Kim stood, making the women aware of her presence. Bitch. Jess has never treated you anything but fairly and this is how you repay her?
Nancy, one of the nurses' aides, had the grace to look embarrassed.
Cindy met Kim's gaze with a gloating expression that dared her to comment on what she had overheard. Ever since she had berated the woman a few months ago for gossiping about Jess, Cindy disliked her.
Kim met the look head on and refused to look away. Cindy seemed to have forgotten an important fact about the lack of privacy in a hospital — it went both ways.
As Kim moved toward the door, she paused close to Cindy. She pitched her voice for Cindy's ears alone. "This is just the kind of behavior that got you transferred out of pediatrics. It would be a shame if that happened again."
Kim tried not to take too much satisfaction from the woman's stunned face. Leave Jess alone. She made her exit before Cindy had a chance to respond.
* * *
Jess became aware of the speculative looks being thrown her way as soon as she stepped foot in the ER. Great. Penny didn't waste any time. She glanced around, hoping to spot Kim. Wonder how she's weathering the storm? Jess didn't like it, but she was used to the gossip. People knew so little about her, they made things up to fill the gap or, like Cindy, talked about the only thing they knew about — the Myra incident. The thought of people talking disparagingly about Kim set her teeth on edge.
She made her way to the nurses' station.
Several nurses as well as Bates and Aimee were gathered around Terrell near the status board. Penny was at the counter on the phone.
"You should have seen the look on Dr. Donovan's face when this guy —" Terrell stopped mid-sentence when he caught sight of Jess.
A spike of alarm hit as she flashed back to Kim with Brian. Calm down. Kim can take care of herself. And Terrell doesn't look upset.
"Morning, Dr. McKenna," Terrell said. "Dr. D —"
Penny cut him off. "So, did you have a... pleasurable weekend, Dr. McKenna?" she asked, her voice brimming with innuendo.
Jess turned to face Penny. She could feel the shift of everyone's attention to their conversation.
Penny tossed a smug look past Jess at the apparently rapt audience behind her.
You may have seen me with Kim. But I'm still your boss. Don't test me. "Yes. I did. Did you enjoy the holiday light festival?"
Penny's eyes went wide.
Weren't expecting that, were you? Jess could almost hear the 'oh shit' from Penny. "It was nice meeting your parents."
Someone snickered behind Jess.
A bright blush suffused Penny's face. "I'm ah..."
Not the story you told them, was it? Jess had suspected as much.
The phone rang, saving Penny further embarrassment. She dove for it.
Jess turned on her heel.
Everyone scattered like rats from a sinking ship except Terrell.
"As I was trying to tell you before, Dr. Donovan asked me to let you know as soon as you got here that she wanted to consult with you about her patient," Terrell said. He shook his head and grinned, then pointed to the status board. "He's one for the books."
Jess scanned the board, looking for what room Kim was in. Her eyebrows shot up when she found the entry. The patient's name was listed as Cat Guy. What the hell?
"Thanks." She spun around and headed for the exam room.
Jess heard the sound before she even reached the door.
It sounded like a cat meowing. Okay. That explains the Cat Guy.
She pushed open the exam room door and winced at the increase in the volume. Kim and Karen Armstrong flanked a gurney. A little man with delicate, surprisingly catlike features was crouched on his haunches at the head of the gurney. His greasy hair was slicked back so tightly it resembled a skullcap. He was meowing incessantly. What looked like the remains of a saucer of milk was on the bed tray in front of him.
Jess strode up to the end of the stretcher. "Dr. Donovan, what do we have here?"
Cat Guy hissed like an angry feline.
Jess took a half step back and shot a look at Kim. What's this, an early start on the full moon tonight?
Kim bit her lip and struggled to keep a straight face. "I don't think he likes you, Dr. McKenna."
Karen laughed, then slapped her hand over her mouth.
Cat Guy resumed meowing.
"Let's step out into the hall," Jess said. She headed for the door.
Kim followed. Karen remained at the patient's bedside.
"Is he okay alone in here?"
"Sure. He should be as long as I can keep an eye on him through the door," Kim said.
Jess pulled open the door. "Join us, Dr. Armstrong."
Karen threw Jess a relieved look and hurried after them.
As soon as the door closed behind them, the meowing turned to yowling. He sounded like a tomcat in rut.
"What's his story?" Jess asked.
"Police brought him in. They picked him up in the park. He was approaching people and rubbing himself against them and meowing." Kim glanced in the exam room window. "He's been meowing or yowling like that since they brought him in. I haven't gotten anything from him. No name, nothing."
"And he tries to rub against you if you get too close," Karen said with a shudder.
"Any injuries?" Jess asked, directing her question to Karen.
"Small cut on his palm. I cleaned it." Karen's face twisted. "He kept trying to lick me and the cut. It was nothing. Didn't even need stitches."
"Did you do a complete physical exam?" Jess asked. The man was dirty and smelled bad. She knew the resident might have been tempted to skimp on the exam.
Karen nodded. It was clear from her expression it had not been a pleasant experience. "I didn't find anything else of significance on exam. He does have some fungus on his toenails. And lots of dirt," she added under her breath.
"Good job," Jess said. After a rough start to her residency, Karen had really turned things around. She was becoming one of the best of the first-year residents.
Karen beamed at the praise.
Jess turned back to Kim. "So why didn't the police take him straight to Gateway? They have the facilities for dealing with this type of thing. He doesn't need to be in the ER."
"I asked that too. They claimed it was because he was bleeding." Kim scowled. "I think they dumped him on us because they didn't want to deal with him and we were the closest place."
God. Jess rubbed her ears as the yowling continued unabated. "How long can he keep that up?"
"He's been here almost two hours," Kim said.
Oh great. She had only been here a few minutes and was already getting a headache. "So what can I do? Is there a problem with Gateway taking him? Do I need to contact them?"
"No. I wanted to find out if you'd seen him in the ER before. I'm convinced this guy is playing us. The tox screen came back negative. And as far as I've been able to tell, he doesn't fully meet the criteria for an axis I or axis II disorder." Kim rubbed her neck. "He's done this before. I'm sure of it. I'm willing to bet he's using this as a way to get a couple of days rest and some hot meals. He doesn't fit what I would expect to see with a furry gone too far either."
Jess peered in the window. "Well, he looks kind of catlike to me."
Kim laughed. "I noticed that. But I still don't believe that's what we're dealing with. You can almost see the calculation in his eyes."
"Excuse me, but what the heck is a furry?" Karen asked.
Jess made a go-ahead motion to Kim.
"It's not seen as a true psychiatric disorder. 'Furries' is an umbrella term that covers a group of people who prefer to interact with others as animals rather than as human beings. It feels safer for them."