Robin Cook - Fatal Cure

"I think we'd better slow down," Angela said as David passed a long row of cars.

"This truck has never gone this fast," Calhoun said.

"David, what has come over you?" Angela asked. "You're acting bizarre."

"I had a flash of insight while we were talking to Clara Hodges," he said. "It concerns Hodges' patients with potentially terminal illnesses dying unexpectedly."

"Well?" Angela asked. "What about them?"

"I think some disturbed individual at Bartlet Community Hospital has taken it upon himself to deliver some sort of misguided euthanasia."

"What's euthanasia?" Calhoun asked.

"It translates to 'good death,' " Angela said. "It means to help someone who has a terminal illness to die. The idea is to save them from suffering."

"Hearing about Hodges' patients made me realize that all six of my recent deaths had battled terminal illnesses," David said. "The same as his. I don't know why I didn't think about it before. How could I have been so dense? And the same is true with Caroline."

"Who's Caroline?" Calhoun asked.

"She was a friend of our daughter," Angela explained. "She had cystic fibrosis which is a potentially terminal illness. She died yesterday." Angela's eyes went wide. "Oh, no! Nikki!" she cried.

"Now you know why I panicked," David said. "We have to get back there as soon as we can."

"What's going on?" Calhoun said. "I'm missing something here. Why are you two so agitated?"

"Nikki is in the hospital," Angela said anxiously.

"I know," Calhoun said. "Before we went to Boston I took you there so you could visit her."

"She has cystic fibrosis just like Caroline had," Angela said.

"Uh oh," Calhoun said. "I'm getting the picture. You're worried about your daughter being targeted by this euthanasia fiend."

"You got it," David said.

"Would this be something like that 'Angel of Mercy' case on Long Island I read about?" Calhoun asked. "It was a number of years ago. It involved a nurse who was knocking people off with some sort of drug."

"Something like that," David said. "But that case involved a muscle relaxant. The people stopped breathing. It was pretty straightforward. With my patients I have no idea how they're being killed. I can't think of any drug or poison or infectious agent that would cause the symptoms these patients had."

"I can understand why you'd be worried about your daughter," Calhoun said. "But don't you think you're being a bit hasty with this theory?"

"It answers a lot of questions," David said. "It even makes me think of Dr. Portland."

"Why?" Angela asked. She was still uncomfortable any time his name came up.

"Didn't Kevin tell us that Dr. Portland said he wasn't going to take all the blame for his patient deaths and that there was something wrong with the hospital?"

Angela nodded.

"He must have had his suspicions," David said. "Too bad he succumbed to his depression."

"He committed suicide," Angela explained to Calhoun.

"Terrible waste," Calhoun said. "All that training."

"The question is," David said, "if someone is performing euthanasia in the hospital, who could it be? It would have to be someone with access to the patients and someone with a sophisticated knowledge of medicine."

"That would limit it to a doctor or a nurse," Angela said.

"Or a lab tech," David suggested.

"I think you people are jumping the gun," Calhoun said. "This isn't the way investigations are done. You don't come up with a theory and then go barreling off at ninety miles an hour like we're doing. Most theories fall apart when more facts are in. I think we should slow down."

"Not while my daughter is at risk," David said. He pushed the old truck harder.

"Do you think Hodges came to the same conclusion?" Angela asked.

"I think so," David said. "And if he did, maybe that's why he was killed."

"I still think it was the rapist," Calhoun said. "But whoever it turns out to be, this investigation is fascinating. Providing your daughter's okay, I haven't enjoyed myself this much in years."

When they finally reached the hospital, David pulled right up to the front door. He jumped out with Angela close at his heels. Together they charged up the main stairs and ran down the hall.

To their supreme relief, they discovered Nikki perfectly happy watching TV. David snatched her up in his arms and hugged her so tightly that she began to complain.

"You're coming home," David said. He held her away so he could examine her face, especially her eyes.

"When?" Nikki asked.

"Right now," Angela said. She started disconnecting the IV.

At that moment a nurse was passing in the hall. The commotion drew her attention. When she saw Angela detaching the IV, she protested.

"What's going on here?" she asked.

"My daughter is going home," David said.

"There are no orders for that," the nurse said.

"I'm giving the order right this minute," David said.

The nurse quickly ran out of the room. Angela started to gather Nikki's clothes. David helped.

Soon Janet Colburn came back with several nurses in tow. "Dr. Wilson," Janet said, "what on earth are you doing?"

"I think it's rather apparent," David said as he packed Nikki's toys and books in a bag.

David and Angela had Nikki half dressed when Dr. Pilsner arrived. Janet had paged him. He urged them not to remove Nikki from the IV antibiotic or the hospital's talented respiratory therapist prematurely.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Pilsner," David said. "I'll have to explain later. It would take too long right now."

At that moment Helen Beaton arrived. She, too, had been called by the nurses. She was incensed. "If you take that child out of here against medical advice I'll get a court order," she sputtered.

"Just try," Angela said.

When they had Nikki fully dressed, they led her down the hall. The commotion had drawn a flock of gawking patients and staff.

Once outside they all climbed into the truck. Calhoun drove with Nikki and Angela in the cab. David had to sit in the truck bed.

The whole way home Nikki questioned her sudden discharge. She was happy to be out, but puzzled by her parents' odd behavior. But by the time she got in the house she was too excited to see Rusty to persist in her questioning. After she played with Rusty for a bit, David and Angela set her up in the family room and restarted her IV. They wanted to continue her antibiotics.

Calhoun stayed and participated as best he could. Following Nikki's request he brought wood upstairs from the basement and made a fire. But it wasn't his nature to stay silent. Before long he got into an argument with David over the motive for Hodges' murder. Calhoun strongly favored the rapist, whereas David favored the deranged "Angel of Mercy."

"Hell!" Calhoun exclaimed. "Your whole theory is based on pure supposition. Your daughter is fine, thank the Lord, so there's no proof there. At least with my theory there's Hodges' ranting about knowing who the rapist was before a roomful of people the very day he got knocked off. How's that for cause and effect? And Clara thinks Hodges might have had the nerve to speak to the man. I'm so sure the rapist and the murderer are one and the same, I'll wager on it. What kind of odds will you give me?"

"I'm not a betting man," David said. "But I think I'm right. Hodges was beaten to death holding the names of his patients. That couldn't have been a coincidence."

"What if it is the same person?" Angela suggested. "What if the rapist is the same person behind the patient deaths and Hodges' murder?"

The idea shocked David and Calhoun into silence.

"It's possible," David said at last. "It sounds sort of crazy, but at this point I'm prepared to believe almost anything."

"I suppose," Calhoun added. "Anyway, I'm going after the tattoo clue. That's the key."