“She was stung by a bee,” Odelia told him.
He nodded and went to work. She watched how he took out a needle and proceeded to inject the girl.“Epinephrine,” he told the mother. “She went into anaphylactic shock. Has this happened before?”
“No, never. But she’s never been stung before either.”
“Some people are allergic to bee stings.” He carefully monitored the girl’s pulse and checked her vital signs. “How do you feel, honey?” he asked when she began to pull through.
She coughed.“I feel nauseous,” she said thickly.
“That’s normal,” he assured her. “As is the swollen tongue and lips. Does your tummy hurt?”
The girl nodded.“Yes, it does.”
He smiled at her.“You’ll be just fine, darling. What’s your name?”
“Jessica.”
“I’m Doctor Tex, and you’re a very brave girl, Jessica. You’re doing great.” He turned to Jessica’s mother. “She’ll feel the effects for a couple of days, but they’ll wear off soon enough.”
“Oh, doctor,” the woman said. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“Thank my daughter,” said Tex. “She’s the one who called.”
“Thank Chase,” said Odelia. “He’s the one who performed CPR.”
The woman thanked all of them, and gave Chase a big old hug before enveloping her little girl in her arms and smothering her with kisses.“I thought I lost you,” she sniffed.
“I’m fine, Mom,” Jessica said, embarrassed at the display of affection in front of a bunch of strangers. “It was just a tiny, little prick. Though that bee sting really hurt.”
In the distance, the sound of an approaching ambulance could be heard. It pulled up right next to Odelia’s dad’s car and two paramedics jumped out and made their way over. Odelia and Chase watched as the EMTs gave Jessica a thorough checkup.
“That was a close call,” said Chase. “She’d completely stopped breathing for a minute there.”
She placed a hand on his arm.“You saved that girl’s life, Chase. You’re a hero.”
“Just doing my duty,” he muttered. “Anyone would have done the same.”
“Not everyone. Didn’t you notice how you were the only one who made an effort?”
“Not many people know CPR,” he admitted. “Though probably they should.”
Dad joined them, still carrying his little black bag.“She’ll be fine,” he announced. “Spirited little thing, isn’t she?”
“She sure is,” Odelia agreed as she watched the girl animatedly talk to the paramedics and the one lifeguard who’d finally decided to put in an appearance. She looked like she was enjoying all this attention, and demanded her mother take a bunch of pictures with her phone.
“Reminds me of something,” Dad said.
“Me too. Donna Bruce,” Odelia said.
“No, something a colleague once told me. Some woman who wanted to try apitherapy on her daughter, who was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.”
“Apitherapy?” Chase asked.
“Bee sting therapy. The venom of bees purportedly alleviates the effects of the arthritis. Unfortunately the girl turned out to be allergic to bees, just like Jessica over there.”
“What happened?” asked Odelia.
“She died. When the mother realized what was going on, she called 911, but too late.”
“That’s a horrible story,” said Chase.
“When was this?”
“Oh, I must have heard this story… about six, seven years ago? I think it was at one of those conferences. There’s a lot of bar talk when a bunch of medical professionals get together.”
“There’s a lot of bar talk when any professionals get together,” said Chase. “Or non-professionals for that matter.”
For some reason, the story rang a bell with Odelia.“Where did this happen?”
Dad frowned.“I don’t remember exactly. I want to say… Cleveland?”
Cleveland… Odelia wondered why this story resonated with her so much, but before she could think things through, the EMTs wandered over and started discussing what happened to Jessica with her dad. She checked her watch and decided it was probably time she headed back to the office. Dan had told her to take a break, but she still had a ton of work to do. Chase seemed to feel the same way, for he asked if he could drop her off somewhere.
As he drove her back to the Hampton Cove Gazette, her mind drifted back to the story her dad had told them. Bees. This whole thing revolved around bees. But how? And why?
Chapter 29
We were home again, Dooley and me. We’d done all our usual haunts: the hair salon, the police station, the alleys and back alleys of Hampton Cove, talking to other cats, but they’d yielded no results. On top of that, I was tired. Subsisting on diet food like I did, I tired easily these days and all I wanted was to take a nap and float off into oblivion.
Unfortunately when we walked in through the glass sliding door, Harriet and Brutus were still there, like a couple of unwanted guests you just can’t seem to get rid of.
“And? What did you find?” I asked, jumping up onto the couch and settling down in my usual spot.
Harriet merely frowned, as if I’d asked her the wrong question.
“Nothing,” Brutus replied in her stead. “Bupkis. Diddly squat. Jack shit.”
“Brutus!” Harriet snapped. “Language.”
“It’s true though, isn’t it?” asked Brutus, whose long surfing session seemed to have galvanized him. “I know everything about Justin Bieber’s tattoos and even which kidney Selena Gomez had implanted but I still know precious little about who offed Donna Bruce.”
Harriet lifted her chin.“We just have to keep on looking. It’s only a matter of time before we hit on the telling clue.”
“Not by surfing that darned Interweb we won’t. How many times can you read about Kim’s Paris attack? Seriously, I’m done.” And to show us he meant business, he hopped down from the computer table and stretched and yawned.
“Brutus! We’re not finished yet.”
“I’m sorry, toots. I would tell you I cared about how much weight Mama June lost but I don’t.”
Harriet’s ears colored. “I’ve been looking at other stuff, too.”
“Right. What Honey Boo Boo looks like these days. I’m a cat, honey munch. I don’t care about that stuff. What I do care about is treating myself to a nice piece of meat at regular intervals, lounging on the couch with my precious—which is you, by the way—and sneaking around the neighborhood after dark, chasing critters and fighting off trespassers. So if you care to join me—which I sincerely hope you do—you’re welcome. If you prefer to find out what the Real Housewives of Nowhereville are up to, that’s fine, too. But don’t expect me to stick around, cause I won’t.”
Harriet looked shocked after this unexpected harangue.“Brutus,” she muttered brokenly.
“Now what’s it gonna be, sugar puss?”
Her blush had deepened.“Brutus, you’re suddenly so… dominant.”
“A tom’s gotta do what a tom’s gotta do. Now are you with me or not?”
“Brutus,” she breathed, deserting the world of reality TV and dropping down from the computer table. She stalked up to her beau, her tail trembling wildly. “Oh, Brutus…”
Brutus grinned at me and gave me a wink.“Watch and learn, fatso. Watch and learn.”
I responded with an eyeroll. So the old Brutus was back, huh? Of course he was. He’d just been suffering from a temporary weakness, as was to be expected.
“We’re hitting the town, boys,” Brutus announced when Harriet had sidled up to him and was rubbing herself provocatively against his flank. “Don’t wait up for us.”
And with these words, the revolting couple was off, leaving Dooley and me reeling. Well, Dooley was reeling. I wasn’t.
“Why can’t I be more like Brutus, Max?” Dooley lamented. “If I could be more like Brutus maybe Harriet would like me too. And then I’d be the one who took her out on the town.”