Page 45 of Unexpected Danger
“No, I haven't seen him since he left early this morning. I expect him back anytime.”
“All right. I’ll brief him. How’s your throat?”
“Still sore.” Londyn gently massaged it with her hand.
The door opened, and Dorena walked in. Her eyes flitted between Londyn and Officer Robinson. “Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt.” She slowly backed toward the door.
“You have perfect timing,” said Officer Robinson. “I was just about to come find you and ask you a few questions.”
“Me?” Dorena’s voice rose several octaves, and she fiddled with her lanyard. “Why would you need to ask me questions? What’s going on?” Either Dorena was a gifted actress, or she truly did not know why Officer Robinson was there.
“I need to mention that I will be recording this conversation.”
Dorena nodded and fidgeted with the stethoscope around her neck. After securing Dorena’s full name and information about where she lived and how long she had been an employee at Pronghorn Falls Memorial, Officer Robinson began her formal questioning. “Ms. Siegler mentioned that a man attempted to strangle her with the phone cord earlier today.”
“That is awful!” Dorena held a hand to her mouth. “Officer, I just figured that she was having confusion because she suffered a serious concussion in the car accident she was involved in.”
“Did you notice the mark on her neck when you examined her after the occurrence?”
Dorena took several steps forward and squinted in Londyn’s direction. “No, I didn’t notice.”
“Do you know a man by the name of Dustin Haack?”
“I don't.”
“Did you see the man who was in the room with Ms. Siegler?”
Dorena nodded. “I think so. He's a sheriff, isn't he?”
“Not him. The one who was in here about forty-five minutes ago.”
Several seconds ticked by before the dawn of realization occurred. “Oh, him. No, I haven't ever seen him before. I just—uh—assumed he was Londyn's boyfriend.”
Officer Robinson continued her line of questioning. “Ms. Siegler mentioned that she pressed the call button numerous times to get your attention, but no one arrived.”
Dorena pressed her thin lips into a fine line, causing them to nearly disappear. Finally, she spoke. “We are short-staffed today, so if she did press the button multiple times, I do apologize. In addition, we had a patient with a severe allergic reaction to their medicine. Please accept my apology.”
Officer Robinson scribbled something in her notebook. “Explain to me the protocol for cleaning up a patient's room.”
“Sure. We do have some guidelines for that, and since Ms. Siegler does have a few open wounds from her car accident, she is vulnerable to infection. Whenever someone is vulnerable to infection, that necessitates us cleaning the room more often. For whatever reason, the vase with flowers in it was on the floor, the water spilled, and the plastic vase was broken with pieces everywhere. This necessitated us to call housekeeping and have them come and clean. We have a strict policy here to maintain cleanliness.”
Officer Robinson finished the interrogation, and another officer was on their way to sit guard outside Londyn’s room until Brodie arrived. Even so, every time the door opened, Londynflinched. Fortunately, it was only Dorena taking her vitals, and one time the cafeteria brought her a meal. Londyn sat up with some difficulty and reached for her phone to see if it had finished charging. Thankfully, she’d had that in her pocket when she was rescued. As for her gun, which she’d tucked into the glove compartment in its holster, and the rest of her possessions, she had no way of knowing what condition the accident left them in. Although after the real possibility of losing her life, none of her belongings meant much to her, besides her Bible, the framed pictures, and maybe her porcelain dolls.
Her phone was seventy percent charged when it rang. At first, she hesitated, but then realized it could be someone important like Brodie or Aileen. When she flipped over her phone, Aileen’s number flashed across the screen. The tension in her shoulders eased.
“Hi, Londyn. I’m just checking in and making sure you're all right.”
Tears stung her eyes, and Londyn spent the next several minutes speaking with Aileen. It was amazing how much more relaxed and reassured she felt after the call concluded. Londyn had just hung up when the phone rang again, and this time, Jasmine's image flashed on the screen.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Londyn. Just checking in to see if you made it to Pronghorn Falls since I didn't hear from you.”
“I did.”
“Good to know.” Jasmine sounded miffed, and Londyn was about to explain the delay when she continued. “We already miss you here. Sonja just placed the ad to find your replacement, but I know it's going to be a lot of extra work for us for the next few weeks until she hires someone else.”
“I'm sorry about that.”
