Dead Wrong

Joa

“It would be helpful, however,” Dr. Waller continued, “if we knew who she is. The emergency surgery had to go forward when it did, signed authorization or no, in order to save her life. But in order to treat her other injuries… Would it be possible for you to stop by to see if you can identify her?”

Joa

“Good,” Dr. Waller said. “Just check in at the desk in the lobby. I’ll send someone right down to bring you to ICU.”

Joa

“You won’t have to worry about finding us,” Isabel Duarte declared. “Larry and I will be right on your heels.”

Chapter 9

Joa

“Jea

“Maybe,” Joa

“Good luck,” Frank said. “It sounds like we need it.” Driving through Benson westbound on I-10, Joa

“This sounds bad,” Kristin said. “Is it?”

“We don’t know,” Joa

“I’ll get right back to you,” Kristin said. When she called back a few minutes later, she sounded dismayed. “The next-of-kin section is blank,” she said.

“What about the beneficiary of her group life insurance policy?” Joa

“All that’s listed here is the Humane Society of Southern Arizona,” Kristin returned. “What does this mean?”

“I don’t know,” Joa

The troubling lack of next of kin made Jea

Mulling this new revelation as she drove, Joa

Forty minutes after leaving Texas Canyon, Joa

Dr. Waller was good as his word. Once Joa

“Thank you for coming, Sheriff Brady. You made very good time.”

“There wasn’t much traffic,” she said, which was nothing less than an out-and-out lie.

“Let’s go upstairs and see if you can identify our patient for us,” he said, leading the way.

Upstairs in the surgical ICU waiting room, she was escorted past a group of anxious people gathered there. Once inside the unit, she was motioned into a rest room and directed to wash her hands before do

“The patients in this unit are very ill,” Dr. Waller explained. “We don’t take any u

When Joa

“It’s Jea

Supported by Dr. Waller’s steadying arm, Joa

“Just a little woozy,” Joa

Waller nodded. “I suspect she’s going to lose the sight in that one eye, and she’ll probably require reconstructive facial surgery, but what you saw in there was only the tip of the iceberg. She had severe internal injuries. We had to remove her spleen and one kidney. With all that and the amount of blood she had lost, it’s a miracle she made it to the hospital alive.”

“Will she live?” Joa

Waller shook his head. “Too soon to tell,” he said. “What I need now, though, is information-her name and the name of her next of kin. It would also help if you could provide any insurance information, although of course we’ll continue treating her in any case, regardless of whether or not she’s insured.”

While speaking, Waller had removed a PDA from a coat pocket. He paused with the stylus poised at the ready. “Did you say her name is Jea

“Jea

“Next of kin?”

“I don’t have that information right now,” she said. “Once I have it, I’ll get it to you right away.”

“The sooner the better,” Dr. Waller said, returning the PDA to his pocket. “I’ll be going then,” he added. “You can leave the gown and booties in a receptacle in the rest room.”

But Joa

Waller turned back to her. “Sheriff Brady,” he said, “with all due respect, I really can’t give you any additional information. Considering the new federally mandated patient confidentiality rules, I’ve probably said too much already. Since you’re not a parent or spouse or on a list to receive her private medical information…”

Joa

They were still at the nurses’ station. Dr. Waller glanced around as if concerned someone might overhear what was said. When he spoke, he did so in an undertone. “She was stripped naked, kicked, and stomped, and left to die,” he said at length. “And when I say kicked, I mean kicked within an inch of her life. She has severe internal injuries, several broken ribs, and compound fractures of both arms and legs. You already saw what they did to her face.”