Page 75 of A Rose of Steel
“Oh, they loved Harley. Lots of times they’d come to him for medical help.”
That made my ears perk up. Had Bumper come to him for medical help? Help possibly with his asthma? That was the kind of information I was fishing for. “I thought Doc Westin was just the medical examiner,” I said.
“Oh no. He was a lot more to so many people around here.”
“Yes. I see that he was.” I bit my lip, not sure how to ask the next question, so I just spat it out. “Did Doc Westin ever treat Michael Hackett?”
“Bumper?”
Oh, so she knew him...
“Yes,” I said.
“Yep,” she said and smiled. “He was the doctor, confidant, and member to the JOY Club. He was their sometime doctor and an all-time fan of the local football team. So many things to so many people.” I saw her smile fade, and a mistiness cover her eyes. I didn’t want her to start crying, I still hadn’t found out if it was possible that Doc Westin did give Bumper inhalers. Possibly ones laced with ricin for God knows what reason. Tears would stall if not stop my questioning. And, I hadn’t found out anything about his alternative cancer treatments, the reason he needed the ricin in the first place. How was I going to bring up his cancer, when just the subject of football brought on tears?
“When I first wanted to become a doctor,” I said, getting ready to not tell a whole truth, “Dr. Westin really helped me.”
“He did?” she said and smiled, sniffing back the urge her eyes had to tear. “See. Like I said, he liked helping people. I couldn’t picture him as anything else but a doctor.”
“So did he help Bumper with his asthma?” I asked, not wanting her to get too distracted.
“Mostly it was Delores he helped.”
“Mrs. Hackett? How so?”
“She was frantic over Bumper playing ball and having asthma, only Harley told me he’d mostly grown out of it. Hadn’t had an episode in a while and knew his triggers,” she looked at me, “at least that’s what Harley called them.”
“That’s what they’re called,” I said and nodded.
“Harley told me that even Bumper’s pediatrician wouldn’t write prescriptions for inhalers anymore. Said Bumper was nigh grown and his adult doctor should check him out to see if he still needed it.”
“Looked like he needed them the day he died,” I said.
“Must have done something to trigger it then.”
“I guess so,” I said.
I knew that people outgrew asthma. I also remembered hearing that he hadn’t had an episode in a couple of years. What made him have one the day of the ceremony?
Mrs. Westin yawned and I knew I wouldn’t have her full attention much longer, especially with all my questions, even if she was happy to have company. I moved on to my next topic.
“And when I went through the boxes to see if anything was personal that you might like,” I smiled sweetly, “I saw where Doc Westin been doing research on alternative treatments. It was fascinating, and as a medical professional I was really interested in it. I hope it’s okay that I held on to the box.”
“The alternative cancer treatments?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Yes.” She nodded slowly and took a minute to speak. “He had cancer.” She looked at me. “Many people didn’t know that.”
“I wouldn’t tell anyone anything we discuss,” I said. “I’ve taken an oath.”
“Hippocratic Oath,” she said, nodding, “it says you’ve got to have medical confidentiality.”
“Yes ma’am,” I said. “It does.”
“Harley warned me about that almost every time he came home and told me about a patient. And believe me, I never repeated anything he said about a case. Except for the dead ones. Harley said those were public knowledge.”
“The research had a lot to do with natural methods of treating cancer,” I said, “likes herbs and roots. That’s why I found it so interesting because you know, I grew up around that.”
