I took a seat in the lobby near the elevator on Callie’s floor, watching people stride past me in both directions, while also noting the quiet efficiency of the nurses as they darted in and out of rooms. I’d always believed nurses were underappreciated. Half an hour passed, then an hour, but after a couple of years of doing not much of anything, I’d become good at waiting. One by one, physicians began exiting the elevator, but the first four were not the ones I needed. Excellent detective that I am, I noticed that all of them had been males.
The blue-eyed blonde with a bob cut arrived a few minutes after that, looking harried as she exited the elevator, files in hand.
“Dr. Nobles?” I asked, rising from my seat.
She turned. “Yes?”
“I was hoping I could speak with you about Callie.” I introduced myself, indicating that there was a HIPAA form on file. “I know you’re busy and probably have a lot of patients to visit, but I’d really love a few minutes of your time.”
“You’re with Callie?”
“Kind of,” I hedged. “For now, anyway.”
“How well do you know her?”
“Not well. I spent some time with her this afternoon, but I’m not family. I’m not sure she’d even consider me a friend. But it’s important that I speak with you about her situation.”
“Who are you?”
I explained my relationship, adding that I was also a physician, and we went through the same song and dance that I had with Dr. Manville.
When I finished, she looked down the hall toward Callie’s room, then back to me again. “Yeah,” she finally said. “Okay. You said the form is on file?”
When I nodded, she went on. “I’ll need to check on that, but do you want to meet in her room in a few minutes?”
“Is there any way we could speak someplace more private?”
She glanced at her watch and did a quick mental calculation. “All right. But it can’t be long. I’ve got a full house tonight,” she said. “Let’s go to the lounge.”
After she checked the computer in the nurses’ station, we took the elevator down to the lounge and found a seat at a small table.
“What can I do for you?” she asked.
“I was wondering if you had the results of the bone marrow biopsy yet.”
“If you don’t know her that well, how do you know she had a bone marrow biopsy? And why did she give you permission to speak with me in the first place?”
“I blackmailed her.”
“Excuse me?”
“I threatened to call the police. It’s a long story, but hopefully, she’ll stick around until she’s better. And for now, you’re free to speak with me.”
“Blackmailing her might have invalidated the form.”
“Or it might not. I’m not a lawyer. However, the form is on file, so you’re technically in the clear.”
She still didn’t look persuaded but finally shook her head. “Frankly, it might make things easier to be able to speak with you. She’s been a difficult patient so far and I’m uncertain what to make of all of it.”
“In what way?”
“I don’t get the feeling that anything she’s told me is true.”
Likewise, I thought. “I can’t help you there. I was more interested in her medical condition.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Can you give me a quick run-through about her case? Just the highlights.”
“For some of this, you might want to speak with the neurologist or the orthopedist.”
“I will if I need to,” I said.
She nodded. “As you know, she was admitted with a head injury and compound fractures to her arm. The head CT indicated a subdural hematoma. She drifted in and out of consciousness, and we kept her under close evaluation while we waited for the storm to break. The hospital here doesn’t normally operate on heads, so we transfer those out. But the helicopters were grounded, roads were still flooded, and there was concern that the transport would further increase her risk. Meanwhile, the fluid continued to build, and her condition grew steadily worse. We finally made the decision to perform the craniotomy at our hospital, and fortunately, a neurosurgeon from Vidant was able to make it down here despite the storm. The operation went well. Callie’s confusion and dizziness almost immediately subsided and she’s been conscious ever since. She’s no longer slurring her words and has full motor function, too.”
“She seemed okay when I spoke to her.”