"Matlock Houston, it is good to see you!" Carol said as she made her way in. She introduced Jared her new boyfriend, an orderly at Woodlands Memorial and Matt took her straight up to C.J., still concerned although she seemed to be sleeping well.
Upstairs, Carol sat on the side of the bed and took her temperature, pulse rate and blood pressure, all with C.J. completely out. She motioned for Matt to come over and whispered "So where exactly was she holding her gut, as you say?" Matt pointed to her upper abdomen and Carol nodded her head, appearing to digest that. "Did she vomit?" Matt shook his head. Carol digested that and then led Matt back over to the doorway where she spoke in a more normal volume. "Ok, well, the pain appears to be in about the same place she was complaining of earlier today. I'll be honest, two attacks like this in one day is not good, but the pain meds seem to be working for now and one of the biggest challenges is going to be keeping her food down and seeing that she gains a little weight. Matt, I also want you to start keeping track of what she eats, there could be triggers for this pain."
Matt nodded, "Whatever you want, do you think our traveling could have caused this? We did go to some pretty exotic locations."
Carol shook her head, "I doubt it, I don't think what she has is all that exotic, I'm thinking its something much more mundane and treatable, maybe her gall bladder. I'll know more when the tests come back and we know she is ready and can stand surgery if that's necessary." They started back downstairs.
"In the meantime, make her take it easy. In fact until we can do the ultrasound that I have scheduled for Monday at 8am I would rather her not drive or walk around too much, just around the house here. She'll need to be at Woodland Memorial by 7:30 and check in with the admissions desk." Matt and Carol looked over at Jared and Hoyt who seemed to be wrapping up a conversation as they approached.
The hospital she mentioned registered with Matt and he thought quickly, "Carol, did C.J. say anything to you today about Woodland Memorial or the guy who runs it?"
Carol nodded her head and recounted what the two talked about earlier, about how money could and frequently did exchange hands between pharmaceutical companies, doctors, and hospitals. Hoyt and Matt both noting how C.J.'s notes made sense now.
Jared, the orderly then spoke up, "The guy is a jerk. He got that job because he was in medical school for a while and thinks he knows everything, but they put him in charge because of his fancy college degree is in business."
Matt thought about that for a second, "So he was studying to be a doctor and then decided to go into business. Most hospitals promote from within, but I could see where, if the hospital wanted to make money it would make sense to hire someone with experience in both. I wonder how far he got in medical school and why he switched degrees?" Matt picked up the folder and found his answers.
"Baby found that he got his B.S. in Biology from Ohio State and then went into the medical program at Boston College. Huh, Carol take a look at this…" Matt asked her.
The MCAT scores were missing, only a notation, n/v was in its place, "What does this mean?" Matt asked.
Carol looked at it and seemed surprised, "I've only seen that once before. I think it means null and void, meaning that the person was caught cheating in some way on the test."
Matt looked at Hoyt, "So he cheated on his medical entrance exams. Carol, if he got through 3 years at Boston College, does that mean it took the board that long to catch it?"
Carol nodded her head, "Yes, it probably does. Which means they probably didn't catch him right away. Someone must have turned him in later."
Matt speculated, "Maybe he feels he got cheated himself and now he's making up for it on the side. Carol, thanks for everything, I hope you won't mind if I call you later tonight, or tomorrow or…"
Carol patted his back, "I don't mind at all, in fact I will expect it. You have a reputation you know, when it comes to C.J. being in the hospital? You are on the 10 least favorite relatives list the nurses keep." Both chuckled and then she turned back to Jared, "I think I'm ready Jared, you ready for that walk?" she asked as he walked up to her and put his arm around her. With that the two left and Hoyt and Matt went back to the file.
Hoyt finished his coffee, "Ok, so what do you want to do now?"
Matt looked at the detective surprised, "You offering your services? I thought us P.I.s were like lightening rods for trouble."
Hoyt laughed, "You are, but this looks big, Houston. If you are right and this medicine could do the good that you say it could, I don't mind losing a little sleep. In fact, I'd like to make this a dual investigation between my department and your firm, especially with this Peterman guy. If a hospital denies one person treatment, that's a crime, just as bad assaulting the person themselves, it's a crime of omission and I am responsible for the public's safety. And from what I just learned about this guy, I don't like him."
Matt nodded his head, "I don't like him either, but we need more than a mutual distaste for the man to bring him down. I've got Uncle Roy staking the place out tonight and I don't want to leave C.J. alone. Why don't we meet up at the penthouse late tomorrow afternoon. I'll be sleeping on and off and will get up early and head over there to do some more work on Baby and we can go over what we have then."
Hoyt agreed and added, "I can talk to some of the guys in the fraud division and maybe get a couple of patrols to help with the stakeout on my end, provide some backup." Hoyt put the coffee cup down on the counter and headed out.
Matt poured another cup and headed up to the bed where C.J. lay sleeping. She had moved around a little but was still covered. He slowly laid down beside her and propped up a pillow against the headboard. He kept the nightstand lamp on low so he could still read. His eyes were never far off of her and she would murmur in her sleep every once in a while. He had grown used to that and silently wondered if one day he would tell her she talks in her sleep from time to time. He brushed the hair off her face about every half an hour just to make sure she didn't have a fever. Around 4am he turned the light off and took her in his arms and held her as he finally drifted off himself.