Father Thomas came into the convent to find Father Miguel and the nuns waiting for word on Sister Margaret. He looked at their somber faces and sighed.
"She's in good hands," he said to them. "Sister Rosita will call us when they know something."
"What could have caused this?" Sister Celeste asked.
"Only time will tell." Father Thomas said. "Until we hear something, we should see to the children. Sister Celeste, can you and Father Thomas take care of the dishes?"
"Of course," Celeste said.
"Sister Anne, we need to have the teenagers ready tomorrow. Mr. and Mrs. Wainwright will be here at 9:00. It is so rare that teenagers get adopted, I don't want to postpone their appointment."
"Yes Father," the nun answered.
When the nuns and Father Miguel were off to their tasks, Father Thomas headed to the rectory. Once there, he looked through his planner and began making calls to cancel several appointments.
_.-~=]})*({[=~-._
Ziva pulled up in front of the walk-in entrance to the George Washington University Hospital Emergency Department.
"You go in," she said to Abby. "I'll park the car and be there in a moment."
"Ok," Abby said as she got out of the car. After seeing her friend into the emergency department, Ziva pulled out onto Twenty-Third Street and drove around the block to the parking building on Twenty-Second. She barely heard the double chirp of the security alarm as she headed for the exit to the parking garage. About ten minutes later, she too entered the Emergency department and looked around for Abby.
_.-~=]})*({[=~-._
Abby stood with Sister Rosita beside Sister Margaret's bed. Neither woman could believe what their eyes told them. Sister Margaret lay in the bed with IV tubes going into her arm and a heart monitor keeping track of her pulse.
"They say she's slipped into a coma," Sister Rosita said.
"I can't believe this," Abby said through her tears. "First we lost Sister Agnes, now Sister Margaret is sick."
"Yes," Sister Rosita said. "We have seen far too much loss."
"Sister Agnes was a great presence." Abby said.
"As were the others," Rosita replied.
"Others?"
"Agnes was the fourth we lost this year," Rosita said. "Two accidents, a mugging, a stroke, all were wonderful people and exceptional members of the church."
"Who were the others?"
"Sister Theresa had only been with us for a month or so, was hit by a car. Sister Elizabeth fell down some stairs. Someone mugged and murdered Sister Angela on her way home from hosting an AA meeting. Of course, Agnes had her stroke the other day."
Abby glanced over her shoulder when she heard someone entering the room.
"Sister," he said as he stepped close to the bed. "My name is Dr. Adam White. It looks like Dr. Price's instincts were correct. He began transfusing Sister Margaret's blood when, in his words, he noticed it appeared thin and watery. The lab analyzed the blood he collected from Sister Margaret and it appears that she doubled her dosage of Coumadin. She also had a high level of acetaminophen in her system."
"So it wasn't an allergic reaction?" Sister Rosita asked.
The doctor shook his head. "No, it seems she just doubled her dose of medicine. Her doctor should have warned her against taking Tylenol with Coumadin."
"But we gave her an epi injection," Sister Rosita said.
Dr. White frowned and looked at Sister Margaret's chart. "There was no note of it. Epinephrine is a vasoconstrictor. There are no known interactions between it and either Coumadin or Tylenol, so there is no need to worry about adverse effects as far as that goes. However, it would have likely increased her heart rate, which may be the cause of her hemorrhaging. We administered fresh frozen plasma and vitamin K to counter the warfarin and a small dose of acetylcysteine to counter the acetaminophen. I'll order another run of tests." He said as he looked at the heart monitor. "It doesn't appear to be affecting her heart rate at the moment, but we'll keep an eye on her."
Abby stared at the doctor for a second before something clicked in her mind. "But Dr. White, wouldn't she have to be taking heavy doses of both for a while to have this kind of reaction?"
"The levels we found in her system indicate that she has been taking large amounts of both medicines for at least a week, maybe longer."
Abby thought for a second before asking, "Why was she on Coumadin?"
"According to her medical records, she was taking them to relieve a blood clot. Dr. Dawson prescribed it three weeks ago. It says five milligrams, twice a day for ninety days. Apparently, she seriously misread the directions because it looks like she was taking ten to fifteen times that amount."
"Oh dear," Sister Rosita said, crossing herself. "How could she have made such a grievous error?"
"I just don't know," Dr. White said. "Did anyone else have access to her medicine?"
"No," Sister Rosita said. "Sister Margaret was very private. We knew she was taking the medication, but only she knew her dosage."
"Well, unless you can think of some reason someone would tamper with her dosage, it looks like she just misunderstood the directions."
Abby looked at the two of them then turned and watched Sister Margaret lying there.
"When will she wake up?" she asked.
"That's hard to say," Dr. White answered. "It may take a day or two. She lost a lot of blood."
"That's too long," Abby said. "Sister Rosita, I have to go. Please call me if anything changes."
"Abigail, what-" Sister Rosita began.
"I'll explain everything later." She called over her shoulder. "I'll be back in a couple of hours."
_.-~=]})*({[=~-._
Abby entered the waiting area, practically running. Ziva, alarmed jumped up and met her halfway.
"Abby, what's wrong."
"I need you to take me to my lab," Abby said.
"What's going on?"
Abby grabbed Ziva's hand and headed for the exit. "I'll explain on the way," she said. "But I think someone is killing nuns." This stunned Ziva, but she led Abby to her car at the parking garage.
"Ok," Abby began, once they were on their way to NCIS. "In the past few months, four nuns have died and one almost died."
"What?" Ziva asked looking over at Abby.
Abby relayed the information Sister Rosita gave her. She told Ziva about the medical charts and the levels of Coumadin found in Sister Margaret's system.
"This could all be a coincidence Abby," Ziva said as Abby finished. "I mean the deaths don't appear related at all. A hit and run, a mugging, a trip and fall, a stroke, and an overdose have no commonality."
"Except they happened to nuns from the same convent over a few months' time," Abby said. "And don't forget Rule Thirty-Nine."
"Right," Ziva said. "No such thing as a coincidence."
_.-~=]})*({[=~-._
"¿Quién es éste?" the voice asked on the other end of the line.
"We need to shift the next shipment to the secondary route."
"Why," the voice on the other end of the phone asked in English.
"There have been some unrelated incidents that may pose a complication to our operations."
"What do you mean?" the voice asked.
"There have been a series of events that seem suspicious to me. I need to look into them to make sure they won't affect our business."
"And this will keep you from honoring your obligations?"
"I am just trying to be cautious. Until I find out what is going on I don't want to risk our operation here."
The voice on the other end of the phone sighed. "Very well, we will reroute tomorrow's shipment through our secondary partners. The next shipment will arrive three days later. You will accept it and see to its delivery."
"Of course, I will not disappoint you."
The call ended and silence reigned for a brief moment before Sister Sara came into the rectory and knocked on the office door. "Excuse me," she said. "Sister Rosita called. Sister Margaret is in a coma, but she's stable,"
"Thank you."
"Do you need anything else before I go to prayers?"
"No, I'm fine thank you."
_.-~=]})*({[=~-._
"Abby this is insane." Ziva said as Abby brought up another screen on her computer. Abby spent the night at Ziva's apartment so the other woman could make sure she got some sleep. When she woke this morning however, she moved quickly and decisively working out her plans to help the nuns at St. Michael's Convent.
"No Ziva," Abby said as she typed. "It's perfect. You're not working for the next few days. Gibbs, Tony and Tim are on assignment. I have to find out what's going on."
"But there has to be a better way. This is just insane."
"Ziva, my friends are being killed and hurt. If these are just accidents, I can accept it. If someone is hurting them, I need to stop it." Abby turned and faced her friend. "But I can't do it myself. I need your help."
Ziva looked at Abby's sad expression. She knew long ago, why everyone was so protective of her. As far as Ziva was concerned, Abby was as close as she would ever come to having a sister again. Foremost for Ziva was Abby's innocence and love for life that so reminded her of Tali. She knew it was a ridiculous idea, but Abby was distraught and Ziva too thought a series of crimes were being committed at the convent.
"I agree we have to do something," Ziva said. "But can't we just do something else? I don't think this-" she emphasized by pointing to the computer, "is going to work."
"Why not?"
"For one thing, I'm Jewish."
"But as far as they're concerned, you'll be a Brazilian Catholic."
"Are you kidding?"
"No, why?"
"Abby, I speak ten languages. Portuguese is not one of them."
"Oh."
"How about Italian?"
Ziva sighed in exasperation. She really didn't want to investigate like this. "I do speak Italian," she said pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Great," Abby exclaimed, spinning her chair to face her computer again. "Sister Zelda Vercetti."
"Zelda?"
"McGee would approve." Abby smiled as she continued to type.
"And who will you be?"
"Sister Abigail Davis."
"Why do you get to keep your name?"
"Know any Italians named Ziva?"
"Abby," Ziva said after a few moments. "I am proud of you for wanting to take an active role in helping your friends. And even if this is the craziest idea I have ever heard, I am also honored that you asked me to help you."
Abby got up from her workstation and captured Ziva in a surprisingly strong hug. "Oh my God. This is so going to be like Sister Act with Whoopie Goldberg. Except we won't be hiding from bad guys, we'll be looking for them."
Ziva looked at Abby with a raised eyebrow.
"Ugh." Abby said a little calmer. "Did I just totally sound like Tony?"
"Yes you did Abby." Ziva said with a smile. "But it is ok since I was thinking it is more like Sister Act 2 where we pose as nuns to help your nun friends. But without singing."
_.-~=]})*({[=~-._
"Excuse me, Director Vance?" Abby said entering the office.
"Miss Sciuto," Vance said closing a file and setting it aside. "How can I help you?"
"I know this is last minute, but I was wondering if I can take a few days off."
"Miss Sciuto, I know you recently lost a close friend, but we still have active cases with evidence that will need to be analyzed."
"I know," Abby said, wringing her fingers together. "And I won't be leaving you without someone to run the lab." Director Vance looked at her and waited for her to continue. "You see I called a couple of friends that have the necessary clearance, and they're both willing to help. It'll just be for a few days."
"And who are these friends?" Abby held up a finger and stepped outside into the outer office. When she came back, she had two other people with her.
"Director Vance, This is Carol Wilson," Director Vance nodded to Carol, "and Marty Pearson. They're both super brilliant and willing to work for me for a few days."
"Miss Wilson," Vance said after rising and walking to her. "You helped us find Victor Sterling last year."
"Yes sir," Carol said. "I was happy to help."
"Mr. Pearson," Vance turned to Marty "I haven't had the pleasure. I hope the two of you can keep up while Miss Sciuto is gone."
"Of course sir," Marty and Carol said together.
"Miss Sciuto," the Director said. "Hurry back."
_.-~=]})*({[=~-._