Silent Fear, a Medical Mystery Read Online Free Page B

aged. Leo grabbed her right arm after putting the railing down. He jerked it up, took a second to choose the area, and lightly pressed the tip of his cigarette. For a second, Julia’s face lapsed into horrific surprise, and then an even louder scream pierced his eardrums. Leo felt rage. He whipped off her diaper, grabbed her legs up with his left hand, and ground out the cigarette in her buttocks.
     
     
    Chapter 3
     
    After Danny’s two morning cases, he arrived at the office to an overflow of patients. Some days the predictability of a schedule proved useless. One of his patients even requested that he see his wife because she came along and had never seen a doctor about her migraine headaches. They were convinced she had a tumor and thought they could fit in two appointments instead of one. It wasn’t convenient for his other patients who were killing time in the waiting room.
    The afternoon zoomed by and Danny hadn’t eaten lunch. He tossed his stethoscope on the couch under his Norman Rockwell fishing print and grinned. The picture stood for more than a pretty print. It represented some flow of continuity to his life – it had stayed right in his undisrupted office during most of the last year’s turmoil. His stomach started to grumble as his nurse, Cheryl, came through the open door.
    “Aren’t you going to eat what’s on your desk?” she asked.
    Danny strutted over to a vegetable assortment with dip, a piece of cake, and a cup of coffee.
    “Looks like left over party food,” Danny said.
    “You missed our late morning birthday break for Dr. Garner.”
    “I didn’t know Bruce grew older.”
    “He tried to keep this one quiet but that’s impossible around here.” Cheryl took the files in Danny’s outbox and put a telephone message on his desk. “Mark Cunningham called,” she said. “He asked for you to call him at the office.”
    Danny chewed a vegetable slice before answering. “I’ll get a hold of him right now.”
    “However, I know you didn’t eat lunch, so why don’t you take a little break while x-rays are being done on your patient?”
    “Thanks Cheryl. Appreciate the food.”
    “I think it’ll be closing time soon for most staff. How about rescheduling a few appointments?”
    “That’s fine, reschedule them for the first thing in the morning. I’ll let you know if I can get Harold to see my hospital patients while he’s making his own rounds.”
    “I’ll try, Dr. Tilson.”
    Danny called Harold as soon as he sat down. After giving Harold his patients’ names and information, Harold said, “No problem. I owe you.”
    Next, Danny called his attorney. “Mark, it’s Danny, did you get things ironed out with Rachel’s attorney?”
    “The paperwork from Phil Beckett confirmed the verbal agreement. When you want it, you’ve got two weekends a month for visitation with Julia.”
    “Thanks Mark. I’ll call Rachel and set it up for this weekend.”
    “Danny, what do you want to do about custody? I know you were going to give it some thought.”
    Danny stared at the birthday cake, which made him think of his baby girl who would have years of birthdays without him. That is, if things stayed the way Rachel wanted them. On the other hand, his own life could have more stability if he kept litigation out of his hair. He had more legalities in his life the last year than prominent TV judges. Mark cut into his thoughts and helped him out.
    “Even if we start proceedings, Danny, custody hearings, a trial, or even an agreement between two parties takes time. I’d advise you to go ahead in that direction. You can always back out later if you decide. Give it some thought and call me soon.”
    “Okay Mark. We’ll leave it at that.” Danny hung up and took a sip of cold coffee. He grimaced and masked it with cake as Bruce came in. “Happy birthday,” Danny said. “Sorry I missed the celebration.”
    Dr. Bruce Garner slid out the chair across from Danny. He needed the extra leg room.