“I’m looking into the recent shark incidents on the coast.”
Dr. Bush’s face went white, but she didn’t say anything, just looked down at the chart.
Minnow had to ask. “Were you here when they brought her in?”
Her.
When their eyes met, she had her answer already. The doc had the haunted look of someone who’d seen something they wished they could unsee.
“Wait, are you a reporter?” Dr. Bush asked.
“No, I’m a scientist. I study white sharks.”
She sighed. “Yeah, I was here from the beginning. You think you’ve seen it all, and then something like this comes in. It shattered even the toughest of our crew.”
“How’s she doing now?”
“She’s alive. Look, I can’t really give out patient information—confidentiality and all that.”
Suddenly Minnow had forgotten about her own bite. “What I really need is to talk to Angela herself, if at all possible, but I haven’t had any luck getting through. Is there any way you can help me?”
Doc looked surprised. “You know who it is, then.”
“Yeah, and trust me, the last thing I would do is go to the press with this. I’m just trying to put together the puzzle pieces. Is she in any shape to talk?”
“I thought you were here for that centipede bite.”
A nurse came in holding a paper cup and two pills.
“I am, I swear, but I was going to come up here anyway, so I guess the timing worked out. Look, I really need to see her.Please, help me.”
“Take those, and I’ll see what I can do,” Dr. Bush said, ducking out behind the curtain.
“What is that?” Minnow asked the nurse.
“Tylenol, and I have some lidocaine cream to rub on the bite.”
Minnow swallowed the pills and lay back, head on the pillow, and let the nurse rub the cold cream on the top of her foot and lower leg.
A moment later, Nalu popped his head in. “You gonna make it?”
She rolled her eyes. “That remains to be seen.”
“When do you get released?”
The nurse answered for her. “I just have a few forms for you to fill out, and then you’re free to go.”
“Good, because there is someone who wants to talk to you over in the main wing,” he said, wearing a smug look.
“What? Who?”
He glanced at the nurse. “You know who.”
Once the nurse left to get the paperwork, Minnow peered at Nalu. “How did you manage to get to her?” she whispered.
“I bribed the guard with malasadas.”
“Oh, get real.”
