Lori Avocato - Dead On Arrival

I laughed, but my insides didn’t find it too funny. When I waved at Sky to calm down, he did.

“How long have you been doing this, Sky?” I thought he’d fly safer and straighter if I kept him busy in conversation.

He chuckled. “Three years with TLC. I used to fly with a hospital out in Phoenix for a few years before that.”

“Oh, what brought you to Connecticut?” Suddenly I sounded interested. Maybe it was the altitude, although, yeah, I knew we weren’t much higher than the power lines (at least I hoped we were higher than the power lines). Maybe it was because Sky was a real looker and a decent pilot to boot. Or, maybe he’d say something that would help my case, or cast suspicion on himself.

I sighed. Anything was possible, and right about now I needed anything to get this case moving-so I wouldn’t have to lie to Fabio again.

Lies always seemed to jump up and bite me in a not-so-pleasant spot.

Sky seemed to hesitate, but at the same time there was a gust of wind that had us shaking. I’d hesitate too. No, I’d land this sucker in the nearest field so the wind wouldn’t blow us into any power lines. Then he said, “Came here for a change and to be with someone special. Didn’t work out though.”

Even through the noise of the helicopter, I could hear him sigh and hear the pain in his voice.

A woman.

Sky had moved nearly across the country for a woman and he was still single and obviously alone. Lonely, maybe.

“Sorry.”

He waved a hand at me, and I worried he needed that hand to fly. “No need to be. Wasn’t meant to last.” He chuckled. “No big deal. I’ve met several since that one, and will meet a hell of a lot more. You always live here?”

I groaned. “Does it show?”

He laughed.

I told him my entire life story, and before I knew it, we were sitting on the helipad at TLC. “Nice, smooth landing,” I said.

Sky nodded at me and got up and nudged Nicky, who woke up and appeared to be rather clearheaded. If I took a quick nap, I was groggy for days. I envied him.

“We need to fill out our paperwork, Pauline,” Nicky said.

“Sure. Later, Sky.” We nodded at each other and I followed Nicky into the lounge, where I got a hot tea, he a coffee. In a few minutes our paperwork was done, and I wondered if the woman Sky had come here to be with had anything to do with TLC.

The entire trip took so long I hadn’t realized that I’d missed lunch. Now I was famished. No one could leave the lounge area since they were all waiting for calls. I wondered where ER Dano and Jagger were. Maybe together sitting on the southern side of town-talking about me! Yikes!

No. No way.

“I’m going to get something to eat. Doesn’t anyone want anything?” I asked the gang, but they all declined since they were used to bringing their own food. Since I was still on orientation, I felt certain that I could leave, so I went to tell Lilla I would be gone.

“To where, chéri?” Her desk was neatly cleaned off. Lilla was a heck of a worker. Just like her mom. Hopefully the powers that be wouldn’t throw her back across the border. I was fairly certain someone had pulled some strings so she could work here.

Fabio? Jagger? Her mom?

“I’m going to…hmm. Not sure.” Half of the day was shot, although the flight was rewarding in the fact that we got the patient safely to her destination, and I’d given her meds on time and without any problems. Now I had to work on my “second” job. I looked at Lilla. “The hospital cafeteria has a chicken Caesar salad to die for.”

Her dark eyes widened. “Oh, chéri, bad choice of words,” she said, grabbed her purse from her desk and took my arm. “You drive. I have to redo my makeup, and we need to stop at your place so I can borrow some scrubs or something for a disguise.”

With that Lilla and I set off to my place, and then to “lunch” in the hospital-only floors below comatose Pansy Sterling.

Hmm…

Lilla, dressed in my white lab coat with my stethoscope draped over her shoulder, and I eyed each other and then our empty Caesar salad dishes. For some reason, I knew, just knew we were thinking the same thing.

“So, how do we get in to see her?” I said.

Looking very much like a doctor and sporting my old hospital employee ID-which my friend Sara in Human Resources arranged for me to keep as a souvenir from Saint Greg’s Hospital, where I’d worked-Lilla winked at me and we stood and took our trays to the conveyor belt. My heart started to race.

We could get a huge break in my case-and I’d be doing it without Jagger!

That alone was reason enough to be there.

Although, to be honest with myself, I knew Jagger was keeping up behind the scenes with Sergeant Shatley about the stabbings and as much as he could find out about the fraud.

I “borrowed” Miles’s ID badge and wore it backwards as if it’d turned around on its own. Although Lilla didn’t look like my picture-unfortunately, that is-I figured no one would be looking that closely at the ID badge. As evidenced by all the males in the cafeteria, they’d all be looking at Lilla’s face and other more important parts and not checking her ID. Besides, she acted so nonchalant, no one seemed suspicious.

A few people recognized me though, so I claimed I was there doing part-time float-pool work, so they couldn’t connect me with any unit. Each time I acted as if I were in a hurry so there’d be little chitchat with old coworkers. Damn. I was getting better and better at this stuff.

I said a silent prayer that we could get in to see Pansy and she would be out of her coma enough to give us some information. Well, I wished she’d be out permanently for her own good.

Lilla and I made our way toward the Central Supply department, as that was the least traveled route. We could have gone straight up to Pansy’s floor on the elevator, but I noticed a few docs that I’d worked with near the elevators and needed to avoid them. This area was like walking in the basement of the hospital: Very few people came through here.

“You look very good, Lilla. Very real.”

She smiled. “Thanks you, chéri.”

I winked and decided not to correct her English. She was turning out to be a real asset to my case. “I’m trying to think of a reason for us to use to get into the room. Past the guard. With one being attacked already, they might be more careful. Not that they weren’t before.”

I stopped talking and pushed the elevator button. When nervous, I tended to ramble, and right now I felt a whopper of a ramble coming on.

“Can we say we are going in to exam her?” Lilla asked as we stepped into the empty elevator.

“Examine? Yeah, and hopefully, the guard won’t ask questions. So much staff goes in and out of patients’ rooms on a daily basis that I’m banking on the hopes that fake outfits and IDs will do the trick. Not to mention the fact that we need Pansy to wake up for us.”

I watched the floor numbers inside the elevator light up as we passed each one. Good. No one else got on.

Suddenly it slowed, stopped and the door opened to the OR floor. Damn it. Staff was bustling about inside the OR doors. Good thing Miles was off duty for the next two days. Someone might recognize me and see his ID if it turned slightly. I looked down to make sure it hadn’t flipped around.

The doors started to shut. Just as I started to take a breath in relief a hand reached out and grabbed the door.

“Damn elevator,” a male voice said.

I slunk to the back of the small elevator cab and pushed Lilla to the side to kind of cover me.

The orderly pushed a stretcher in. Johnny Wakefield. Miles had dated him! The patient had on a mask. Must have been in isolation so she wouldn’t be spreading germs into the air.