She supposed the recent birth of her partial namesake had been the reason for the more frequent reminisces. Her own little girl would have been close to four by now.
Olivia shook her head trying to clear the images. Something she had never told Amber, and swore silently she never would, is she often saw her little girl. Not as the still born she had been but like she would be if she had lived. It had scared her the first few times it happened, but now Olivia was used to the images.
She would sometimes come down the stairs of the little townhouse she lived in and find a small child with chestnut colored hair playing on the rug in front of the couch. It always surprised her but also made her heart glad. Each time she spotted the child she noted only her facial features in the child. She had none of Patrick's features or coloring.
Olivia sighed as she continued her meal. She hated these melancholy moods she was developing. Sunny by nature, it pained Olivia to realize she was slipping into a small depression. She decided she would need to talk to her doctor about her moods to see if there was something she should be taking.
No drugs would ever heal the hurt and anger she suffered at her husband's duplicity, but she needed to feel happy again. Even if she lived alone, she still had people who depended on her. She refused to live in a state of depression.
Finishing her lunch, Olivia made her way back to her work station. She once again made her rounds checking on each patient. She was careful not to disturb any of them. She knew from working there and receiving the many complaints that it was next to impossible to sleep in a hospital so she was the last person to try to disturb her patients.
The last room she came to was the room of Pamela McDowell. When she looked in the old lady appeared to be sleeping peacefully, however, Olivia noticed her machines had been turned off. Olivia stepped further into her room and checked her patient's vitals. She could feel the tears starting to gather as she lifted the cold lifeless hand of the old lady she had been taking care of for the last two weeks. She knew this day would be coming. Mrs. McDowell was in a considerable amount of pain, but the fact that the monitors had been turned off so as not to catch the failing heartbeat concerned Olivia. She said nothing about that fact as she informed the head nurse of the old lady's passing.
Olivia had not been working the third shift for long but even on day shift she had been concerned with the unusual number of deaths she had noticed. For over a month she had been contemplating whether she should talk with Derek.
Deaths were common in a hospital especially with the elderly, however, there had been a steady rise in the number of deaths that had been occurring in her hospital for several months. She had no evidence, nothing that said these deaths were suspicious other than a nagging feeling and now a monitor that had been turned off purposely when Mrs. McDowell lay dying. She decided that was proof enough to at least tell Derek of her concerns. Surely he and Matt could look into the matter.
~
Derek and Matt Stevenson were sitting in Matt's office looking over a case that had just come in. The brothers had not had any major cases since locking up the serial killer they had been chasing a few months earlier. Thankful for the quiet, Matt had agreed to look into a case in Texas.
Since Matt and Derek had started working together other law enforcement agencies had taken notice of the cases the brothers closed. A few had requested the two take a look at files they were having difficulty with to get a fresh perspective. Matt would often agree if his own desk wasn't full of his own cases.
Waiting for Dale McGhee, his third in command, to join them, Matt and Derek talked quietly. Matt was thankful for the addition of Dale to his team. He was a hard worker who enjoyed the job. With a military background, Dale brought a lot to the table. This is why Matt and Derek had been including him in on these types of discussions.
Dale was walking to Matt's office when he suddenly stopped in his tracks and stared at the beautiful woman who had just walked through the door. Long brown hair reaching past her shoulders swayed as she walked. Dale felt like a fist had been shoved into his stomach when wide brown eyes met his.
"Can I help you," he asked surprised his voice sounded calm. On the inside he was anything but calm. He had met a lot of pretty women so he was unsure why this one would affect him this way.
"I was looking for Derek Stevenson." Her voice was sultry with a slow southern accent. A true Georgia peach, he mused.
"I'm headed to talk with him now. I'll show you the way."
"Thank you." Olivia smiled at the agent willing to show her to Derek's office.
Dale was stunned by her beauty as she smiled at him, then concerned. He had noticed her smile was simply for outward appearances. Something had happened to the beauty to hurt her deeply.
"I'm Dale, by the way."
"Nice to meet you Dale, I'm Olivia."
Dale turned and escorted Olivia to Matt's office where the brothers had gathered. Derek looked up as he stepped into the office.
"Olivia," he said with surprise in his eyes. "What brings you by here?"
Olivia took in the three men and realized they must have been about to have a meeting.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Derek. I didn't realize you might be busy. I can come back another time." Olivia was trying to back her way out of Matt's office when Derek grabbed her elbow and brought her further into the room.
"Come on in, Olivia. We can talk in her. You know Matt." Olivia and Matt nodded to each other. How could she forget Matt? He had been so kind to her while informing her of her husband's death and the circumstances surrounding it. Most law enforcement would not have been half as caring. She knew part of the reason was because of Amber, but she appreciated his thoughtfulness all the same.
"Have you met Dale," Derek asked.
Olivia nodded again and sat in the chair Derek pointed out to her. He leaned against Matt's desk as he waited for her to tell him what was bothering her.
"I realize how crazy this is going to sound, Derek, but I have some concerns and I wanted to discuss them with you to see if I am just overreacting or if I should be legitimately concerned."
"Sure, Olivia. We will be glad to help in any way we can."
"Last night, one of my elderly patients passed away. She had been sick for some time and everyone knew it would happen soon. Bless her heart, she was in so much pain. But when I went in her room to check on her, all of her monitors were turned off. They were working fine when I went to lunch and she was breathing normally. When I can back, they were turned off, and she was dead."
Olivia took a deep breath after that long speech and waited. Derek, unsure what she was looking for, turned to Matt with a questioning look.
"Olivia, what is your concern," Matt asked.
"There have been an unusually number of deaths in the hospital lately," she responded. "Last night made me wonder if there have been more than there should have been."
Understanding began to dawn on the men's faces.
"I know it sounds silly. People die in the hospital all the time. But some of the deaths are suspicious to me. Since I've been on the night shift, my curiosity has really been aroused." Olivia sighed. She really did feel stupid for actually talking about this out loud.
Derek tried to relieve her mind a little. "Olivia, if you feel something is not quite right, then you were right to come to us. We would be happy to look into this matter."
Derek and Matt asked her several questions as Dale sat quietly making notes. Two hours later, Derek escorted Olivia to her car.
"Thanks, Derek," she said as she climbed into her car.
"Anytime, Olivia. We'll let you know what we find out." Derek closed her door and watched as she pulled out of the parking garage. Amber had been concerned about her friend for a long time and after talking with Olivia for awhile he could understand the concern.
Amber's friend had a heart of gold, a ready smile, and a loving personality. If you didn't kn
ow her story, you would never discover the brokenness she hid so well. Derek sighed as he walked back into the building.
Joining Matt and Dale back in the office the three discussed what should be done about Olivia's concerns. Once they decided on a course of action, they turned their attention to the Texas file.
~
After leaving the FBI office, Olivia drove home. Her concern about Mrs. McDowell had taken a lot out of her and she wanted to take a hot shower then go to bed. It bothered her to think there might be someone in the hospital killing patients, but after the events of last night, she had no choice but to try to find out more.
After learning what her husband had done, she was not sure if she could handle dealing with an Angel of Mercy in the hospital where she worked. They were health care givers. It was not their place to decide when it was time for someone to die.
She understood the pain Mrs. McDowell was in and was actually relieved the sweet, old lady would no longer feel her pain, but there had been other incidents that had truly concerned her.
Just last week, a small child gave up his struggle with pneumonia. According to the charts, the child seemed to be responding to treatment, but suddenly, the child stopped breathing. The parents were beside themselves. The couple had left the hospital room for twenty minutes to grab some supper in the cafeteria. When they came back to the room, the child was dead. The mother's screams had echoed through the hospital.
Olivia was just beginning her shift when she heard the gut wrenching sound. The parents had been inconsolable. Olivia felt the mother's pain.
After her experience last night, Olivia could not shake the child's death from her mind. Surely whoever had helped Mrs. McDowell into the next life, had not killed a small child.
There had been other concerning incidents like that as well. While she would never condone killing another human, she could understand someone giving into the pleading of a loved one to end their suffering. But there had been other patients who seemed to be getting over their illnesses but suddenly took a turn for the worse or simply slipped into eternity while they slept. These are the patients who truly concerned Olivia the most. The number of deaths of people who should be recovering was way too high.
Olivia decided to leave her concerns in the hands of the FBI. She felt Matt and Derek had been honest with her and she knew they would investigate. If they found nothing she would breathe easier. In the meantime, she wondered how she could continue to go into work and know she was working with a possible serial killer.
Olivia put these thoughts out of her mind as she climbed into her shower. A few minutes later, she was pulling the dark curtains in her bedroom closed so she could sleep.
####
♥ Author's Note ♥
Thank you for taking the time to read my book. I would love to hear from you and would like some honest feedback on your thoughts and opinion of my writing. Whether or not you enjoyed the book, please email me and let me know how I can improve as a writer. You can reach me at
[email protected] and I am on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/emma.grace.1029770.
♥ About the Author ♥
Emma Grace is a small town Southern girl whose love of books has been handed down through the women in her family for many generations. Emma has often sat with her mother or grandmother each reading their own books and enjoying the others silent company. Emma is the mother of three beautiful children and is married to a loving, devoted husband. It was her husband and children who encouraged her to write her own books for others to enjoy.
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