Victoria Houston - Loon Lake 14 - Dead Lil' Hustler Read Free

bent to lay Cody on the gurney, tuck the coverlet around him, and smooth the child’s hair back from his hot forehead.
    Sitting down on the one chair in the room, he waited. He checked his watch. Five minutes had passed since he walked through the automatic doors to the emergency room. He checked his watch again. Okay, he’d give it five more minutes. No. More.
    At a rustling of the coverlet, Osborne scrambled to his feet. He looked down to see Cody’s teeth clenched and grinding from side to side. A second later the boy’s body went rigid.
    Racing into the hall, Osborne shouted, “Help! He’s convulsing. Please, someone, help!”
    Two nurses in blue scrubs came running out of nearby rooms.
    “My grandson—he’s having a seizure,” said Osborne, pointing at the open door behind him. “Get a doctor.
Now
.”
    The first nurse hurried into the room and leaned over Cody. “Looks okay to me.”
    “A moment ago, he had a seizure,” said Osborne, struggling to control his fury. “I was a dentist for thirty years. I know a goddamn seizure when I see one. This is my grandson and I can tell you I
know
he had a seizure.”
    Before the nurse could reply, a young physician rushed into the room. Osborne closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to calm down. He told the doctor, “I know I’m overreacting but my mother died of spinal meningitis and these symptoms, Doctor…”
    “I understand. I’m on the trauma unit, I know what to look for,” said the physician who appeared to be all of twelve years old. After checking Cody’s vital signs, he had the child sit up and try to touch his chin to his chest. Meantime, the first nurse had left and a second arrived to take her place.
    Standing with his back to Osborne, the doctor spoke in a low tone to the nurse, “We need to move him to the ICU Isolation unit until we know if this is viral or bacterial. I’ll need tests run ASAP. Get someone else to cover other patients coming into ER.”
    He turned to face Osborne. “Dr. Osborne, I’m Dr. Schrieber. I’ll be attending your grandson. Please, the waiting room is right around the corner. I’ll keep you fully informed but right now—”
    “I’ll get out of the way,” said Osborne with a wave of his hand. “I have to reach his parents.”
    Entering the waiting area, Osborne spotted Lew across the room talking with his son-in-law, Mark. He started toward them but before he had taken two steps, a tall, heavyset man blocked his way. “Hey, Doc, what’s up? You in for brain surgery? Always knew you had a screw loose.”
    One look at Osborne’s face and Bud Jarvison backed off. “Sorry. Anything serious?”
    “Later, Bud.”
    “Okay, Doc. I’ll be here—got the old lady in recovering from surgery. Later, then, and sorry for the intrusion,” said Bud as he dropped his weight into a nearby chair.
    A hulking, loquacious man with an alcohol nose, Bud had a habit of greeting Osborne as if he were his best buddy—until someone more important showed up. It had been that way since childhood. Osborne usually managed to find a polite way to exit whenever he ran into the guy. Today he had no time for good manners.
    Relieved to get by Bud with no small talk, Osborne motioned for Lew and Mark to follow him into the hall and out of earshot of the people in the waiting room.
    “I reached Erin on her way back from Wausau. She should be here any minute,” said Mark. “How bad is it?”
    “Not sure yet. The doctor is running tests right now. I’m afraid it is meningitis but whether it’s bacterial or viral—we don’t know yet.”
    “What difference does that make?” asked Lew.
    “Bacterial can be treated with antibiotics, viral has to run its course. We have to hope that it’s viral—even with antibiotics bacterial can be deadly. That’s what my mother died of.”
    “What’s going on, Dad?” Erin ran toward them with a look that should never visit the face of a mother. “Dad? Mark?” As she neared, she burst