A moment later, Ronnie dropped his hands, blew out a deep breath, and looked directly at Jack with watery eyes. “Sorry about this,” he apologized. “I’m not being very professional, but I’m afraid I’m in uncharted emotional territory for me. I’ve never tried to resuscitate a friend and a colleague, and, let me tell you, dealing with it ain’t easy, especially since it wasn’t successful. I’ve been involved in more than my share of code blues, as it is incumbent on me to attend every code that occurs when I am on duty. And I have become pretty successful at handling them. Actually, I can say very successful. But the one time it really counted, I couldn’t make it happen.”
“I’m sorry to make you relive it,” Jack said. “But I’m sure you can understand the possible importance. In forensics, it is critical to have a cause and mechanism of death, and at the moment, we’re at a loss.”
“Of course I understand. But I do have to admit that I find talking about this difficult. Sue was one hell of a marvelous doctor, and she really appreciated us nurses as the ones who are in the trenches supplying the hands-on care of the patients. And I can tell you that type of recognition is not universal with all doctors. On top of that, she was also just a warm and gracious person. I’m going to miss her, as will a lot of other people.”
“Are you saying you were friends, as well as colleagues?” Jack asked with a bit of surprise. Such information was akin to the surprise he felt learning about the animosity of Thomas, Wingate, and Alinsky, just in a more positive direction.
“Oh, of course,” Ronnie said. “If she needed anything at night with one of her inpatients, she always called me directly on my mobile. She even invited me not too long ago to her home over in Jersey where I met her husband, Abby, and their two children.”
“That’s somewhat of a coincidence,” Jack said. “My wife and I were also friends of hers, and we’ve been to her home in Fort Lee as well, and she and her husband have been to our home here in the city.”
“I’m not surprised,” Ronnie said. “She was friends with just about everyone except some of the MMH muckety-mucks.”
“That’s interesting to hear you say. And I’d like to discuss that more, but first I’d like to concentrate on the details of when you first found Sue in the garage.”
Ronnie checked his watch, a gesture that wasn’t lost on Jack, who asked, “How are you doing with the time?”
“Not bad. I have another ten minutes until I have to clock in.”
“All right, I’ll try to speed things up,” Jack said. “Take me back to when you arrived last night in the garage. Did you see anyone or any vehicles out of the ordinary? Take a moment to think back.”
“I don’t need to think about it,” Ronnie said. “Last night when things had quieted down, I went over it in my mind. But it was just like normal. I always arrive about an hour before the shift change, which is earlier than most night-shift people, so there was no incoming traffic. I’m allowed to park my Cherokee in the doctors’ reserve section on the second floor near the pedestrian bridge, provided I make a point of leaving just after seven in the morning. That’s why I happened to catch Sue slumped over her steering wheel. I’m familiar with her BMW since we had occasionally run into each other. When I saw her car, I thought: Wow, Sue’s sure leaving late tonight, and then I happened to catch her silhouette.”
“Do you remember seeing anyone else around you or her car at that point?”
“Not around her car,” Ronnie said. “I did hear someone coming along behind me, which turned out to be Barbara Collins from the GYN floor. She was the one I ended up flagging down to lend a hand.”
“Okay. What happened next?”
“I stopped and watched Sue for a second. I couldn’t see her all that well, but it suddenly dawned on me she wasn’t moving. Wondering if she was having car trouble, I hustled over to her driver’s-side window. That’s really when I could see she was probably unconscious.”
“Okay,” Jack said. “What did you do then? Try to remember everything. Was she moving at all, like clutching her chest or completely still?”
“I didn’t wait to see if she was moving,” Ronnie said. “I rapped on the glass, though pounded on it is probably more accurate. She, of course, didn’t budge, so I tried the door, which was unlocked. In the next second, I could tell she was in extremis, as she tumbled out of the car into my arms. I yelled for Barbara as I laid her on the pavement. Sue wasn’t breathing, had no pulse, and her color was strikingly pale around her mouth and her conjunctivae were slate blue. Without hesitation, I started CPR with chest compressions.”
“I understand you told Kevin Strauss that Sue’s color definitely improved.”
“Yes, and I told the ED docs the same. Almost immediately her cyanosis pinked up rather dramatically. I was very encouraged, which only made the final outcome that much more difficult to accept. On other code blues that I’ve been on, when something like that happened, it usually was a harbinger of a positive outcome. Why it wasn’t in this case is probably going to haunt me forever.” For a moment Ronnie stared off into the near distance. He sighed again before redirecting his attention to Jack. “Sorry,” he said.
“No problem,” Jack said. “I can appreciate it’s not been easy for you. Tell me, did the ED people get to the scene in short order?”
“Oh, yeah,” Ronnie said. “While I was doing the chest compressions and the mouth-to-mouth at a thirty-to-two ratio, Barbara called the ED, and they were there in minutes, including several nurses and a doc. They also brought oxygen and an ambu bag, and Sue’s color improved even more. We had her down in one of the trauma rooms in under five minutes, continuing the CPR all the way. There they started a serious resuscitation attempt and, believe you me, they tried their darndest.”
“That was my impression when I talked with Dr. Sidoti,” Jack said. “How are we doing with the time?”
Ronnie checked his watch once again. “Not bad. I’ve got another five minutes.”
“Okay, good,” Jack said. “Before I leave you alone, I’d like to go back to your curious statement regarding Sue’s being friends with everyone except some of the MMH muckety-mucks. Can you elaborate on that?”
“Sure,” Ronnie said. “It’s common knowledge that a relatively small number of higher-ups thought Sue was a troublemaker bent on tarnishing this institution’s good name. Recently, they’d become a bit desperate, since there was a rumor she might get on the hospital board. The irony is that from my perspective, and most other people’s, she was more concerned about the hospital’s reputation than just about anyone, which was the motivation for her activism. She practically wanted to be on every hospital committee, and when she served on one, she really took it seriously, in contrast with most doctors.”
“When you say higher-ups, I assume you are talking about the triumvirate of Thomas, Wingate, and Alinsky,” Jack said, feeling like he had to speed up the conversation to get more in before Ronnie had to leave. Normally he made it a point not to lead people when he was doing a forensic interview.
Ronnie’s jaw slowly dropped open in surprise at Jack’s comment, and then he snickered. “Whoa! You have been busy! I’m getting the impression you have talked about all this with more people than just your medical legal investigator.”
“I’m committed,” Jack said. “It’s why I’m here, trying to get all the information I can if it turns out I can’t come up with a cause of death. This is actually my second visit here today. Earlier I’d checked out her car and spoke with Virginia Davenport, who was quite helpful.”