Silent Fear, a Medical Mystery Read Online Free PDF

and slipped her into her one-piece sleeper for the night.
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    Sunday morning Rachel woke in a good mood, refreshed after an undisturbed night. Leo sat at the edge of the bed, turned and patted her hip. “Hey, babe,” he said. He rose and bounded to the bathroom. Rachel slipped into slipper socks and tiptoed into Julia’s room to spy on her playfulness, hoping to find her awake. She grabbed a diaper and approached the crib. Julia made baby gestures like swatting invisible bugs, but not as much as her usual animated self. She didn’t burst into excitement when Rachel came to the crib’s side.
    “Good morning, Julia. How’s my pretty girl today?” Rachel put the side rail down, leaned in, and gave her a kiss and a little upper arm squeeze. Julia’s neutral, yet wary expression changed to discomfort. Rachel placed her hand over the baby’s forehead. Maybe she had a fever. Rachel shook her head, probably not. She still had so much to learn about babies.
    Rachel unsnapped the bottom of Julia’s sleeper, took the one-piece pajamas off, and put a top over her head. She pulled the sticky tabs from the dirty diaper and pulled the diaper straight out. Julia let out a painful sound, puzzling Rachel even more. “I’ll pick you up in a minute. I just don’t know what’s gotten into you.” Rachel put the diaper aside and picked up Julia’s legs to slide in a clean one. She put the new one down and began moving it under but stopped in horror.
    Rachel gasped. She stared at a red circular, painful-looking area on Julia’s bottom. More alarm gripped her. The lesion wasn’t there yesterday when she had left for work. She started to blurt out for Leo, but realized she needed to be cautious. This weekend with him had left her feeling uncomfortable with their relationship. She must approach talking to him with trepidation. She put the guard rail up and walked back into the bedroom. The bathroom door opened and Leo emerged. He pulled on a tee-shirt flung on his nightstand.
    “Leo, do you know what happened to Julia? She’s got a sore on her bottom.”
    For a moment, Leo’s bottom jaw tensed, and then he chose his words carefully. “Babe, I didn’t want to disturb you about it last night. It was an accident. I brought hot coffee in there while I changed her yesterday. A bit dribbled from the cup. I’m sorry. She forgave me, too.” He smiled and looked into Rachel’s eyes.
    Rachel didn’t know what to think. She wanted more details but it appeared as if he’d finished his explanation. “Leo, this is really bad timing. She has visitation with her father next weekend.”
    “Don’t worry, it’ll be gone by then.”
    Rachel turned and went back to Julia. She applied some salve to the sore, finished dressing her, and gave her a cautious hug so as to not touch her padded buttocks.
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    The next morning Harold mixed his own patient list with Danny’s. Most of their patients were on the same hospital floor which pleased Harold. This morning, his right knee bothered him walking along the corridors. Sometimes it acted up from the weather; sometimes from inactivity, and at other times it ached from too much activity. He originally insulted it by playing too much tennis during college. The more he played, the better he got, until one day he pulled a ligament.
    The last two patients to see for Danny were Michael Johnson and Troy Neal. He knew about their surgeries from the day before, so he glanced in their charts for any new notes since then. Troy Neal and Michael Johnson both ran a fever, which wasn’t new for Troy Neal. After surgery, in any case, post-op fevers were common and Harold knew most of them usually resolved spontaneously. Other than that, no problems had developed over night.
    With a slight falter in his walk, Harold entered Michael’s room.
    “Good morning, Dr. Jackowitz,” the day shift nurse, Peggy said. “Michael is the first patient I’ve checked on since getting here.” She held a