The Joy of Revenge

CHAPTER 10% Ture of th “I missed the part about me, 1 muttered, trying to digest all the information What is going to happen to me? My grandant sighed and took off her glasses before the focused her beady eyes at me. | noticed the sad look and | instantly know it wash good “You will stay on as a nurse until | retire. Knowing Marshall, once he becomes the sentier nurse administrator, he will fire you,” she replied. “My suggestion? Take the job the Cohens have offered and work for them or you can help your mother instead. | heard the purchased the pharmacy. She'll be needing an extra set of hands to manage another businen! rap | shook my head at her suggestions. | didn’t want to leave. | wanted this hospital to be ra by me.

“Is there any other way forto becnurse administrator? Cnow, Great Aun Lindsay. What can my family offer so | can becthe first choice as your replacement! The elderly woman sighed.

| suddenly felt like she didn’t wantfor the job. The bi tch.

“Your mother will have to bribe all the members of the board with a substantial monetary donation. And when | say substantial, | mean hundreds of millions of dollars. This hospital needs several renovations done. If she can offer the board the money they want or need, she can negotiate and add a clause stipulating that you will take my place as nurse administrator, she admitted.

| smiled. | could use my trust fund without having to burden my mother.

“Thank you, Great Aunt Lindsay | said. TIl see what | can do.” “Tis of the essence, Ford,” she wamed. | will be announcing my retirement by next week. Good luck.” | left my grandaunt’s office feeling hopeful. After Theodore is discharged, | will visit the hospital director and offer him a cash grant that he wont be able to refuse, thus solidifying my status in this hospital where I can continue my rule without any further resistance.

| wanted to celebrate. | looked for Emma to take her up on her offer, however she suddenly reneged... the cu nt.

And now | was racing like a mad man to Theodore’s suite.

CHAPTER 109 Tof Death “Enough, Doctor Lewis, Doctor Morrison said as | arrived at the suite. | found Doctor Lewis s gone.” performing CPR, hoping to revive Theodore Cohen. “I said enough, Doctor Lewis. He's Doctor Lewis stopped doing chest compressions and glanced at the huge clock hanging on the wall. He sighed before announcing what no one wanted to hear.

“Tof death... one minute after eleven in the morning.” Chapter Comments Morgan POST COMMENT I'd really like to learn about the main story. Not sure why | need to know Emma, Ford, or any of these characters.

we've been at 11 am on this day for almost 3 weeks now.

VIEW 1 COMMENT > 4 a 777 The Joy of Revenge CHAPTER 110 Fault Lindsay Hartman As soon as the elevator doors opened to the third floor, | hurriedly walked out, my black pumps making a staccato tapping sound on the ceramic tiles of the hospital floor.

| heard the voice on the PA system announce, “Code Blue. Cohen,” but maybe | heard wrong...

Maybe his doctors have already revived him and it was just something they overlooked.

Halfway down the hall, | saw Ford leaning against the doorway of the VIP suite, his head resting on his arm while he repeatedly kicked the frof the door in anger.

| abruptly stopped in the middle of the hallway. My mouth immediately went dry, beads of cold sweat suddenly appeared above my brow, while the sound of my galloping heartbeat filled my ears.

| was terrified of what the implications would be forand this hospital now that Theodore Cohen had died on my watch.

What happened? Theodore was as strong as a horse.

Dr. Rachel Morrison and Dr. Mitchell Lewis appeared from the room, pausing at the doorway to give Ford sinstructions before proceeding towards the elevators. They both shook their heads sadly as they approached me, defeat clearly in both of their eyes.

“I've instructed Nurse Martin to bring Theodore Cohen’s body to the morgue, Nurse Hartman,” Dr. Morrison informedwithout even greetingfirst. She was a slim dark- haired woman in her forties, bright, and the Department Head of the Department of Cardiology. She looked grief-stricken... her lower lip was trembling and | could see tears welling up at the corner of her eyes. “If you will excuse me, | need to make a painful phone. call and inform Mayor Cohen his father has passed away.” | nodded my head, acknowledging her simple request. She placed her hands in the pockets of her white doctor's coat, lowered her head to hide her face and quickly leftwith Dr. Lewis to use the elevator.

“What happened, Mitchell?” | asked Dr. Lewis. He was one of our newly hired attending physicians specializing in orthopedic surgery. He was of average height and build, bald with CHAPTER 110 Fault “He suddenly went into cardiac arrest, Nurse Hartman, he answered, shaking his head in disbelief. “Rachel and | were in his room doing dur last routine check-up so we can start the paperwork to discharge him this afternoon.

He was laughing, clearly in good spirits and appeared to be in good health. But right after | was done with my assessment of his arm, Rachel checked his heart sounds and said she heard something that concerns her. She was checking his ECG print-out for arrhythmias when all of a sudden he lost consciousness and flatlined. It just happened so fast. | tried my hardest to revive him, but there was nothing more | could do.” “Do you ou suspect any foul play?” | asked. Dr. Lewis shook his head.

“No, | don’t, Nurse Hartman,” Dr. Lewis replied, peering atthrough his glasses. “Theodore Cohen was diagnosed with an underlying condition several months back and has been taking maintenance medication since then. Unfortunately, one’s health can worsen when we least expect it. Perhaps, given the trauma he experienced several days ago, his condition worsened even though he appeared to be in good health. Complications of smoke inhalation can appear after four to five days.” “Do you think Rachel may have missed something?” Dr. Lewis raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Nurse Hartman, are you implying Dr. Morrison was at fault?” “Of course not. It was just a simple question,” | said quickly.

“Dr. Morrison has been monitoring his ABG along with his ECG. If you want to point the finger at someone, point it at the one who is never around when you need them,” he said openly, frowning at me.

“Thank you, Dr. Lewis. I'll have Nurse Martin transfer the deceased to the morgue and I'll personally wait for the mayor so he can say his goodbyes before transferring the body to the mortuary of his choosing,” | said.

“Please offer my condolences to the Mayor,” Dr. Lewis said. “Now if you can excuse me... | have patients | need to attend to.” He gently pattedon the shoulder and quickly walked to the elevator.

| sighed and continued to the VIP suite to assist Ford. | noticed two of Liam's bodyguards seated beside the doorway, looking straight ahead at the wall across from them, both appearing to be in shock. | decided I'd take care of them after Theodore’s body was transferred to the que 2/7 CHAPTER 110 Fault It was like | was standing in a surrealistic nightmare. Theodore Cohen was indeed dead! “Nurse Martin,” | gently called out to Ford to grab his attention, however he didn’t respond. He was standing beside the dead body of Theodore Cohen laying on the hospital bed covered with a white blanket. An empty stretcher stood waiting behind him. | patiently waited for a few more moments, allowing Ford to say his goodbyes, before | called out to him again.

“Ford!” He jumped, startled by the sound of my voice. He moved his head to look atand | saw me, Great the fear in his eyes. “I promised Liam I'd take care of his father. He's going to kill Aunt Lindsay.” “Ssshhhh. | spoke with Dr. Lewis. There was nothing more that they could do... that we could do,” | said. “Wheel the deceased to the morgue and wait foroutside. We need to be prepared for Mayor Cohen's arrival.” Ford nodded his head and sprung into action. After he had thoroughly wrapped Theodore Cohen's body, he positioned the body near the edge of the bed. | quickly went to Theodore Cohen’s head and helped Ford move the body to the stretcher.

After he left, | handed the two bodyguards swater and urged them to wait for the mayor downstairs.

| had gotten them up from their seats when Sheriff Combs appeared with a set of deputies following him.

“Why are you here, Sheriff Combs? Where's Mayor Cohen?” | asked puzzled.

“Lindsay, it was part of protocol to alertfirst if anything happened to Theodore. Terry was the one who alerted me,” he replied, pointing at the bodyguard on my left. “I need this place cordoned off to everyone else and | need a list of all the people who had access to Theodore. For now, I'm treating this as a potential crscene.” He glanced at the room. “Where's the body?” “Thad a nurse transfer the body to the morgue,” | answered.

“Alright, Ill have the medical examiner conduct an autopsy. She's on her way,” he said. “Deputies, | need you to seal the room off and | need you to search all the rooms on this floor for anything out of the ordinary. Lindsay, | need that list as soon as possible and no one, | mean no one, leaves this hospital until I've cleared them. This is a homicide investigation until the medical examiner establishes cause of death.” guy CHAPTER 110 Fault “Sure, I'll get that list for you. | just need to go to my office on the fourth floor,” | said, flustered. Theodore’s death was a now crscene What was happening? “By the way, before you go, | need all the footage from the CCTV cameras and the list of people at the pharmacy as well as the list of his medications,” the Sheriff further instucted, believing | had access to everything he needed.

| coughed, clearing my throat.

“Sheriff Combs, I'm sorry. | am not the hospital director nor | am the hospital's CEO. | can get you the list of nurses who was under Theodore’s service, but regarding the other things need, I'm afraid you'll have to talk to our hospital director Dr. Michael Smith or our CEO Dr. Nora Williamson for all the information you need.” you “Dr. Nora Williamson?” He croaked.

ww | rolled my eyes. They still can’t be fighting? “Yes, Dr. Williamson. Her office is on the fifth floor right above mine,” | said, pausing to look at who just exited the elevator. “And you're in luck! Here she comes right now.” He quickly ... uhm.

turning red.

e you doing here? And why are your deputies placing yellow tape all iled apologetically at Dr. Williamson, gestured to the bodyguards to leave and quickly made my exit. | took the elevator to the first floor and headed to the nurse's station.

| found Rodney finishing his charts while Pam was talking to the new hire, Emma Clarke.

“Pam, | need you to tell all the nurses on duty today that no one leaves until they are questioned by the police.

This is regarding Cohen's death.” | turned and left to get the list the Sheriff requested. As expected the whispers began as soon as | left.

Ford had nothing to do with this. Dr. Rachel Morrison... she was at fault.

4/7 CHAPTER 110 Fault Sheriff Combs Of all the people | had to deal with, it had to be her.

Nora Williamson was my childhood sweetheart until she decided to leaveto pursue medicine. By the tshe cback, | was married to my Julie while she was a newly hired. attending physician.

| had to admit, she looked good for an older woman. Underneath her doctor's coat, she was wearing a gray pantsuit paired with a pink blouse. Her straight long brown hair lay below her shoulders and her make-up was expertly done. She obviously took care of herself.

“Unlike you, I'm a busy person, Sheriff. It’s either you deal withor I'm calling our lawyer.

Well?” Nora-" “Dr. Williamson, if you don’t mind. She took offense by my use of her first name. Doctors! “Fine. Dr. Williamson. Since there has been a threat to Theodore Cohen's life, | need to rule this out as a homicide. For now, this is ongoing investigation. Once the medical examiner has established Theodore Cohen died of natural causes, | will stop my investigation,” | explained. Her eyes narrowed icily.

“The way | see it, there is no crcommitted here,” Nora Williamson said, her voice low. “Theodore Cohen was a sick man and died of natural causes. Now, if there was foul play, one of my doctors would have reported it towhich would leadto call the proper authorities to investigate the matter. Just because the patient is a Cohen doesn’t mean he gets preferential treatment.” She suddenly took a step forward closing the gap between us to whisper in my ear. “From what | know of the Cohens, this is poetic justice. | remember this room. | remember treating a young lady who was brutally raped and if memory serves right, you didn’t arrest the people who were responsible for her being in that room. You remember her, right, Sheriff Combs?” Of course, | remembered. Nora screamed atin the utility room on this very floor to arrest Liam and the others. She said Joy Taylor wouldn't stop scribbling their names on whatever piece of paper she could get her hands on. Nora was sure Liam had raped Joy Taylor. She said Joy had no reason to lie.

CHAPTER 110 Fault | replied, avoiding her question. Her lips turned up into a scornful smile.

“You don’t have probable cause to question my staff, Sheriff. Whatever threats you say Theodore Cohen had received are from people outside this hospital,” she countered. “As for the body, you will have to get the permission of Mayor Cohen for an autopsy. Only then will this hospital release the body into your care. When the medical examiner finds proof of foul play, then I will allow you to question my doctors and nurses after you present a warrant.” | chuckled. The nerve of this woman to delay an investigation. | had to turn the tables on her.

“Are you hiding something from me, Dr. Williamson?” Her eyes widened in shock.

“Don’t you dare pin this on me, Sheriff! | am merely protecting this hospital from the likes of you!” She muttered through clenched teeth.

G od, this woman was a tiger! Roar! “If you don’t cooperate with me, Nora, | will release a statement about the man who entered this very hospital disguised as a nurse. It will ruin you and this hospital that you're protecting,” | said. “What do you think will happen to you? To this hospital? Hmmm...” She stared atangrily while she tapped her foot. | knew what was going through her head. If | went ahead and announced these allegations she will lose her job.

“Fine, do what you need to do. But I'm warning you... No statements until we get all the facts. Now, if you will excuse me. | need to call the board and do sdamage control.” “Nora, | want the footage of the CCTV cameras and a list of all his medications,” | said as she turned to walk to the elevator.

| watched her practically run away from me. Although she was right that Theodore’s death was poetic justice, | had to make sure it wasn’t Pete.

Because if it was him, it meant there were townsfolk loyal to him.

It also meant | would need to open up the killing fields again.