“Okay, okay,” Cal said, raising his hand and gesturing for Veena to calm down. “You are getting yourself too worked up here.” Cal looked at Durell. “How the hell could this Hernandez girl be thinking the way she is?”
Durell shook his head. “Beats me, but I think we’d better find out. Could there be some aspect of this succinylcholine strategy we’re not taking into consideration?”
“I can’t imagine,” Cal said. “The anesthesiologist was very specific in our hypothetical case. He said the victim should have a history of some kind of a heart problem; exactly what it was didn’t matter. The person should have had general surgery within twelve hours, and the drug be given in an existing intravenous line. That was it, wasn’t it?”
“That’s what I remember,” Durell said.
“She’s a medical student,” Veena added. “She knows about this stuff.”
“That shouldn’t matter,” Cal said. “We got the plan from an anesthesiologist, and he said it was foolproof.”
“She has arranged for two medical examiners to come to India,” Samira said.
“That’s right,” Veena agreed. “It’s not just she we have to think about.”
“And she mentioned my patient, Benfatti, to Veena, meaning she already knew about him,” Samira added.
“Once the information has been on CNN, anyone can know about it,” Cal said. “That’s not an issue.”
“But aren’t you worried about the medical examiners coming?” Veena asked. “They are forensic pathologists. It certainly worries me.”
“The medical examiners don’t worry me for two reasons: one, it sounds like from what you’ve said the Queen Victoria has no intention of allowing an autopsy to take place, and two, even if one was done and they found some evidence of succinylcholine, it would be attributed to the succinylcholine the patients are known to have been given as part of their anesthesia. The only thing that worries me to an extent is this Hernandez having a suspicion in the first place. What could have caused her to suspect anything?”
“Maybe it’s just paranoia on her part,” Durell suggested. “And the fact that there were two deaths back-to-back.”
“That’s an interesting idea,” Cal said. “You know, that could be it. Think about it. Out of the blue she finds out her grandmother is dead after surgery in India, of all places. She has to fly all the way here. Then the hospital pressures her to make a decision about what to do with the body before she’s ready. On top of that, there’s another, similar death. It’s enough to make anyone paranoid. Maybe the only lesson we should be learning here is not to do two in a row at the same hospital.”
“But Samira had a perfect patient,” Durell said, defending his girlfriend. “And she was eager. We have to reward that kind of initiative.”
“No doubt, and we did. You did a terrific job, Samira. It’s just from now on let’s not do the same hospital two nights in a row. We have to spread them out. After all, we have nurses in six hospitals. It doesn’t make sense to take any risks whatsoever.”
“Well, we’re not taking that kind of risk tonight,” Durell said.
“Is there another one tonight?” Veena asked apprehensively. “Don’t you think we should let things slide for a few days or a week, or at least until Jennifer Hernandez leaves?”
“It’s hard to stop with the success we’re seeing,” Cal said. “Last night in the States, all three networks picked up on CNN’s lead and ran segments about Asian medical tourism with the theme it might not be as safe as assumed. It was powerful.”
“It’s true,” Durell said. “The message is hitting home in a big way. Santana has heard from her CNN contact that they are already getting reports of medical tourism cancellations. You can’t argue with success, as my daddy always used to say.”
“What hospital is going to be involved tonight?” Veena asked, in the same serious tone. She was not trying to hide her opposition to another case so soon after the first two, especially since it had been she who had started the program.
“The Aesculapian Medical Center,” Cal said. “Raj called today to say that his patient David Lucas, who’s in his forties, was a terrific candidate. He’d had abdominal surgery to control obesity this morning. Cardiac-wise, he couldn’t be better. He had a stent inserted three years ago, so he’s known to have obstructive disease.”
“We’ve also made it easier,” Durell said. “We took Samira’s excellent suggestion about the succinylcholine. We now have our very own supply, so there will not be any dangerous sneaking around the ORs.”
“That’s right,” Cal said. “We got it today. Those are the kinds of suggestions we need to make this plan better and safer. I think we should pay bonuses for them to encourage such constructive thinking.”
“Then I think Samira should get a bonus,” Durell said, giving Samira a congratulatory squeeze.
“And Veena a bonus for breaking the ice,” Cal said. He gave Veena an equivalent hug, and the shapeliness and firmness of her body beneath her nurse’s uniform instantly turned him on.
“Does this mean you don’t plan on doing anything about Jennifer Hernandez?” Veena asked. She immediately pulled away from Cal. She was surprised Cal and Durell weren’t as concerned as she was about Jennifer’s interest in looking into her grandmother’s death. “I made the effort to find out where she was staying, thinking you’d want to know.”
“Where is she staying?”
“At the Amal Palace.”
“Is she now! What a coincidence, since that’s where we all stayed when we interviewed you women for Nurses International.”
“Cal, I’m being serious.”
“So am I. But I’m not going to have anything to do with that woman, not as one of the principals of Nurses International. Whereas you could without arousing any suspicion. If you are so concerned, why don’t you come up with a reason to meet her again and find out the source of her suspicions. I’m sure you’d find Durell is right, that it’s her own paranoia, and it will be a relief for you and for us to know there isn’t some clue we’re missing.”
“I couldn’t,” Veena said, with a shake of her head as if shivering off a touch of nausea.
“Why not?”
“Even just thinking of her gives me flashes of her grandmother’s face, contorting as she was dying, and even worse, I hear the grandmother thanking me all over again.”
“Then by all means don’t meet with her,” Cal said, with an edge to his voice. “I’m just trying to suggest how you can deal with your anxieties.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this at all,” Veena said suddenly.
“Now, let’s not go off the deep end. Remember, you don’t have to ‘do’ any more patients. You’re done. You were to start the ball rolling, that’s all. You’re in a supporting role now.”
“I mean, maybe none of us should be doing this.”
“It’s not your role to decide,” Cal stated. “Just consider it your dharmic duty to support the others. And remember, this activity has freed you from your father, and it is going to bring you and your colleagues, including Samira here, to a completely new freedom in America.”
Veena stood for a moment, nodding as if agreeing, then turned and left the room without saying anything additional.
“Is she going to be alright?” Durell asked, looking back at the others after watching Veena silently exit.
“She’s going to be fine,” Samira said. “It’s just going to take a while. She suffers more than the rest of us. Her problem is that she hasn’t had nearly the Westernizing Internet experience we’ve had, and as such she’s still way more an acculturated Indian than we are. As an example, when she finally started talking to me today after being mad at me for revealing her deep, dark secret to you guys, one of the first comments she made was not to rejoice at finally being free at last of her father and able to follow her dreams but that her family had been shamed.”