Page 79 of Death on Riddle Road
“BMI — I know that.”Clara is a warrior in case I haven’t mentioned that.Unlike me, who prefers to stand behind a column, hoping the battle skirts around me and — especially — hoping no one recognizes me.“But not what those other letters stand for.”
Rose Gleiner breathed out shortly in one of those signs of impatience that was hard to call someone on, but also hard to miss.“CTI is Certificate of Terminal Illness.Required for this hospice — most hospices.
“MAC is mid-arm circumference.It and BMI — body mass index — are indicators of nutritional deficit which is frequently tied to a patient’s decline.”
When she paused, Clara prompted her with, “IPU?”
Definitely a warrior.I would have let it slide.
“Inpatient unit.A residential facility such as this, as opposed to in-home hospice care.”
“Was in-home care considered for Derrick?Why did he come to Kentucky Manor?”
“Home care was listed as a medical option in his case.I do not know why the family opted for our facility.For some it is the practicality of the care required.Others don’t want to be as close to it as is required when it is in their home.Having the dying patient in a residential facility gives them an illusion of being buffered from death.
“Death is as natural a part of life as every other aspect.Meeting that death while in hospice care is as varied as the humans about to meet their death.Then multiply the differences by the people in their lives.It’s exponential.Pain.Fear.Sorrow.Confusion.Acceptance.Even, at times, joy.Very few in hospice, however, have serenity.”
“Grief,” Clara said.“You didn’t include grief.”
Rose turned to Clara.“I knew your mother-in-law.”
“I know.”
“I didn’t make the connection when I spoke with you previously.”Something I interpreted as respect edged into her voice.“I didn’t make the connection with the person who cared for her.”
I’d take any odds that Donna had filled in that gap for her.Though, possibly it was Carol or Linda.
Whoever did, it was another display of the kind of network that existed in the community.The community that had suffered a fissure, as Clara said, that hadn’t fully healed after Jaylynn’s murder and now was reopened.
Briskly, Rose added, “What do you want to know?”
Clara didn’t hesitate.“For starters, why did he come here — I mean rather than another facility?”
“We’re by far the best.”
Her professional pride didn’t leave room for any other possibility and might have seemed a roadblock to Clara’s questioning, but she didn’t hesitate.
“How did people react to Derrick being brought here?The patients—”
“Few were aware enough to know his identity and even fewer to care.The dying seldom succumb to the self-indulgence of outrage.”
The self-indulgence of outrage.That was quite the phrase.I’d have to share it with Kit.
Clara’s eyes widened and I knew she’d been struck by it, too.But that didn’t stop her.
“The families of patients?”she asked.
“More aware of his presence than the patients, but few made the connection to my knowledge.Or, if they did, they didn’t care enough to raise it.The families are, understandably, focused on their dying relative, as well as each other.It takes a great deal to draw them out of that circle.”
Like a murder?I’d bet a lot more of them knew now that Kentucky Manor had housed the notorious murderer, Derrick Dorrio.For a short time, anyway.
“But the staff — the staff had to be aware,” Clara said.
“Yes.The administration informed the medical staff and caregivers.The word quickly spread among all employees.”
I wondered if the sheriff’s department was checking for connections to Jaylynn among Kentucky Manor employees.
“What was their reaction?”Clara asked.
