Devil's Waltz Read Online Free PDF Page B

nearly all twenty rooms were empty. A trio of bored-looking R.N.’s stood behind the counter at the nursing station. A few feet away a unit clerk filed her nails.
    “Morning, Dr. Eves,” said one of the nurses, addressing Stephanie but watching me and looking none too friendly. I wondered why and smiled at her anyway. She turned away. Early fifties, short, chunky, grainy-skinned, long-jawed, sprayed blond hair. Powder-blue uniform trimmed with white. Atop the stiff hair, a starched cap; I hadn’t seen one of those in a long time.
    The two other nurses, Filipinas in their twenties, glanced at each other and moved away as if spurred by a silent’ code.
    Stephanie said, “Morning, Vicki. How’s our girl doing?”
    “So far so good.” Reaching over, the blond nurse pulled a chart out of the slot marked 505W and handed it to Stephanie. Her nails were stubby and gnawed. Her gaze settled on me again. The old charm was still not working.
    “This is Dr. Alex Delaware,” said Stephanie, thumbing through the chart, “our consulting psychologist. Dr. Delaware, Vicki Bottomley, Cassie’s primary care nurse.”
    “Cindy said you’d be coming by,” said the nurse, making it sound like bad news. Stephanie kept reading.
    “Pleased to meet you,” I said.
    “Pleased to meet
you
.” A challenging sullenness in her voice made Stephanie look up.
    “Everything okay, Vicki?”
    “Peachy,” said the nurse, flashing a smile as jovial as a slap across the face. “Everything’s fine. She held down most of her breakfast, fluids and P/O meds—”
    “What meds?”
    “Just Tylenol. An hour ago. Cindy said she had a headache—”
    “Tylenol One?”
    “Yes, Dr. Eves, just the kid stuff, liquid, one teaspoon — it’s all in there.” She pointed to the chart.
    “Yes, I see,” said Stephanie, reading. “Well, that’s all right for today, Vicki, but next time no meds — not even OTC stuff — without my approval. I need to authorize
everything
, other than food and beverage, that passes between this child’s lips. Okay?”
    “Sure,” said Bottomley, smiling again. “No problem. I just thought—”
    “No harm done, Vicki,” said Stephanie, reaching over and patting the nurse’s shoulder. “I’m sure I would have okayed Tylenol. It’s just that with this kid’s history we’ve got to be super-careful to tease out drug reactions.”
    “Yes, Dr. Eves. Is there anything else?”
    Stephanie read more of the chart, then closed it and handed it back. “No, not at the moment, unless there’s something you want to report.”
    Bottomley shook her head.
    “Okay, then. I’m going to go in and introduce Dr. Delaware. Anything about Cassie you want to share?”
    Bottomley removed a bobby pin from her hair and stuck it back in, fastening blond strands to the cap. Her eyes were wide-set and long-lashed, a soft, pretty blue in the tense, gritty terrain of her face.
    She said, “Like what?”
    “Anything Dr. Delaware should know, to help Cassie and her parents, Vicki.”
    Bottomley stared at Stephanie for a moment, then turned to me, glaring. “There’s nothing wrong with them. They’re just regular people.”
    I said, “I hear Cassie gets pretty anxious about medical procedures.”
    Bottomley put her hands on her hips. “Wouldn’t
you
, if you got stuck as much as she does?”
    Stephanie said, “Vicki—”
    “Sure,” I said, smiling. “It’s a perfectly normal reaction, but sometimes normal anxiety can be helped by behavioral treatment.”
    Bottomley gave a small, tight laugh. “Maybe so. Good luck.”
    Stephanie started to say something. I touched her arm and said, “Why don’t we get going?”
    “Sure.” To Bottomley: “Remember, nothing P/O except food and drink.”
    Bottomley held on to her smile. “Yes, Doctor. Now, if it’s all right with you, I’d like to leave the floor for a few minutes.”
    Stephanie looked at her watch. “Break time?”
    “No. Just wanted to go down to the gift shop and get