Page 60 of The Drowned Woman
“When will you be back?” Leah asked. “Still want Nate to stay another night? Emily would love it, I’m sure.” As long as Leah remembered to stop at the store and bring home something for dinner, not to mention breakfast tomorrow.
“I won’t be long and so far I’ve been able to avoid any reporters, but maybe another night at your place isn’t a bad idea.” He grimaced. “I feel bad, leaving him, though.”
“Do you need me to check on Pops?”
“No, Janine’s there and Ahearn sent a patrol unit to watch over them. But thanks.” He headed into the trauma bay. “Good luck with McKinley. I’ll see you soon.”
Leah watched him huddle with Maggie, filling her in on the details behind Cliff’s death. She couldn’t explain why, but as she moved to rejoin Risa and the others, she felt a sense of unease, the shiver of someone walking over her grave.
She shook it off. Losing a patient was never easy. But losing someone to an arrogant creep of a serial killer who had viciously targeted an innocent man? That brought a whole new sense of frustration and fury. Leah steeled herself. Chaos might have the upper hand right now, but she’d be damned if she was going to let him win.
Thirty-Five
Leah opened the door to the exam room to find Risa huddled in Jack’s arms, sobbing. They sat on the exam table, hips and thighs touching, Jack’s fingers threaded in Risa’s hair. Leah cleared her throat. “I can come back in a few minutes—”
Risa jerked upright, wiping her eyes with her thumbs. “No, no. I’m not sure why it all just hit me, usually I can hold it together better.”
“You don’t need to hold it together,” Jack murmured to her. “It’s all right to let your feelings out. This isn’t like when you were on assignment and had to bottle everything inside. You’re with me, you’re safe with me.”
“I know. It’s just it feels somehow selfish—to even be alive to be upset, when poor Cliff is dead for no other reason than the fact that Chaos chose me to play his sick games with.”
“That’s not selfish,” Leah said, sinking into the chair nearest the desk. “That’s human. It’s also okay to feel relief that you are still alive to feel anything.”
Risa met her eyes and nodded.
“Live to fight another day, right?” Jack gave her shoulders a squeeze. “Let’s get this over with so we can get you out of here.” He glanced at Leah. “So, you’ve reviewed her records, seen her symptoms; what are you suggesting, Doctor?”
Leah was glad of his use of her title—it put them all back on neutral, professional territory rather than something more personal. “I also had a colleague review your chart, Risa. She plotted the symptoms against a timeline—”
“The other doctors did that,” Jack put in. “Said there was no pattern, that was part of the reason why—”
“Why they think I’m faking,” Risa finished.
“Well, we found a pattern in the lack of a pattern. When you look at each individual attack, they suggest different causes. And if we suspect someone else is behind your symptoms then they might have been using different toxins at different times.”
“Someone,” Jack scoffed. “Say his name, Doctor Wright. We heard the cops talking. It was Dom. It makes sense. She always got worse after he was around. And remember, Risa, he brought you those teas? Said they were from a Chinese herbal specialist—there could be anything in them. We should get them all analyzed. I can take them to my lab at Keystone.” He jumped down from the table. “What else do you want me to test, doc? I should’ve thought of this sooner—”
“I think it would be best if we used the hospital laboratory services. Just in case we need to document a chain of custody and the like for when there’s a trial.”
Risa glanced up at that. “First they need to catch him.”
“How long will all this take?” Jack asked. “To get results?”
“Some of it will be back in a few hours—the routine tox screen for drugs of abuse and the like. Again, I’m not expecting to find anything there, it’s more for documentation. The other assays will take several weeks.”
“I could do it faster in my lab at Keystone,” he muttered.
“Jack, let her do her job.”
“First I’ll examine you and then we’ll get samples of your blood, urine, and hair.”
“Hair?” Risa asked. “What’s that for?”
“Heavy metals accumulate in the hair and can last there for months after exposure,” Leah explained. She stood and pulled a gown from the cupboard and handed it to Risa. “Do you want Jack to stay?”
“No,” he said, obviously uncomfortable. “I’m going to go pack us up—and get you a new phone since the cops took yours. Call me when you’re done and I’ll pick you up, okay?” He kissed the top of her head. “It’s almost over. You know how we’re always talking about getting out of this dreary rain and gray and find a deserted beach in Fiji or Togo or someplace warm and sunny? Let’s do that. Just the two of us, where Dom will never find us.”
She rubbed his arm and nodded, her gaze fixed on the gown clutched in her other hand. “Thanks.”
