Nancy walked over to the bed and gave Joe a hug, shaking her head in
disbelief. "I can't believe this!" she exclaimed. "I would never have
expected to run into you here in a million years."
Frank walked back into the room at that moment and stopped abruptly at the doorway. His brother had been alone in the room for less than five minutes, and already he was hitting on the nurse, who didn't seem to be resisting his advances. In fact, she was embracing him back.
Frank cleared his throat, and Joe looked over at him. "Looks like I didn't have to find the nurse after all, you seem to have accomplished that," he remarked jokingly.
The nurse turned around to face him and she smiled at him. "Actually, I was the one that found him." She began to laugh as she saw a flash of recognition on Franks' face.
"Nancy! How are you?" Frank asked, as he also gave her a hug.
"I'm great thanks," she replied as she pulled away from Frank. "How are you?"
"Well, I'm fine, but as you can see, Joe isn't in great shape at the moment." Frank proceeded to tell her about what had happened at the beach.
Joe looked Nancy up and down, taking in her appearance. She was wearing a nurse's uniform and her reddish blonde hair had been dyed a dark shade of brown. Identification papers and a name badge that read 'Mandy' completed her disguise. "So what brings you all the way out here?" he inquired.
Nancy checked her watch. "I'm actually finishing my shift here in about ten minutes, so I'll explain everything to you then. That is, if you don't mind waiting."
Joe gave her a wry smile. "Does it look like I'm going to mind waiting?"
Nancy gave him a sheepish look. "Sorry Joe, you know what I mean though."
He nodded. "Ok, we'll talk to you in a few minutes then." Nancy waved at the two Hardy's and she left the room to report back to the head nurse.
"This sounds like it is going to be interesting," Frank remarked to Joe.
"Oh oh," Joe teased. "I think we can kiss goodbye to our vacation. I've seen that look on your face too many times!"
"Don't pretend that you aren't the slightest bit intrigued," retorted Frank. "Hey, did you want me to go and see about those painkillers for you? I completely forgot about it in all the excitement, and I doubt Nancy is going to be able to provide them for you."
Joe nodded gratefully. "The pain is not as sharp as it was initially, but it is still throbbing." He reached over and pulled a spare pillow from the shelf beside the bed and propped it up under his ankle.
"Ok, I'll see what I can do," Frank answered.
Several minutes later, a nurse entered with a small cup in her hand, with two tablets inside of it. A glass and a jug of water were in her other hand.
She turned over to Joe and smiled sympathetically. "I'm Jenna, and I'll be your nurse while you're here. I've brought you a couple of strong painkillers, take them both with water and they should relieve the pain fairly rapidly." Before handing them to Joe, she consulted his chart to make sure they were suitable for him, and satisfied that they were, she then proceeded to give them to him.
"Better safe than sorry," Joe remarked to her, and then swallowed the pills.
"Yes, we've actually had to take a lot more care lately than usual, there have been a few mishaps around here lately."
"Really?" Jenna nodded at Frank.
"There have been a few, but I'm not really at liberty to say anything more about the matter," she replied. Frank thought that she appeared slightly flustered, as though she had said too much already. "I have to check up on some of my other patients now, I'll be back to see how you are feeling soon. Just press the buzzer beside your bed if you need help urgently." She hurried out the room.
Joe watched her leave, and then focused on Frank. "That was really weird, don't you think?"
"Yeah, it was. It was like she was afraid that she had said something she wasn't meant to tell us," Frank mused.
"I got that impression too. I wonder what kind of 'mishaps' she was referring to?" Joe picked up the glass and finished the water remaining in there.
Nancy walked back into the room then, and closed the door behind her. "Sorry about that guys, I had to check back with the head nurse so she could evaluate my performance for the day."
"So what exactly are you doing here?" Frank asked, puzzled.
"Well, a couple of weeks ago, my Dad was playing golf with one of the members of the board here, Mike Roberts. He told my father that the hospital had been having a few problems here lately, with a series of unusual incidents occurring here lately."
"Mishaps." Frank interjected, giving Joe a meaningful look. Nancy raised an eyebrow at him, and Frank told her about their conversation with Jenna the nurse.
Nancy continued on. "I guess at first they could have been considered mishaps, but now these incidents are occurring more frequently, and becoming more brazen. The board came to the conclusion that someone is deliberately causing things to go wrong here, and he asked my father to see whether I would mind going undercover here, posing as a student nurse, to try and unravel who was behind this."
Joe thought about this, taking in all the information Nancy had told them. "So are there any suspects as to who is causing this havoc?"
"Well, the board members mentioned to me that they suspect a woman by the name of Sue Collins. Her daughter, Lana, was a patient here, but she passed away from cancer about a month ago. The doctors did all they could for Lana, but the cancer was too advanced for any operation to be successful. Mrs. Collins refused to accept this, and she has been up here frequently since her daughter died, alleging that the doctors acted negligently and they didn't do all that they could for her daughter. She vowed that she would take action, and the board members are afraid that this incidents are what she meant by 'action'."
"So what exactly has been going on here?" Frank asked.
Nancy pulled out a small notebook from her purse, and flipped through. "Well, there have been quite a few different things happening, but there doesn't seem to be a pattern between them. At least, not that I can see. There has been a power blackout in one of the operating rooms whilst a patient was being operated on. An investigation of the equipment revealed that someone had jammed a wrench into the wiring, messing up the electricity conductors."
"That's pretty serious," Joe remarked.
Nancy shook her head grimly. "Fortunately, the back up generator was working, and nothing more serious happened. A few days after that, a diabetic patient was given the wrong food, resulting in them needing urgent medical attention. Then after that, another patient received the wrong dosage of morphine, and that almost resulted in a fatality. The patient's heart stopped, and he had to be revived on the operating table. There have been a few other things as well."
"This person isn't fooling around." Frank let out a small whistle. "They obviously mean business."
"Are there any other suspects other than Sue Collins?" Joe asked. "Or does she have a medical background? If she doesn't, these things don't sound like something a person without connections to the hospital could pull off."
"Yes, I thought of that myself," Nancy replied. "I personally think it might be an inside job as well."
"Is there anything that we can do to help?" Frank asked.
Nancy hesitated while she thought. "Actually, there probably is, " she said slowly. "This could work out quite well in fact." She gestured to Joe's cast. "With Joe admitted in here, we now have two detectives inside the hospital keeping an eye out for anything strange. You'll be in here quite a lot too Frank, so you can also help us keep an eye out, and at the same time, we can work on developing a list of potential suspects that work at the hospital."
"Sounds good," Joe replied. A second later, a loud and wavering voice came over the PA system.
"Can all available doctors and nurses please report to the front desk immediately to undertake emergency procedures!"
~Thanks for the reviews readers! Please keep them coming - they make my day! Sorry if anyone was confused about Nancy's hair colour in the first chapter, that was intentional as you would have seen from this chapter.~
Frank walked back into the room at that moment and stopped abruptly at the doorway. His brother had been alone in the room for less than five minutes, and already he was hitting on the nurse, who didn't seem to be resisting his advances. In fact, she was embracing him back.
Frank cleared his throat, and Joe looked over at him. "Looks like I didn't have to find the nurse after all, you seem to have accomplished that," he remarked jokingly.
The nurse turned around to face him and she smiled at him. "Actually, I was the one that found him." She began to laugh as she saw a flash of recognition on Franks' face.
"Nancy! How are you?" Frank asked, as he also gave her a hug.
"I'm great thanks," she replied as she pulled away from Frank. "How are you?"
"Well, I'm fine, but as you can see, Joe isn't in great shape at the moment." Frank proceeded to tell her about what had happened at the beach.
Joe looked Nancy up and down, taking in her appearance. She was wearing a nurse's uniform and her reddish blonde hair had been dyed a dark shade of brown. Identification papers and a name badge that read 'Mandy' completed her disguise. "So what brings you all the way out here?" he inquired.
Nancy checked her watch. "I'm actually finishing my shift here in about ten minutes, so I'll explain everything to you then. That is, if you don't mind waiting."
Joe gave her a wry smile. "Does it look like I'm going to mind waiting?"
Nancy gave him a sheepish look. "Sorry Joe, you know what I mean though."
He nodded. "Ok, we'll talk to you in a few minutes then." Nancy waved at the two Hardy's and she left the room to report back to the head nurse.
"This sounds like it is going to be interesting," Frank remarked to Joe.
"Oh oh," Joe teased. "I think we can kiss goodbye to our vacation. I've seen that look on your face too many times!"
"Don't pretend that you aren't the slightest bit intrigued," retorted Frank. "Hey, did you want me to go and see about those painkillers for you? I completely forgot about it in all the excitement, and I doubt Nancy is going to be able to provide them for you."
Joe nodded gratefully. "The pain is not as sharp as it was initially, but it is still throbbing." He reached over and pulled a spare pillow from the shelf beside the bed and propped it up under his ankle.
"Ok, I'll see what I can do," Frank answered.
Several minutes later, a nurse entered with a small cup in her hand, with two tablets inside of it. A glass and a jug of water were in her other hand.
She turned over to Joe and smiled sympathetically. "I'm Jenna, and I'll be your nurse while you're here. I've brought you a couple of strong painkillers, take them both with water and they should relieve the pain fairly rapidly." Before handing them to Joe, she consulted his chart to make sure they were suitable for him, and satisfied that they were, she then proceeded to give them to him.
"Better safe than sorry," Joe remarked to her, and then swallowed the pills.
"Yes, we've actually had to take a lot more care lately than usual, there have been a few mishaps around here lately."
"Really?" Jenna nodded at Frank.
"There have been a few, but I'm not really at liberty to say anything more about the matter," she replied. Frank thought that she appeared slightly flustered, as though she had said too much already. "I have to check up on some of my other patients now, I'll be back to see how you are feeling soon. Just press the buzzer beside your bed if you need help urgently." She hurried out the room.
Joe watched her leave, and then focused on Frank. "That was really weird, don't you think?"
"Yeah, it was. It was like she was afraid that she had said something she wasn't meant to tell us," Frank mused.
"I got that impression too. I wonder what kind of 'mishaps' she was referring to?" Joe picked up the glass and finished the water remaining in there.
Nancy walked back into the room then, and closed the door behind her. "Sorry about that guys, I had to check back with the head nurse so she could evaluate my performance for the day."
"So what exactly are you doing here?" Frank asked, puzzled.
"Well, a couple of weeks ago, my Dad was playing golf with one of the members of the board here, Mike Roberts. He told my father that the hospital had been having a few problems here lately, with a series of unusual incidents occurring here lately."
"Mishaps." Frank interjected, giving Joe a meaningful look. Nancy raised an eyebrow at him, and Frank told her about their conversation with Jenna the nurse.
Nancy continued on. "I guess at first they could have been considered mishaps, but now these incidents are occurring more frequently, and becoming more brazen. The board came to the conclusion that someone is deliberately causing things to go wrong here, and he asked my father to see whether I would mind going undercover here, posing as a student nurse, to try and unravel who was behind this."
Joe thought about this, taking in all the information Nancy had told them. "So are there any suspects as to who is causing this havoc?"
"Well, the board members mentioned to me that they suspect a woman by the name of Sue Collins. Her daughter, Lana, was a patient here, but she passed away from cancer about a month ago. The doctors did all they could for Lana, but the cancer was too advanced for any operation to be successful. Mrs. Collins refused to accept this, and she has been up here frequently since her daughter died, alleging that the doctors acted negligently and they didn't do all that they could for her daughter. She vowed that she would take action, and the board members are afraid that this incidents are what she meant by 'action'."
"So what exactly has been going on here?" Frank asked.
Nancy pulled out a small notebook from her purse, and flipped through. "Well, there have been quite a few different things happening, but there doesn't seem to be a pattern between them. At least, not that I can see. There has been a power blackout in one of the operating rooms whilst a patient was being operated on. An investigation of the equipment revealed that someone had jammed a wrench into the wiring, messing up the electricity conductors."
"That's pretty serious," Joe remarked.
Nancy shook her head grimly. "Fortunately, the back up generator was working, and nothing more serious happened. A few days after that, a diabetic patient was given the wrong food, resulting in them needing urgent medical attention. Then after that, another patient received the wrong dosage of morphine, and that almost resulted in a fatality. The patient's heart stopped, and he had to be revived on the operating table. There have been a few other things as well."
"This person isn't fooling around." Frank let out a small whistle. "They obviously mean business."
"Are there any other suspects other than Sue Collins?" Joe asked. "Or does she have a medical background? If she doesn't, these things don't sound like something a person without connections to the hospital could pull off."
"Yes, I thought of that myself," Nancy replied. "I personally think it might be an inside job as well."
"Is there anything that we can do to help?" Frank asked.
Nancy hesitated while she thought. "Actually, there probably is, " she said slowly. "This could work out quite well in fact." She gestured to Joe's cast. "With Joe admitted in here, we now have two detectives inside the hospital keeping an eye out for anything strange. You'll be in here quite a lot too Frank, so you can also help us keep an eye out, and at the same time, we can work on developing a list of potential suspects that work at the hospital."
"Sounds good," Joe replied. A second later, a loud and wavering voice came over the PA system.
"Can all available doctors and nurses please report to the front desk immediately to undertake emergency procedures!"
~Thanks for the reviews readers! Please keep them coming - they make my day! Sorry if anyone was confused about Nancy's hair colour in the first chapter, that was intentional as you would have seen from this chapter.~
