Chapter 4
AN: I did my research on insulin overdose. I hope I got everything right. And I know I haven't said it yet, but thank you, so much, for your reviews and alerts. Also, ale or anyone else who speaks Spanish, could you please PM me the English translation for ale's review. I understand very little of the language. Thank you and Enjoy!
Kelly Hartman had left the hospital by the time the Neal's body began to react to the overdose of insulin. She has shed her nurse scrubs. And she had dropped the insulin syringe into one of the many trash receptacles that dotted New York's sidewalks.
Neal heart monitor alarm blared. His heart raced as his body began to jerk, going into seizures.
June stood up from the chair she had been in. She had seen a nurse come in earlier. But she had not even looked at her. She was so used to the hospital staff coming and going. She looked, wide-eyed, at Neal as he body reacted to the drug. The nurses pushed her out the door as they began to work. She stood at the observation window, not really even sure what had just happened. El had been to the cafeteria. She had food for both herself and June. She ran, as fast as he heels would let her, when she realized that a Code Blue had been called for Neal's room. She stood, just as wide-eyed, outside the room watching the staff work through the window.
The nurses and doctors were baffled as they tried to save their patient. It was only when emergency blood work was run that they found the culprit. Neal had been given insulin. He didn't have diabetes. And when the nurses checked the doctor's orders, they found no mention of the drug. The staff was questioned and there no vials of insulin were missing from the drug room at the nurses' station. The dose, the staff concluded, had been given intentionally, in an effort to kill the patient.
"What…what happened?" El asked.
June shook her head. "I don't…I don't know. A nurse came in about 30 minutes ago. The marshall…." June paused. It broke her heart when she heard the doctor yell 'clear.' She didn't want to, but she watched the doctor place the defibrillator paddles on Neal's chest. She cringed as his body arched off the bed.
The marshal, meanwhile, was also watching the scene. He was on the phone. But he looked as if he would be sick. The women assumed that he was on the phone with the Marshalls.
June heard El sob softly beside her. She wrapped her arms around the younger woman as they both watched, in horror, as the paddles were placed, again, on Neal's chest. June pulled El back away from the window as more hospital personnel poured into the room.
"Sshh." June said, trying to comfort the young woman. "He'll be okay. Neal is strong. He's young. He'll beat this."
El nodded. She was feeling a little more reassured as she wiped her eyes. She pulled out her phone. "I have to call Peter."
June nodded, not taking her eyes off the scene in Neal's room.
El walked down the hall. She stopped a few steps away from Neal's room.
Several more marshals had arrived by the time Peter showed up, with Diana and Jones in tow. These marshals were questioning their co-worker, and from the sound of things, it was not going well.
The questioning over, the guard's boss came over to talk to Peter. "It appears Anderson here allowed a pretty blonde nurse into the room. He said she had a name badge, but it didn't have a picture on it, which he said he didn't realize that the time. This hospital uses only picture IDs." The marshall stated, throwing a murderous glance at Neal's former guard. "He said she was blonde-haired, blue-eyed and very well endowed."
It was Peter's turn to glare at the guard. "Well…I hope a few minutes of ogling 'Barbie' was worth his job."
The Marshall nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, the doctors had brought Neal back. They had gotten his heart rate under control. He also hadn't had any more seizures, since the administration of a drug to counteract the effects of the insulin.
Peter met El outside Neal's door.
"The doctors say Neal will recover from this. He will be okay." El said wrapping her arms around Peter's waist. "He's going to make it."
June then told Peter and the Marshall what she had started telling El. She mentioned the nurse that had been there when she was in the room. June then mentioned that the marshal must have let another nurse in after she had left to use the restroom. When she returned, a nurse was leaving the room and walking in the opposite direction down the hall. June could only say that the nurse had blonde hair. She never saw her face.
The Marshall information had confirmed June's story. He said the nurse had come up to him. She had flirted, but she had told him that she was taking over for one of Neal's nurses. The name she mentioned was on the Marshall's list. He thought it was okay. He said she was not the last nurse in before Neal coded. But the last nurse didn't have time to do anything. The insulin would have taken longer to act. That last nurse had been in after the insulin had been administered.
They all came to the same conclusion. An attempt had been made on Neal's life. Thankfully, it had not been successful.
TBC