The rage Within

Emily walked across the courtyard to the medical wing security office. She knew the guards fairly well and she was hoping for some useful information. She was glad to see that Peter was working the door. He was an older gentleman, in every sense of the word, who worked part time. He was retired from the Atlanta Police Departments, and needed something to keep him busy. Emily knew he had a crush on her, which she had no problem exploiting if it meant getting the answers she needed.

“Hey Pete, do you have a few minutes?” The doctor asked.

Pete quickly turned over the newspaper in a half-hearted attempt to hide the puzzle he was working on. When he seen that it was Emily he relaxed instantly. He was indeed smitten with her, as were most male employees of the hospital. Emily was attractive to say the least, and the fact that she was a respected doctor, who could be one of the guys as well, made her more so.

“Sure doc. What can I do for you?”

“Were you working when the young man came in yesterday? The one that they found unconscious just outside the hospital?”

“The one that everyone’s talking about?”

“Yeah. What do you know about the whole situation?”

“Well, Joseph came in here yelling that Elizabeth found a body outside and he didn’t know if he was alive or dead. I called Dr. Patek over the loud speaker and I went to help get him in.

“We took him inside and they started to work on him right away. I did hear that Liz found an empty syringe and a burnt spoon in the area where he was found and that he was very uncooperative with the medical staff after he regained consciousness. I’m not sure if he even spoke at all now that I think about it.” The guard said.

“Thanks Pete.” Emily said as she was already walking away.

“Anytime Doc!” Pete yelled

Since she was over in the medical wing Emily went to the Nurse’s station. When she got there she saw one of the nurses that she knew. The nurse was sitting at her desk doing some computer work.

“Hey Deb, how are you?” Emily said politely.

“Dr. Richards. What brings you over to the dark side?” Patty said

It was no secret that Emily did not like the blood and guts side of the medical field. Her first day at the hospital when Mr. O’Rourke was giving Emily the tour she almost fainted when a patient came in with a nasty head wound. She learned her first year in medical school that she would do better in the more sterile environment of an office or at least a clean psych ward.

“Were you working yesterday when they brought in the young man from outside?”

“I was. Is he your patient?” She said.

“Yes, and I need some information.”

“Does Dr. You-Know-Who know you’re over here?”

“Nope. What did you guys find out?” Emily said.

“Not much. And I mean that in every sense of the word. I didn’t get to work on him, but I heard he refused to talk to anyone, even the doctor who was in charge of the ER at the time. From what I heard they didn’t find anything in any of his tests either.” She said

“That’s the information I was looking for. Was there anything unusual in his blood?”

“That part was unusual.”

“How?” Emily asked.

“Not only did we not find any drugs or alcohol in his system, his blood was clean.”

“So, that’s good, right?”

“You don’t understand. It was too clean. His markers were better than a thirteen year old triathlete. I don’t know what was in that syringe he used, but if he used it, it wasn’t any of the usual street drugs. The lab is still trying to identify what was in the syringe. There was barely trace amounts, so it may take longer than usual for it to come back.”

“What about the letter that was found on him? Did you read it?” Emily asked

“No, the police took it right after completing the petition. Didn’t the social worker make you a copy?” The nurse said

“No. Is there one in his medical file?”

The nurse just shrugged and turned her hands up in the universal sign of I have no idea.

The nurse could see that Emily was aggravated about this.

“Sorry I couldn’t be more help.”

“Thanks Debbie.”

Emily made her way around the entire ER talking to anyone that may have had some useful information. After getting nowhere she headed back to her office.

Emily was going to have to rely on her experience and interviewing skills to determine if Jack was indeed suicidal or if this actually was a simple misunderstanding. With liability these days she had to be certain he was stable. Sending a possible suicidal subject back on the street without the proper due diligence was a certain lawsuit, not to mention the patient could relapse and finish the job.

Dr. Richards was not going release him, not yet anyways. She was telling herself it was for his safety, and that was true. But another side of her really wanted to know more about him. He was intriguing, plus she relished the thought of getting further than Dr. Kaufland. If she could just get him to open up to her she was sure that she could get to any lingering issues that may need to be addressed. If there were any that is.