Authors: Chelsea Heights
Holding a large black golf umbrella in his hand, he walked the cemetery path, occasionally bending down to pick up a piece of litter that had been inadvertently left by visitors.
There was a low rumble of thunder and stillness in the air.
He could smell the approaching storm.
“Caroline, the sky is about to open up.
You shouldn’t be out here, it’s going to be bad, thunder and lightning.”
Wally opened the umbrella and held it over her, feeling the first drops of rain hit his face.
Caroline looked up and stood, then whispered, “Thank you.”
Halfway back to the church the wind started and the few drops of rain had turned into a waterfall.
The sound of the pounding downpour was deafening.
They walked fast and Wally was grateful when they reached the church.
Holding the door open for Caroline, he waited until she was in before closing the umbrella.
Henry appeared with two cups of steaming coffee.
“I saw you coming over the hill and thought you could use a boost of midday caffeine.”
Gesturing with his head he led them into the small kitchen, where Agnes’s homemade sugar cookies were spread out on a serving platter.
The trio sat down, each sipping coffee and eating cookies in a comfortable silence.
Caroline spoke first, “I spend so much time at Andrew’s grave but haven’t been to church since the memorial service.
It feels sad but good to be in here again, I can’t explain it.”
Putting his cookie down, Henry spoke in a sincere voice, “Caroline, this door is always open.
You’re welcome to come in whenever you have the need or desire.
That being said, it would be nice to see you and your mom sitting in one of those pews again.
You’ve been missed but not forgotten.
Every day I pray for peace to find you.”
She reached across the table and together the three of them held hands, forming a closed circle.
With heads bowed and eyes closed, Henry led the prayer for his sister-in-law and niece, for Andrew, and for all the lost children and the parents they left behind.
Jake and Delaney arrived at University Hospital and showed their identifications to the front desk.
Having more impressive credentials than a local cop, Jake did the talking and requested a meeting with the nursing manager from labor and delivery.
They stood waiting while the lady helping them made some phone calls.
Finally she finished and told them, “Karen Rosenfield will meet you with on the unit.
Someone from security will be here shortly to walk you over.”
“I appreciate your help,” Jake replied as he turned to see Delaney buying two cans of Diet Coke from a barista in the waiting area.
He smiled to himself at her predictability and thought about the evening they spent together.
Just the thought of what she did to him the night before made the heat in his pants grow.
She walked over and handed him a can of Diet Coke.
He took audible gulps of the ice cold beverage hoping it would put out the fire happening between his legs.
As he settled himself down, the security officer arrived.
“You must be the police,” he said and quickly shook both of their hands.
“I’m Tony and I’ll be taking you over to see Karen.
This place is so big it’s easy to get lost around here.”
Jake and Delaney followed, and got an earful of everything that was wrong with the world.
In the ten minutes it took walking to the unit, he complained about his health benefits being cut, his wife’s cooking, and how the clerk at the grocery store wouldn’t accept his expired coupon.
He gave his opinions on how to solve the economic down turn and reasons why New Jersey should become two separate states.
The elevator ride to the eighth floor felt like it took forever and they were both relieved when Tony announced their arrival at the nurses’ station and left with the housekeeper, his voice booming down the hall as he continued on his rant.
Nurses in coordinated light blue scrubs were scurrying around everywhere.
Delaney wondered how anyone knew what was going on with all the noise.
She could hear multiple phones ringing and the countertops were filled with TV-like monitors with different color lines flashing across the screen with alarms sounding.
In the background of all this commotion she could hear the screams of more than one woman giving birth.
Apparently a father passed out in one room and was now propped in a wheel chair with a nurse holding smelling salts under his nose.
Once he opened his eyes and answered the nurse’s questions correctly, he was left in the hall to linger.
Her first thought was thank God she didn’t become a nurse.
A large woman from behind the desk stood and escorted them into an empty patient room.
“Karen will be right with you, just stay here and wait,” and she turned, closing the door behind herself.
The room was small but bright with three rocking chairs and a physicians stool with wheels.
The bed was neatly made with crisp white sheets which had
University Hospital
stamped in dark ink all over them.
Awkwardly Delaney looked at the stirrups coming from the foot of the bed and the large round mirror hanging from the ceiling directly over them.
On the other side of the bed was a tall narrow table with shiny instruments which resembled tools of torture.
This was the closest she had ever been to an actual birth and she felt terrified for all pregnant women.
She felt herself cringe and squeezed her legs together.
As if Jake could read her mind, he let out a laugh but before he could say anything the door opened and a very animated Karen Rosenfield introduced herself.
Karen was short and stocky, with heavy breasts hanging down to her waist pointed in opposite directions.
Her blue scrub pants were too tight and the stitching along her outer thigh looked like it could burst open at any second.
Holding a stack of disheveled papers, she waddled to the rocker and plopped down.
“Mrs. Rosenfield, thanks for meeting us on such short notice.”
Immediately she corrected Delaney, “I’m a miss not a misses.
And you can call me Karen.”
“Okay Karen, we’re here because we have some questions regarding the birth and death of Andrew O’Sullivan.
Surely you’ve heard of him?”
Jake studied her face and waited for a response.
“Of course I’ve heard of him.
Who hasn’t?
It’s horrible.
We still talk about him and his mom, but always out of the earshot of administration.”
Delaney straightened up and asked, “But aren’t you considered administration?
You are the manager of this unit, aren’t you?”
“Oh no, are you kidding?
I’m a floor nurse.
My name just happened to be highlighted on the schedule today, making me in charge.
Usually it’s not a big deal around here but our manager was fired today.
Apparently someone e-mailed a picture of her in bed with a man and another woman to the vice president of this place.”
Delaney’s ears immediately perked up and she wanted to know more. “Who would do something like that?
Does she have any idea who sent it?”
She leaned toward Karen, not wanting to miss anything.
Karen was eager to answer, “No, our IT department said it wasn’t traceable because it came from a hotmail account.
But it gets better.
Brad in IT saw the picture, and he said she has a tattoo on her lower stomach that says ‘lick me’
with an arrow pointing downward to her goodies.
Can you believe it?
She was always such a cold-hearted witch, it’s been cause for celebration around here.
Do you want to see it?
I was on my way to radiology when I got the call you wanted to see me.
Apparently Brad printed it and now it’s hanging on an x-ray board, lit up for all the world to see.”
She let out a howl larger than herself.
Delaney couldn’t believe it; she thought there was justice after all.
Realizing she just said that out loud she looked up to see Karen still laughing but Jake had his eyebrows raised.
She knew he wasn’t going to let this go.
Trying to change the subject now, she asked Karen if she was working the day Andrew was born.
“Actually it was my day off but it was crazy here and the supervisor called to see if I would come in for double time and a four hundred dollar bonus.
I jumped on the opportunity and came in.
From what I remember he had already been born and was in the NICU.
It was mad busy that day, I remember coming in to chaos.
Summer is always the busiest time of year for us.”
“And why is that?” Jake questioned.
“Well, I guess it’s because people have more sex during winter months.
It’s a known fact.
And with that we get more babies born and they overcrowd our NICU.
The increase in drug-addicted babies takes most of our time; they tend to have longer stays.”
Jake didn’t know people had more sex in the winter. He made a mental note of that.
“Was Andrew a drug baby?”
“Oh, I have no idea.
But let me check for you,” and she logged onto the computer mounted on the wall.
Delaney spoke up, “Karen, do you want to consult with the hospital attorneys before you search his records?”
“Are you kidding me?
They’re so busy over that picture, it’s driving them crazy.
Apparently it was e-mailed to well over a hundred people, and they’re scared silly of being sued, sexual harassment issues and stuff like that.
It’s not good for publicity.
And anyway, I’m set to retire next week.
I’ve had it with this place and their privacy rules.
After thirty years I don’t even get a watch.
Whatever you need I can print from this room, just let me know.”
Jake and Delaney glanced at each other then back at Karen.
“What about the drugs?
Was Andrew screened for any, legal or illegal?” Delaney asked.
“He was definitely screened, along with his mother.
It’s hospital policy that when any baby has a seizure, blood is drawn.
Seizures are a symptom of drug withdrawal.
Here it is, he had blood, urine, and stool tested for drugs, legal and illegal.
It all came back negative.
His mother was negative also.
Standard procedure also calls for a routine work up to rule out other things too.
All the tests and reports are right here.
Ultrasound of head, EEG, EKG, chest x-ray, and multiple blood tests.
But I can tell you everything came back normal.”
Jake let out a sigh of disappointment and then asked, “You’ve been here a long time. What do you think happened?”
Leaning back in her chair, Karen started, “You know, sometimes things just happen and we can’t explain it.
From what I’m reading in his chart it sounds like he stabilized pretty quickly.
There are some babies that just don’t transition well from the womb to birth.
The shock to his system could have been too much, causing a singular seizure. He had a million dollar work up, everything came back negative.
It’s likely he never would have seized again.
But I guess we’ll never know.”