Page 76 of Secret Weapon

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NINE

As I strolled toward the nurses’ station, the low-level buzz that hummed through my body gave me a taste of my old life.I was taking a risk coming to the hospital, of course I was, but not an excessive one.I’d missed this part of my job.The thrill of deception.Of convincing the world that I was a cute little pussycat when a Siberian tiger lurked beneath my skin.When I was eighteen, I’d roller-skated past a senator in hot pants and a tight little vest—that was me in the hot pants, not the senator, although I’d once run into another politician with that particular kink.Quite literally—I drove over him with a Mercedes sedan.Anyhow, while the senator was staring at my breasts, I’d hit him with the blow dart hidden in my lollipop.He thought he’d been stung by a wasp.

Five minutes later, he was dead and I was just another anonymous office worker, strolling along with a co-worker or perhaps a boyfriend, wondering what all the commotion was about.The man waiting with my change of clothes had been Vik—one of the few jobs I’d done with him.

Today, my team was mostly new.Ana and Hallie with me inside, and Alex in my Honda in the parking lot, watching for any unusual arrivals.The Craft Cabin didn’t open until ten o’clock on Sundays, so I could hang around for an hour or two.We’d even stopped at the gas station to get Ottie flowers.Chrysanthemums and gypsophila, orange and white and slightly wilted.Alex had grumbled and said they were second rate, but it was the thought that counted, right?And my thought was that the nurses would see the flowers as a nice gesture, and wasn’t it sweet that we’d dropped by to visit the poor girl.We’d picked up candy for the staff too.They were easily bought.

I didn’t recognise the nurse on duty, and her name badge was handwritten.Juanita.Either a newbie or a temp.But I spotted the nurse manager with her purse slung over her shoulder, just going off duty by the look of it.Shift change.When she turned in our direction, I caught her eye and waved.

“Hey, Tracie.How are the kids?”

“Oh, hey, Darla.Alfie won a prize at the science fair on Friday, but Chloe’s sick with the sniffles.”She pointed at her own surgical mask.“Here’s hoping I don’t pass anything on.Are you here to see Mr.Studebaker?Because he’s on the cardiac ward now.”

“Earle had another turn?”

“The doctors want to put in a stent, but you know what he’s like.”

Da, too stupid to live, too stubborn to die.His arteries were blocked worse than an LA freeway, and still he ate a fried breakfast at the Steak and Shake every morning.

“Did Viola May call the ambulance again?”

Tracie nodded.“She switched out his bacon for the low-sodium kind and started frying his eggs in olive oil, but…”

She spread her hands wide.What can you do?

“I’ll drop by to see him, but we actually came to visit with the poor girl who came in yesterday.We found her in the trees, and…” I shuddered for effect.“Miss Hayley here is a friend from her home town, and Miss Annabelle came for support.I know it’s a little early, but the Craft Cabin opens at ten, and…”

I let the sentence hang, and as I’d hoped, Tracie took the bait.

“Since it’s you.Really, she’s only meant to have two visitors with her at a time.”

“Oh, I’ll just get these folks some coffee and be on my way.Is Miss Ottie allowed flowers?I thought that when she wakes up, she should have something pretty.”

Tracie eyed the drooping bunch.“They might not last that long.”

Which told me Ottie’s condition hadn’t improved any.I made a sad face—one the general had made me practise because sympathy didn’t come naturally to me—and held out the box of chocolates.

“I know how hard you folks work.We’ll make sure to keep out of your way.”Juanita’s eyes lit up, and no, she wouldn’t give us any trouble.“If you see Marcia, could you let her know the stretched canvas she was waiting on arrived last Friday?”

“I sure will.”Tracie squeezed my hand.“Miss Marquette’s in the room over there.We’ll take good care of her.She’ll be having some tests this morning, but her friends can stay until then.”

“We really do appreciate that.”

Small talk wassotedious.Luckily, Tracie checked her watch and waved, and we were free to get on with our job.At least unconscious people didn’t chatter endlessly.

Rooms in the ICU were set around the nurses’ station, six private, four semi-private.Following a recent refurb, they’d gotten rid of the old curtains and replaced them with smart-glass dividers that could be turned opaque for privacy purposes, which made the place feel brighter, plus someone had painted the ceiling to look like the sky rather than the old greying tiles.I’d visited the hospital in Coos Bay many times in the past, not out of the goodness of my heart—I was heartless, I’d been told that many times—but because it never hurt to know your way around a medical facility.If you didn’t look out of place, it was all too easy to don a pair of scrubs and inject potassium chloride into the IV of a wealthy businessman who’d complained of chest pain, for example.Plus a hospital was basically one big supply closet.Where do you think the contents of my first aid kit came from?And before you judge, these places charged fifty dollars for an aspirin—they could afford to lose a few Band-Aids.

Hell, even their coffee machine was a rip-off.Three bucks for a bitter cup of sludge?

But I needed the caffeine.My head still hurt, and being rudely roused by Emmy hadn’t left me in the best of moods.The fact that I’d been made to skip breakfast had been the frosting on the cake.Not that I ate much frosting.It just wasn’t healthy.Sometimes when Brooke brought cupcakes to work, I took one to be polite, but I tried to stay healthy the rest of the time, the occasional sip of horilka excepted.

I loaded three black coffees onto a cardboard tray.Did Hallie take milk?I didn’t know, and I didn’t much care either.Another vending machine sold “Happy Valley Breakfast Bars,” whatever the fuck those were, and I figured they’d taste like shit but contain some kind of calories, so I added three of those too.Today, I was the Good Samaritan.

Beeping began as I headed toward Ottie’s room, and a pair of nurses ran past me.Seemed that some poor bastard was coding out.Still, he’d picked the best place to do it.Close to the morgue—more environmentally friendly.

Why was Ottie’s smart-glass frosted?

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