Night Shift

Chapter 32

Wednesday, December 8, 6:25 p.m.

Cheryl Stanford knocked sharply on Laurie’s office door and, contrary to usual protocol, opened the door before Laurie had a chance to respond. At that moment Laurie was finishing up another meeting with the deputy chief, George Fontworth, and was taken aback by the interruption.

“What is it, Cheryl?” she questioned, annoyed, as she glanced over at her secretary, who she thought had left for the day. Laurie was already late leaving and was eager to finish up and get home herself, as she liked to arrive home around 6:00 to spend time with the children instead of after 7:00, which was looking probable that evening.

“There’s a call on line one,” Cheryl said.

“Take a message, Cheryl! I’ll call whoever it is first thing in the morning.”

“I think you need to take the call, Laurie,” Cheryl said. “It’s the emergency room at the Manhattan Memorial Hospital. They need to talk with you immediately.”

“What about?” she asked as her heart skipped a beat. Despite her question, she already knew the probable answer but didn’t want to admit it.

“I’m afraid it is about Jack,” Cheryl said, confirming Laurie’s fears. “There’s been an accident.”

“Good grief!” Laurie managed as she noisily exhaled. She glanced briefly at George with raised eyebrows as if expecting some kind of miraculous help but then quickly snatched up the desk phone, pressed the button for line one, and blurted a nervous hello.

“Is this Laurie Montgomery?” a pleasant voice asked.

“Yes. What is it?”

“Is your husband named John Stapleton?”

“Yes! Is he all right?”

“He’s being evaluated as we speak. He’s been in a bike accident and will require surgery. We need you to come to the Emergency Department as soon as possible.”

“I’m on my way,” Laurie said. “How is he?”

“As I said, he is in the process of being evaluated. We’ll know more when you get here, and you can speak with the doctors. Can you give me an idea of when you might arrive?”

“Twenty to thirty minutes,” Laurie said.

“Very well. My name is Pamela Harrison. I’m a social worker, and you can ask for me directly.”

“Thank you,” Laurie said. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

She dropped the phone into its cradle and looked over at George. For a moment, she was at a loss for words, feeling extremes of concern and anger. “Damn!” she finally voiced. “I’ve been afraid of this call for years.”

“How is he?” George asked.

“She didn’t say, nor did she probably even know. She was a social worker, not a doctor or nurse. Obviously, I have to get to the MMH pronto. But before I go, I’d like to ask you to officially take over the reins of the OCME. I have absolutely no idea of what I will be facing nor how long I’ll be detained, but I don’t want to have to worry about what’s going on here. Can I count on you?”

“Of course,” George said.

“Please notify the operator and whoever is on call.”

“Absolutely! I’ll do both right away,” George said. “Good luck and don’t worry about anything here. I’ll handle whatever comes up.”

“Thank you,” Laurie said. Then to Cheryl she said, “Get me a ride to the Manhattan Memorial Hospital ASAP.”

Cheryl disappeared as Laurie got out her winter coat. George helped her on with it.

“I’ve warned Jack about an accident like this until I’ve been blue in the face,” she said. “I’ve even pleaded with him. All to no avail. Now all I can do is hope it is not as bad as it could be.”

“I’m sure he’ll be just fine,” George said, trying to be upbeat. “I’ve never known anybody in better physical shape than Jack, and he certainly knows how to ride a bike.”

“He does have that going for him,” Laurie agreed.

Five minutes later she climbed into an Uber, and she was on her way. The one good thing about it being already almost 7:00 was that the rush hour traffic had begun to abate, and she made good time on her travel northward. While she was in the car, she used the time to call home and talk with both Caitlin and her mother, telling them that she would be late and that she was on her way to the MMH Emergency Department because Jack had had a bicycle accident. Although she admitted she didn’t know his actual condition, she tried to sound upbeat with them as George had tried to be with her. The problem was that being a medical examiner she’d seen too many bike accidents. Laurie also talked with JJ and apologized for probably not being able to say good night before he had to get into bed. She told him that she was going to be with Dad at the hospital because he had taken a spill and had to get fixed up.

As soon as the driver pulled up to the ED entrance, Laurie was out, and she dashed up a short flight of steps and through a sliding glass door, accepting a fresh Covid mask just inside, which she quickly put on. Eschewing joining any of the several lines in front of the sign-in desk, she rushed directly up to the counter and asked loudly if Pamela Harrison was available.

“I’m Pamela Harrison,” a rather young-appearing woman said. To Laurie she looked more like a high school student than a college graduate social worker.

Laurie introduced herself, mildly out of breath from her efforts.

“Oh, yes,” Pamela said. “Dr. Sidoti would like very much to talk with you.” Without another word, the woman came out from behind the sign-in desk and waved for Laurie to follow her. Cutting through the part of the ED where ambulatory patients had their initial vital signs taken before being returned to the waiting room, Pamela led her on a shortcut directly to the trauma 1 room where Jack was located.

“If you don’t mind, would you wait here for a moment?” Pamela said at the room’s threshold.

“Of course,” Laurie said. She could see a bevy of people arranged around the examination table in the middle of the room. She assumed it was Jack who was demanding their attention, but from where she was standing, she couldn’t see any part of him. Several flat-screen monitors built into the wall showed X-rays while another apparently was displaying his vital signs, but Laurie couldn’t make out the details. Reassuringly, the steady beep of a normal-sounding pulse filled the room. Since there didn’t seem to be any tension in the air and from the mere fact that she was being led directly to the room, Laurie felt the first stirrings of optimism.

Laurie watched as Pamela tapped the shoulder of one of the figures in the center of the room. When this individual turned, Pamela pointed in Laurie’s direction. Despite the personal protective gear, Laurie could tell it was a slender female. The woman nodded, and, breaking away from the group, she walked directly over to Laurie.

“I’m Dr. Carol Sidoti,” she said. “I understand you are Dr. Laurie Montgomery, Dr. John Stapleton’s wife.”

“That’s correct,” Laurie said. “How is he?”

“I’m pleased to say he is stable with normal vital signs. At the same time, I have to be honest and warn you that he’s suffered a major trauma, including a concussive head injury, and has not yet regained consciousness. He’s also sustained a nondisplaced right femoral neck fracture and a compound fracture of his right fibula. On the positive side, he has seemingly not experienced any spinal or internal injuries in his chest or abdomen.”

“Any idea of the extent of his head injuries?” Laurie asked. She looked around the ED doctor, wishing she could rush over and check out Jack herself.

“Our portable X-ray capabilities aren’t as good as those obtained in our image center, but so far, we haven’t seen any skull fractures. We have a neurology consult pending and an orthopedic trauma consult is in progress.”

“I’m a physician myself,” Laurie said. “A medical examiner, to be more specific.”

“So I hear,” Carol said. “In fact, I’ve been told you are the chief medical examiner for the City of New York. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I’m sorry it is under these circumstances. I understand the patient is also a medical examiner.”

“Yes, all true,” Laurie said. “I’m impressed you are so well informed, and so fast.”

“We have a talented social service team,” Carol said.

“I’d like to see my husband,” Laurie said, again looking over at the group huddled around the examination table.

“Of course,” Carol said as she turned and led the way. Approaching the group, she called out. “Excuse me, everyone, this is Dr. Montgomery, the patient’s wife.”

Several of the ED nurses moved aside, making way for Laurie to approach the table. Her first image of Jack wasn’t as bad as she expected. The only obvious sequelae she could see was an abrasion on his right cheek and a pneumatic splint covering his right lower leg. Other than that, his color was good, and he appeared as if he was sleeping. He had intravenous lines running into both arms.

“This is Dr. Henry Thomas,” Carol said, gesturing across the table at the man occupying center stage. He was dressed in short-sleeve scrubs revealing muscular, moderately hairy arms and sporting both a surgical mask and cap. “He runs our Orthopedic Trauma Department. We’re lucky to have him so quickly. By coincidence he had just finished a case when your husband was brought in, so we prevailed upon him to come right down here.”

Laurie and Henry exchanged greetings, after which Henry said, “Your husband needs surgery straight off following a neurological clearance. Both fractures have to be internally stabilized. As for the hip, an argument could be made for a replacement considering your husband’s age, but personally I’d favor stabilization provided there’s not too much displacement, which there doesn’t appear to be on X-ray, nor any compromise on the blood supply to the femoral head. Also provided the bone quality is good, which I imagine is the case since your husband looks like an active individual.”

“Very active,” she said. “Maybe too active. Let me ask you a question, if I may. What do you think of the idea of him being transferred for the surgery over to NYU? I had surgery there a couple of years ago and had a good experience.” Laurie hadn’t planned on asking such a question until the moment she did. The issue popped into her mind when she felt some relief at seeing Jack’s overall condition despite his still being unconscious. All at once the issue of Sue Passero’s passing and Jack’s talk about a possible medical serial killer at the MMH had come into play in her overworked brain.

Henry paused for a moment. It was not a question he was expecting. He cleared his throat, giving him more chance to think and overcome the mild challenge to his ego. “It would have to be against strong medical advice,” he said. “Personally, I believe it would be assuming an unacceptable risk, especially since your husband is unconscious. But beyond that, a delay in taking care of the fractures doesn’t serve any purpose and could be detrimental.”

“Okay,” Laurie said, feeling slightly embarrassed to have even brought the issue up. “How are you going to decide on what to do with the hip?”

“I believe I should be given the opportunity to decide when I get to see the injury up close in the operating room and can access the bone quality and blood supply issues.”

“Fair enough,” Laurie said. She felt mildly uncomfortable from having brought up the transfer issue, especially after rethinking the medical serial killer idea. She distinctly remembered Jack saying that the hospital mortality ratio had been going down, as had hospital referrals to the OCME, which made the idea of a serial killer moot. Besides, she wondered, why would a medical serial killer be attracted to Jack? Until she remembered that he had been scheduled to speak to someone that very afternoon about Sue’s suspicions.

“Excuse me, Dr. Montgomery,” Pamela said, interrupting Laurie’s thoughts. “If you are finished here for the time being, would you mind following me? We need your signature on admission and informed consent papers.”

“Of course,” Laurie said, but before following Pamela she looked across at Henry. “Thank you for seeing my husband and for patching his leg back together.”

“You are welcome,” Henry said.

“I will be waiting to hear exactly what you find.” Then, turning to Carol, Laurie said, “And thank you for all that you have done. I’m very appreciative to the whole team. And I’ll be particularly interested to hear what the neurological consult has to say.”

“Of course,” Carol said. “But my shift was over at seven, and I’ll be leaving. But I’ll let my replacement, Dr. Vega, know.”

“Thank you all,” Laurie called out as she followed Pamela out of the trauma room.