Chapter six

The doctor came in around 9 am, a serious look on his face.

"Okay," he said, "I have some results here that I can't explain. In fact, I'm at a loss. I've never seen anything like it."

"What is it, doc?" Jane asked, pulling himself up against the pillow, for the first time concerned about his own health.

"Well, whatever this is, it's definitely not natural. Your blood work came back with some strange abnormalities. You have some sort of toxin in your system but it's not something I'm familiar with. We've found out that your blood count is extremely low, either pointing to anemia, as mentioned before, but we've given you iron and blood last night and the ratings should be climbing by now, which they aren't. Apart from that, there were traces of lead in your blood."

"Lead?" Lisbon asked deeply troubled. "Are we talking about lead poisoning?"

"Yes, but unlike I've ever seen. We will have to do a lot of tests to find out what organs have been infected and to what extent. But we have to take this very seriously. If any of your organs have been heavily affected, we could be talking kidney failure, liver failure or .."

"Heart failure."

"So instead of allowing you to go home, I'm going to order a number of tests to find out what is going on inside of you."

Jane nodded slowly. "What about the others you have kept overnight?"

"Their blood work hasn't come back yet. Agent Lisbon, in your blood I found a very low level of lead. It seems that somehow you were exposed too but in a lot lesser way. In your case the dosage is so low that it should go leave your system naturally. The same goes for Agent Cho."

Jane and Lisbon looked at each other, confused. "What does that mean, doctor?" Lisbon asked. "How did Jane get more exposure?"

"That, I can't explain yet. I would like to do a gastroscopy and take tissue samples of his stomach and intestines. Then we can see if he has inhaled or digested the lead somehow. To be honest, I haven't seen anything like this ever before. I'd like to consult with some colleagues on your condition too."

"Doctor," Jane spoke slowly. "Will you do these tests today?"

"I will try but chances are high they will be done tomorrow morning at the earliest. I need to arrange practicalities with all the different labs and physicians."

"Then I'd like to leave today and come back tomorrow."

"Mr. Jane, I'm not sure if you understand your situation here. You are a very sick man. Going back to a possible infectious environment might be the death of you. We need to get you on the right medication as soon as possible."

"Which you will only get when you know what is poisoning me."

"That's true, but we might start up a dosage of antibiotics and keep the fluids running to flush the lead out of your system."

"Doctor, if I am correct, I've been walking around like this for the past three weeks. Do you think I'm going to die today?"

"No, but –"

"I promise you I will take it easy, doctor, but I think I can be of help at the CBI. Agent Lisbon will keep an eye on me and I promise to come back if things get worse. But I need to find out what is going on. The lives of many people could depend on it." Lisbon watched Jane as he spoke, realizing he was quite serious about this.

"I'll watch him," she heard herself say. "But he's right. We could use him. I'll bring him back first thing in the morning for the tests."

The doctor reluctantly agreed. "Call me as soon as there is a change. You do realize you're discharging yourself at own risk?"

"I understand," Jane said calmly. "Thank you."

The doctor nodded and sighed. "You are a very stubborn man, Mr. Jane. Don't let that be the death of you someday soon. As he removed the IV, Jane smiled. "You might say that I'm in sync with myself, doc. I'll be fine."

"Somehow I think you're right. I'll expect you here tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. If you're not here, I'll send paramedics to come and get you, alright?"

"It's a deal."

Lisbon watched Jane as he pushed away his bed sheets and moved his legs out of the bed. She placed his clothes on the bed and said, "I'm going to call the coroner's office. Are you okay to dress alone?"

"Yeah, fine."

As she left the room, she heard him say, "Lisbon?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for having my back."

"Any time, Jane." A smile played on her face as she left the room, realizing once again how much he had changed from the faux, selfish psychic he once was to this man who put his fate into her hands.

The coroner confirmed the doctor's findings, reading the results from the blood work he had done on the two bodies in his lab. Both showed a high level of lead in their system. He had gone back to their stomachs and taken tissue samples, confirming the same results. He promised to do more tests and asked her to consider this a murder investigation from now on.

Lisbon had goose bumps as she brought Jane with her to her car, watching his every move as he gingerly stepped into the passenger seat, closing his eyes now and then. She was already thinking about returning him to his room when he looked aside and smiled at her.

"My head is clear, Lisbon, and I have a plan to draw out our culprit."

"I'm all ears, Jane, because truth be told, I'm at a loss as to who is doing this and why."

"So am I. That's why we need him or her to make the first move."

"And how are you planning to do that?"

"By lying."

Lisbon smiled. "You do have experience in that area but hasn't that been a while back?"

Jane laughed. "I'm not going to con anyone, Lisbon, if that's what you think. But the only ones who know the truth so far about these lab results and the lead poisoning are you and I. All I'm asking you to do is keep back on the truth for one day and pretend it was all a mistake."

"Jane, a medical team is coming in to take blood samples from everyone."

"Call that a precautionary matter but convince them that there was nothing wrong with our three victims. You can't tell anyone, including Bertram. That way our killer will think he or she is safe and go about his business. Until we catch him in the act."

"We only have one day to do that, do you think that's enough?"

Jane leaned back. "I have this hunch that the blood work on our colleagues will help determine who it is."

Lisbon eyed him. "Jane, I don't know what you are thinking but I don't think I like it."

"Don't worry, Lisbon. It'll work out."

"I hope so," she sighed, knowing that, whenever it came to Patrick Jane, things never worked out the way they did.