Martin leaned down and hugged him. "What a mess we are. Not your fault. You listen to me: I need you. Listen to your medical team."
"I’ll try. I need you too, Marty. Now go be with Elizabeth." Austin's eyes closed under the strain.
The soft Irish brogue floated toward him from the man leaning over Elizabeth. "Love, I'll roll you back in a moment. Just need to annoy you first." Across the bed from Jamie O'Reilly stood Eric Seton. Two women sat near her.
"Dr. Weiss and Dr. Bey, this is Martin Bailey. Martin, give us a minute," Eric said.
The two women rose, and Joyce Bey wrapped her arms around him. "I'm Joyce. I'm so happy to meet you. Beth always tells me I’m crazy to believe in fairy tales. Here you are."
As he continued to process Austin's memories, irrational guilt stabbed at him for failing to protect Elizabeth. "Um, Dr. Bey, I'm pleased to meet you. You too, Dr. Weiss."
"Joyce, you’re scaring the man. She's a pediatric surgeon for that reason. She does better with kids. I’m happy you found us," Ruth said.
Jamie covered Elizabeth. "All right, all done. You should be more comfortable. We’re trying to flush the poison from her. Doctors Bey and Weiss and Eric and I were just discussing the case. Her cardiac symptoms should be abating, but they’re as strong if not stronger than when she was admitted."
Martin kissed Elizabeth and weaved his fingers with hers. "I'm here, Sunshine. Joyce and Ruth, I want to thank you for coming."
Joyce spoke at ninety miles per hour. "Like Ruth said, I'm glad you found us. Beth and I did our residency together, the only women in the surgical program. Ruth was our internship director. Marty, she's so in love with you. Every guy she's dated, if you could call it that, was never you. I almost tried to find you myself. She can be so stubborn."
He had trouble processing Joyce’s words. Martin sat in the chair beside her bed, never releasing Elizabeth's cold fingers. "Are the poisons long-acting?"
Jamie opened up the computer. "We were discussing the issue and ruled out a lot. We believe Elizabeth ingested whatever this is. Martin, did she have any symptoms before she collapsed? Anything unusual? Anything you would attribute to something else?"
He rubbed his brows. "Elizabeth doesn't eat a lot. She said she wanted to go to sleep, and she complained of a headache. With the hours she keeps, I didn't overthink it."
"Martin, that face. What?" Eric asked.
"The hostage thing." Martin lifted his chin.
"What hostage thing?" Ruth's brows fretted.
"The day before Elizabeth got sick, a patient's boyfriend took her hostage. The animal dislocated her left shoulder. Inside the treatment room, Vi...Patrick took her vitals. She was shaking, but her pulse was 72, and her blood pressure was low. It didn't make sense to me. I figured she controlled her vitals as a surgeon, like I can as a...um, working in security." He avoided the word sniper, not wanting to frighten her friends.
"I'm paging Hedges." Eric pulled out his phone.
"What?" Martin’s eyes narrowed.
Ruth explained to Martin how head injuries affected vital signs. "A bunch of drugs slow a patient's heart. Common side effects are headache and fatigue. I'm sure the aneurysm contributed to the headache, but not the combination of low pulse and BP."
"So how do we find out and flush out her system?" Martin asked.
"We can run blood and urine to hunt. Not much more can be done than we’re currently doing without knowing specifics," Jamie said what Martin feared.
After Joyce and Ruth left for the hotel, Martin collapsed in the chair beside Elizabeth. "Sunshine, you need to tell me about Joyce. She must be fun at parties. She loves you. Ruth does too.
"What you did for Austin is a miracle, Sunshine. I hate to ask, but I want a second one. I need you to come back to me. I want you to meet my new friend; she's a real looker. She's tiny with wavy blonde hair, huge blue eyes, a little nose, and pouty lips. She stole a piece of my heart. Her name is Lola. She's about five pounds. Her momma died.”
Martin told her Lola's story. "She's not Grace's replacement. But together, we could give her a second chance." His voice cracked.
Chapter Eighteen
Martin looked up in time to see Zach walk down the hall toward Elizabeth’s room. Because Zach was part of her legal team, no one would question them speaking. “How is she doing?”
“She seems to be getting worse.” Martin sighed. “Talk to me.”
“They served the warrant. Reed was notified. Beth changed her health proxy but did not change her financial trust, so Reed has control of that.” Zach looked down. “I’m sorry. The cleaning crew found it and left it on the dresser. Logan has the letter from Beth’s mom.”
“Not your fault.” Martin looked at Elizabeth.
