Scarcity (Jack Randall #3) Read Online Free PDF

that. While he was considered among the best in his field, he was still tied to the hospital. Once his youngest was out of the house, he and his wife had some plans to do some traveling, but right now his practice required the majority of his time.
    He placed the chart on the bed and donned his stethoscope. Mr. Hernandez leaned forward without asking and took the obligatory deep breaths, getting to number four before collapsing in a fit of coughing, the fluid in his lungs plainly heard. His wife looked away as he spit into a nearby basin before falling back into the bed. The color of his face slowly returned to his current gray and he took the offered mask from the doctor and placed it over his face. Dr. Dayo waved off the nurse who appeared at the door. She checked the monitor before returning to her paperwork.
    Dayo waited patiently for his patient to regain his breath. His pulse oximetry rose slowly to the low 90s but no higher. He finally dropped the mask and offered a crooked smile to the doc.
    “Not yet.”
    “No, not yet,” the doctor echoed. “I may put you on the bi-pap machine for longer periods though. It will help with the fluid in your lungs.”
    “Whatever you say, doctor,” his wife answered for him.
    Doctor Dayo held his patient’s gaze until he got a small nod of consent. It had been hard to get his patient to agree to it while he slept, but he seemed to be more pliable now. He picked up the chart to make the required orders. He flipped it shut with a snap.
    “I’ll check on you again this afternoon. Just don’t go anywhere okay?” It was their standard joke.
    “I will . . . be right here,” Mr. Hernandez managed with a grin.
    “Good man.” He patted his patient’s leg and with a light touch on the wife’s shoulder, left the room.
    He stopped at the nurse’s station and handed her the chart.
    “Some changes, Terra.”
    “Okay.”
    As he left, he passed two men entering the unit. They nodded to the doctor and he simply returned it as he knew their English was very limited. Mr. Hernandez’s brothers. He was told they visited at least once a day for several hours. All the way from South America. It was good to have close family at a time like this.
    He decided to hit the coffee kiosk on his way back to his office. His current cup had gotten cold.
    •      •      •
    Mr. Hernandez nodded to his subordinates as they entered the room. The first approached the bed and looked carefully for any new equipment they had not seen before. The other examined the room closely for anything that could be a camera or listening device. After a nod to each other, the first “brother” spoke.
    “One of the medical planes crashed in Florida last night. The shipment was compromised and the courier was arrested.”
    “Who?”
    “Angel.”
    Hernandez grimaced at this. His best man was in federal custody. He thought for a moment before replying. “Where is he?”
    “We’re looking right now. We’ve seen Federal Marshals at the local hospital. I’m sure they will move him soon. He already faced charges in Maryland and the District of Columbia. Most likely he’ll be moved there to face a grand jury, or they’ll try to cut a deal with him.”
    “Angel is a good man . . . but he knows too much. Get Jimmy . . . have him . . . take care of this.”
    “ Si. ”
    “The shipment, . . . it contained organs?”
    “Some kidneys.”
    He just nodded before shaking a finger at them. That meant hurry.
    “Get me my fucking heart.”
    One of them left to make a phone call. Any attempt to do so in the room drew the wrath of the charge nurse, and they did not wish to make trouble that would call attention to themselves.
    Hernandez sucked on his oxygen while cursing his sick heart and rotten luck.
    •      •      •
    Jimmy sat under the shade of the umbrella and nursed a beer. The sun was bright and shining off the multiple wet and constantly moving bodies of the children in the