The Other Daughter Read Free Page A

difference between a cardiac surgeon and God is? God doesn't think he's a cardiac surgeon.
    “We got it,” Dr. Chen said a bit testily.
    “Uh-huh.” Dr. Harper sauntered over to the bed. Then he spotted the little girl sprouting tubes and drew up cold, looking honestly shocked. “My God, what
happened
?”
    “Anaphylaxis reaction to unknown agent.”
    “Epi?”
    “Of course.”
    “Give me the chest X ray.” Dr. Stokes held out a hand, peering at the girl intently and checking her heartbeat.
    “We got it under control!”
    Dr. Stokes raised his head just long enough to look the younger M.D. in the eye. “Then, why, Dr. Chen,” he said somberly, “is she lying there like a rag doll?”
    Dr. Chen gritted his teeth. “I don't know.”
     
     
    MIDNIGHT. THE DOCTOR entered the executioner's room and took up position against the back wall, his hands clasped behind him. The executioner picked up the phone connected to the governor's office.
    He heard dial tone.
    He recradled the receiver. He counted off sixty seconds.
    He stared at Russell Lee Holmes, who sat in the middle of the death chamber with his lips peeled back from his scarecrow teeth in an idiot's grin.
    “He's too dumb to know what's going on,” the doctor said.
    “Don't matter now,” the executioner said.
    His watch hit 12:01. He picked up the phone. He still heard the dial tone.
    He hit the main inducer button and 440 volts/10 ohms of electricity surged through Russell Lee Holmes's body.
    The lights dimmed in the Death House. Three inmates roared and clapped while one curled beneath his cot and rocked back and forth like a frightened child. The relatives of the victims watched stoically at first, but when Russell Lee's skin turned bright red and began to smoke, they turned away. Except for Brian Stokes. He remained watching, as if transfixed, while Russell Lee Holmes's body convulsed. Abruptly his feet blew off. Then his hands. Behind Brian, his mother screamed. He still didn't look away.
    And then it was simply over.
    The doctor entered the death chamber. He'd wiped Vicks VapoRub beneath his nose to block out the smell. It wasn't enough, and his nose crinkled as he inspected the body.
    He looked at the middle window, into the executioner's room. “Time of death is twelve-oh-five.”
     
     
    “I GOT DRUG screen results!” Sherry plowed through the door, and Josh grabbed the reports, just beating out Dr. Harper Stokes.
    “She's positive for opiates,” Josh called.
    “Morphine,” Dr. Stokes said.
    “Narcan,” Dr. Chen ordered. “Point-oh-oh-five milli per kilo. Bring extra!”
    Sherry rushed away for the reversing agent.
    “Could she be allergic to morphine?” Josh quizzed Dr. Chen. “Could that be what caused the anaphylaxis reaction?”
    “It happens.”
    Sherry returned with the narcan and Dr. Chen quickly injected it. They removed the breathing tube and waited, a second dose already in hand. Narcan could be repeated every two to three minutes if necessary. Dr. Stokes checked the young girl's pulse again, then her heart.
    “Better,” he announced. “Steadying. Oh, hang on. Here we go…”
    The little girl was moving her head from side to side. Nancy drew a sheet over her and they all held their breath. The little girl blinked and her large eyes, a striking mix of blue and gray, focused.
    “Can you hear me, honey?” Dr. Stokes whispered, his voice curiously thick as he smoothed back her limp hair from her sweaty forehead. “Can you tell us your name?”
    She didn't answer. She took in the strangers hovering above her, the white, white room, the lines and wires sticking out of her body. Plump and awkward-looking, she was not a pretty child, Josh thought, but at that moment she was completely endearing. He took her hand and her gaze rested on him immediately, tearing him up a little. Who in hell drugged and abandoned a little girl? The world was sick.
    After a moment her fingers gripped his. A nice, strong grip considering her