Deadly Diversion: A Medical Thriller Read Online Free

asked, her fingers tapping impatiently on the files in front of her. Judyth Lancelot was St. Teresa’s chief nurse, my boss. She wore a business suit in red, her signature color, with fingernails to match.
    “Guardino died this morning.”
    “I saw the report. Terminal, wasn’t he?” Her voice was clipped, businesslike.
    “Did you hear about his sons?”
    “Security called me. They want to know if we’re pressing charges.”
    “Are we?”
    She shrugged slightly. “The man’s father had just died.”
    “That doesn’t give him a reason to attack the staff!”
    “Aren’t you exaggerating a bit, Monika? As I understand it, he was distraught and just lashed out at everyone. He didn’t really assault anyone, at least not intentionally, and nobody got hurt, did they?”
    “Tim did.”
    “Oh?”
    “He got punched in the face.”
    She sighed. “It wasn’t anything serious, though.”
    “Judyth, a nurse gets hit and you just blow it off?”
    “Of course not, Monika. We don’t want anyone getting hurt, but I have to worry about the legal aspects. Tim’s going to be all right, isn’t he?”
    “His face is swollen. Probably a black eye is all,” I admitted reluctantly.
    “Is that it, then?”
    “No. I need to tell you about Bart Mickelson. He works nights and he should have called a full code on Guardino but he didn’t. He only did a partial, a B code.”
    I handed her the incident report.
    “Wasn’t the patient terminal?” She scanned the report and looked up.
    “Per the family’s wishes we issued an A code. Full resuscitation,” I said.
    “Shouldn’t he have been a C? Didn’t Lord arrange that?” Her mouth twisted with distaste. “I told him to get all the terminals down to C.”
    “That’s not the point. The man was a full code and Bart didn’t implement it.”
    “We’re thinking about going back to the old system,” she said. “These A, B, C codes are too confusing. It was better when they’re either a full code or no code. That way no one gets mixed up.” She gave me a small smile. “Like you said, he was terminal. Even if they could have resuscitated him—which I doubt—the man didn’t have long to live.”
    “Judyth, it’s against the law. Bart could lose his nursing license. And you and I, our licenses are on the line, too. We’ve got to report him.”
    She shook her head slowly. “Not now, Monika. We’ve got to get through this next accreditation visit and get the union off our backs.”
    “Judyth, it’s murder.”
    “No, Monika, it’s not. An error in judgment, maybe, but not murder. I think you’re overreacting a bit, aren’t you? It’s not like he didn’t try to resuscitate him at all.”
    “No, but—”
    “Sure you didn’t get hit instead of Tim?”
    “As a matter of fact, I did get hurt.” I touched the lump on the back of my head where I’d hit the wall. “What do you think the family’s going to do if they hear about this?”
    She leaned forward, squinting through smoke-tinted lenses. “You just keep quiet. The man was nearly dead anyway.”
    “So you don’t want to do anything? No discipline, no consequences?”
    “That would be the worst thing to do. It would make us sound like we knew he did something wrong.”
    “He did! And he threatened me, too.”
    “Who?” She frowned. “The man’s son?”
    “No. Bart.”
    “What’d he do?”
    “He just acted threatening,” I admitted.
    “Sounds like you’re overreacting again. Maybe he was just rude. He was upset over what happened and let his anger spill out on you.”
    “He was more than rude. For godsakes, Judyth, aren’t you going to do anything? What is it? The nursing shortage? Or our accreditation? You think you can’t get rid of any more nurses till after the accreditors come back? Or are you afraid of the Guardinos, afraid they’ll sue?”
    “We’re handling the shortage,” she replied. She glanced at her watch.
    “What about the state board?”
    “What about them?”