Dangerous Depths Read Online Free PDF Page B

without a diagnosis or a doctor’s care.
    “Elyse has been a tremendous support,” Mary
said. “Jilli doesn’t get any help from her parents. They are in
total denial that Jilli has a problem. They believe it’s just a
phase, that she is getting involved with the wrong kids. They
resent Elyse’s involvement. Jilli is only fourteen and extremely
angry at her parents. Elyse has been good for her. She’s helped her
through some very rough stuff.”
    “What kind of stuff?”
    “Jilli was picked up over on Saint Thomas
last month. She’d been caught trying to buy narcotics from an
undercover cop,” Mary explained.
    “So she’s got a record?”
    “Not yet. She was lucky that she was picked
up by the police before she got involved with someone who would
really hurt her, or ended up overdosing in an alley. They arrested
her and she called Elyse. Elyse called her parents and went with
them to Saint Thomas to explain the situation to the cops. They
released Jilli to her folks with an agreement she’d get into a drug
abuse program. That hasn’t happened.”
    “How does any of this remotely relate to the
explosion?” Dunn asked. “Nothing indicates that this was anything
but an unfortunate accident.”
    About then Hall and Marks walked into the
waiting room. Hall stood for a moment thumbing through Elyse’s
chart.
    “We’ve gotten the head and neck scans back.
There is a small epidural hematoma, causing edema on the right side
of her brain. It shows up as white density. I’ve started mannitol,
which will help to absorb some of the fluid. The big factor will be
whether the bleeding continues. For now, we’ll monitor her closely,
do another CT tomorrow. If it shows continued or increased
bleeding, we’ll have to do surgery to release the pressure or there
will be increased brain damage.”
    “Have you been able to assess the damage to
this point?” I asked. Christ, the thought of Elyse being paralyzed
or having brain damage. I mean, talk about unfair.
    “It’s just too soon to tell,” Marks said.
“But I must be frank. There is always the chance of physical and
mental impairment. The hematoma is small, but I am concerned that
she may have microscopic axonal injuries not detected in the CT
scan.”
    “This simply cannot happen to Elyse. She’s
had enough trauma in her life,” I insisted, hands on hips, as
though I could demand that it not be so.
    “What else have you found?” Mary asked.
    Hall flipped through the sheets on the chart,
running a bony finger down the page. “We did do a complete drug
screen also. No alcohol, barbiturates, THC. But there was one
thing—she was positive for benzodiazepine.
    “What’s benzodiazepine?” Dunn and I asked in
unison.
    “It’s a sleep aid,” Mary said. “Ambien.”

Chapter
6
    I remembered the medicine bottle I’d pulled
out of the ocean the night before.
    “Elyse had a bout of insomnia,” Mary said.
“It must have been eight months ago now. It’s important that she
get enough sleep to maintain equilibrium. I insisted on giving her
a sample of the Ambien and told her to take it if she needed it.
But as far as I knew, she never did. What was her blood level?”
    “Minimal. I’d guess two or three tablets,
just enough for a ‘dead to the world’ night’s sleep,” Hall
said.
    Dunn summarized the scenario as we stood
outside Elyse’s door. He had it all worked out. Elyse had taken a
couple of sleeping pills, then fallen asleep with the stove on. The
flame had gone out, the fumes filled the cabin, the gas had settled
in the bottom of the boat and exploded.
    I didn’t want to hear it and headed to the
door before he could finish.
    “Hannah, stop!” Mary demanded, catching me by
the wrist.
    “Let me go, Mary. I need to get into some air
that doesn’t smell like death and disinfectant.”
    “Hannah, listen to me. I’m sure Dunn is
right.”
    “Dunn is dead wrong. Come on. The only reason
Elyse even had those sleeping pills was to humor you. The