Jerrold returned. “The ambulance is on the way. Miss Jaylee, your daughter is making some phone calls. I’m going to put a little tube in your nose to your belly. It will help.”
Adelaide and Harper, dressed in cranberry scrubs, walked out beside two paramedics wheeling a stretcher with the elderly woman wrapped in blankets, despite the heat. Miss Jaylee’s daughter walked with them. A tube ran from old woman’s nose draining almost black liquid. Harper noticed Kip and Josh exiting a Tahoe and walking toward the entrance they’d exited.
Each nurse maintained a reassuring hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Miss Jaylee, you hang in there. They’re waiting for you at the hospital,” Adelaide said.
The two paramedics lifted the stretcher into the ambulance. “Momma, I’ll meet you at the hospital,” her daughter said as the old woman began to shake her head.
“She’s the fifth patient in two weeks. They’re all on that damn trial.” Adelaide sighed. “I can’t do this anymore.”
“Addy, what trial?” Harper asked. “The lunch with Lourdes—it was about Phase 2 of the Ovarix trial.”
“That’s the one. Lourdes started the patients on it three weeks ago. And those pharmaceutical company people—they are always here on treatment day.”
“They said it hadn’t started. How did I miss this?” Harper thought,I need to ask more questions.“I told Lourdes I wouldn’t administer the drug until I saw the written approval. Maybe that will slow this down—until I find a way to stop it.”
“They’ll show you that approval. Bless you, always tilting at windmills. They give the drug on Friday afternoons. You’ll see—those five follow-ups on the schedule? They’re all from the Manor. Harper, this isn’t right.” Adelaide held the door for her.
Both nurses, along with the nurse’s assistant, Marie, and the facility housekeeper, cleaned the room. “Harper, something’s going on. I checked; in July, there wasn’t one bleed in the office. Miss Jaylee makes six since the first dose. Something is causing this,” Adelaide whispered.
Harper crunched her brows. “You think it’s the drug?”
“What else would it be?” Adelaide turned her back on Marie.
“Have you said anything to anyone?” She scanned the room to see if they missed any trash or blood spatter.
“I spoke to Lourdes and Rene after the first patient. I marked it as an adverse event. When the patient came in for a second time, my note wasn’t in the record. Lourdes and Rene said I read too much into things, that my note would hurt the trial; it’s a normal anomaly.” She huffed, “They tampered with the medical record.
“Harper, I can’t prove it, but…last week they brought in patients from the nursing home. They all had such severe dementia, they had no idea what we were doing to them. Yet, they all had signed consent. Harp,noneof them had ovarian cancer.” Beads of sweat covered her upper lip. “This is too much for me to deal with. I need to worry about my girls.”
“Do you think you’re in danger?” Harper faced her friend.
“Forget it.” Adelaide dumped her gloves in the trash. “How about I go across the street and get us some coffee?”
“I love their chocolate muffins. I’ll go with you,” Harper said. “I need to finish something up quickly, and then we can go. “
Harper tiptoed into the pharmacy room, where she unlocked the cabinet and looked around. There was no vial labeled Ovarix. She hoped Adelaide was wrong.
* * *
Kip focusedon the stacks of paperwork on his desk.
“Kip?” Elin stood in the doorway.
He looked up. “Come in.”
“I filed your white folders in white binders after I composed a spreadsheet of non-essential employees, family members’ names, pets, evacuation site, transportation, New Orleans address and flood and wind preparation needs. I created another spreadsheet with only employee name, New Orleans address, prep needs, and sector. That information will be emailed to our contractors at your go.”
Kip smiled. “Great, send that now.”
“Got it. I’ll continue with level-one operators’ families. I’ll include supervisor and assignment location. Any particular color?” Elin asked.
“Your choice. Keep it consistent.” His colleagues warned him not to micromanage. Elin was making it easy.
Kip’s cell rang. “Yeah, Boss,” he said to Kieran.
“You scared them. The Sommerstones plan on putting an email out to their employees at 1900 hours today.”
Kip looked at his watch. “I’ll push up the inspection schedule. And I need to prepare a statement to Sommerstone staff.” He paused. “Kieran, thank you.”
