Chapter 2 - The Degree Nobody Knew About
Julian’s parents arrived at St. Matthew Medical Center twenty minutes after Clara.
Teresa entered screaming.
Arthur entered demanding.
Neither asked what Clara had seen.
They only asked why surgery had not already happened.
The emergency physician, Dr. Ethan Rowe, initially believed Julian might be suffering from an intestinal obstruction complicated by severe electrolyte disturbances.
An abdominal scan showed inflammation.
His blood pressure was unstable.
His heart rhythm was worsening.
Surgery had been considered.
Then Clara noticed the laboratory pattern.
By midnight, the operating room had been canceled.
Julian remained unconscious in intensive care.
Teresa cornered Clara outside the unit.
“You did this.”
Clara looked at her.
Teresa’s pearl necklace trembled against her throat.
“If Julian dies because you refused that surgery, I will destroy you.”
Arthur stood behind her.
“You’ve been poisoning him against this family for years.”
Clara almost laughed.
“Interesting choice of words.”
Arthur’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
Clara noticed.
She noticed everything now.
Dr. Rowe emerged from intensive care.
“We’ve stabilized his cardiac rhythm.”
Teresa rushed forward.
“Is he waking up?”
“Not yet.”
“What caused this?”
“We’re waiting on additional testing.”
Arthur crossed his arms.
“What testing?”
“Toxicology.”
Arthur frowned.
“For what?”
Dr. Rowe looked toward Clara.
She answered.
“Anything capable of producing severe potassium depletion, abnormal sodium, dehydration, muscle weakness and cardiac instability.”
Teresa stared.
“What are you talking about?”
Clara slipped her phone into her handbag.
“Medicine.”
Serena, seated several yards away, looked up sharply.
Arthur laughed once.
“You read three websites and suddenly you’re a physician?”
“No.”
Clara reached into her bag.
She removed her wallet.
Opened a concealed compartment.
And handed Dr. Rowe a card.
Arthur leaned closer.
Teresa’s mouth slowly opened.
The card read:
Clara Emerson Vance, M.D.
Former Fellow, Emergency Medicine and Clinical Toxicology.
Teresa looked as if she had been slapped.
“You’re a doctor?”
“I was.”
Arthur snatched the card from Dr. Rowe.
“This is fake.”
Dr. Rowe took it back.
“It isn’t.”
“How would you know?”
“Because I know her name.”
Clara turned toward him.
Rowe continued.
“Clara Emerson published the Emerson-Hale emergency electrolyte protocol eleven years ago.”
Serena stood.
The movement was abrupt.
Clara noticed that too.
Dr. Rowe glanced between them.
“You worked at Johnsbridge?”
“For five years.”
“What happened?”
Clara’s face hardened.
“I left medicine.”
Teresa recovered first.
“You married into this family and never told us?”
“You never asked me anything about my life that didn’t involve Julian.”
Arthur stepped closer.
“You lied.”
“No. You assumed.”
The intensive-care doors opened.
A nurse hurried toward Dr. Rowe.
“Doctor.”
She whispered something.
Rowe’s expression sharpened.
He walked away with her.
Serena picked up her handbag.
“I should go.”
Clara turned.
“No.”
Serena stopped.
“No?”
“You were with Julian when he collapsed.”
“I already told the police what happened.”
“You told hospital security.”
Serena swallowed.
“What’s the difference?”
“The difference is hospital security protects the hospital.”
Clara stepped closer.
“The police investigate attempted murder.”
Teresa gasped.
Arthur said nothing.
Serena’s face went white.
Then Dr. Rowe returned.
He held a printed page.
“We have the first toxicology result.”
Clara waited.
Rowe looked directly at her.
“High concentration of a prescription diuretic.”
Serena blinked.
Teresa frowned.
“So?”
Clara asked the only question that mattered.
“Does Julian have a prescription?”
“No.”
Arthur suddenly looked toward Serena.
Serena shook her head.
“I didn’t give him anything.”
May you like
Nobody had accused her.
Not yet.
