberts was the one who gave her the
report.”

“Have you seen it? Could she have been
mistaken about what was given to her?”

“I never saw it. When she told me
about it, she didn’t have it with her at the time. She just told me that it
said he died of anaphylactic shock. He died of that all right, but it was
induced, and there is absolutely no history of Zach being allergic to
amoxicillin as they told her. I’m sure I can do more digging to confirm. She’s going
to be devastated when she finds out about this.”

“You realize how big this can get?
Unrecognizable substances, a hospital and doctor cover up. This can, and almost
will, cost you your job when we call the police.”

“I know. But this is too important,
and those are just
my
cases. How many others had something similar
happen, where the doctors didn’t request a post mortem and the patients were
buried or cremated? We’d be none the wiser.”

“Are you prepared for this? This is
going to take over your life.”

“I don’t give a fuck. It’s the
right thing to do. A six-year-old child lost her mother, and Zoë lost her only
blood relative. I’m loyal to my patients and their families, not some fucking
hospital.”

“I think I should call the district
attorney, Christina Hernández. This is sensitive information, and I don’t think
we can just trust any detective with this. She’s a badass. This is the kind of
thing that would piss her off.”

“You call her. I’ll get Zoë to come
in here. It’s a good thing you guys are here. She’s going to need all the
support she can get.”

I leave Jonathan alone while he
makes the call. I’m not looking forward to this. I know she will be absolutely
devastated by this news. But I remember the outcome the last time I decided to
delay giving Zoë bad news.

I hear chatter in French as I approach.

“Zoë.”

“Hey,” she smiles.

“Can you come in here for a minute?
I need to talk to you about something.”

“What’s wrong?” she asks.

I’m starting to realize that Zoë
has amazing intuitive skills. “Let’s talk about it in the library.”

She hesitantly rises to her feet.

“I’ll be right back,” she says to
Jada.

“No. Jada, I think you should come,
too.”

“Is everything okay?” Jada asks.

I look at her and shake my head. Within
moments, we all sit in the library.

“Remember before you left for
Greece, I had a patient who died unexpectedly?”

“The young woman?”

“Yes. I found out yesterday that it
wasn’t anything I did that killed her. An unknown substance was found in her
system that sent her into anaphylactic shock. That’s what killed her.”

“Oh my God.”

“The substance that was in her
system is not one the medical examiner and toxicologist could immediately
identify. It didn’t show up in any of her previous blood work. We don’t know
how it got into her system, but we know it got there on the hospital’s premises.”

“Are you going to get in trouble
for this? Is that why Jonathan is here?”

“No, I don’t think so. That’s not
why I called you in here. Yesterday morning when I went into the office, the
medical examiner stopped by to discuss the results with me. You met him at the
party, Deandre.”

“I remember.”

“That was when I asked him if Zach’s
results had been sent to me as well, and he told me no. He said he hadn’t
finished all the tests yet—”

“But Doctor Roberts gave me a copy of
the autopsy results. I saw it with my own eyes. He said Zach had an allergic
reaction to amoxicillin, and that’s what killed him.”

“Zoë, I just got a call from the
medical examiner’s office. Deandre told me the tests aren’t one hundred percent
conclusive yet, but it looks like the same substance that killed that woman,
killed Zach. The cases are similar, they both have the substance in their
system, they both went into anaphylactic shock, and they both died.”

“You’re joking right? This has to
be some sort of mistake.”

“Remember when I told you I thought
Zach was fine then he suddenly died? It’s exactly what happened with this
woman.”

“Oh my God. So someone
intentionally killed them?” Her voice becomes unsteady. “You’re telling me my
brother didn’t have to die?”

“I don’t know. At this point, I don’t
know if it’s a substance administered by an employee or a visitor, but the big
red flag for me is that Doctor Roberts gave you a report before the medical
examiner had completed the test results.”

“Zoë, do you have that report?”
Jonathan asks.

“It was in a file on my desk at
home,” she utters, massaging her forehead with her trembling hand. “I can’t
believe this…”

“Is the report the only thing you
had from him? Did he ever leave a message on your phone or anything of the
sort?”

“He called me when he said the
results were completed and asked me to come to the hospital. Two other doctors
were present—Doctor Francis and another female doctor. I forgot her name, but I
clearly remember what she looks like.”

“Okay, so we have some phone records,”
Jonathan says jotting down some notes. “Otherwise he can deny it. Are you sure
you weren’t mistaken about what it was that he gave to you?”

“I’m positive. He gave me those
records, and after he gave them to me, he even explained them. That’s why I
wanted to see you when I got the results. I knew you would know some unbiased
party who could explain them to me, and he told me that everything the hospital
did was within the law.”

“I know, Zoë. And I believe you,
but the district attorney is on her way here now. What we know is two crimes
were committed in that hospital, and in your brother’s case, there was a
cover-up. We don’t know if it was a doctor, a patient, a visitor. But the
hospital gave you a falsified document because they’re liable for your brother’s
death.”

“I can’t even think straight right
now. Why are you calling the authorities and not the hospital?”

“I spoke to the administrator, and
she asked me to keep it quiet. She said she wanted to get the Chief of Security
to investigate. I wasn’t sure what the ramifications would be for me if the
hospital did nothing, so I called Jonathan.”

“What’s going to happen to you?”

“I did nothing wrong in either
case. However, by reporting this, it is going to, at the very least, open an
investigation. You’re directly involved with this.”

“He may have to leave his job,”
says Jonathan. “It’s not going to be comfortable working in an environment
where he is the cause of a major investigation, especially if we find out the
hospital was involved and intentionally tried to cover it up.”

“Morgan, this is your livelihood.
Can you afford to lose that job?”

“Don’t worry about that. One, I
haven’t left or lost my job yet, and two, I have other options. I’ll be fine. I
just want to do right by Zach and Catherine. You and her family deserve to know
the truth.”

“I’m so sorry. I feel horrible. I
blamed you for this. I’m so sorry.” Her eyes are filled with raw pure emotion.
“I can’t believe this is happening. Why?”

“We’ll know more with certainty in
a few hours, but I wanted you to know as soon as I found out.”

She scrutinizes me, and I see a mixture
of emotions in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispers once
again, and this time, the tears slip down her cheeks.

I lean over and embrace her. My
phone rings, interrupting us.

After quickly taking the call, I
rise to my feet. “Christina Hernández is here.”

“I need some time alone for a moment,”
Zoë says.

Before any of us have time to say
much more, she limps away to the bathroom and closes the door behind her.

“Jonathan, can you get the door
please? I need to check on Zoë.”

“Sure.”

Knocking gently on the door, I get
no response. When I check the knob, the door is unlocked.

I enter, looking at her reflection
in the mirror. Although there are no tears, I see and feel the anguish that
emanates from her.

“Are you going to be okay?”

With an uneven voice, she responds,
“I’m sad and hurt and guilty and angry. I’m having thoughts that could land me
in prison for the rest of my life.”