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Post by Jordanna on Feb 4, 2009 0:05:58 GMT -5
"Yeah. I know." Vance looked at Caddy soberly. "Only it just might be worse for him to be away, waiting and wondering."
He sighed and shrugged, making a vague pushing-away gesture. "You see anything else worth knowing in these papers?"
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Post by skybright on Feb 4, 2009 0:14:30 GMT -5
Hubert glanced up with a frown. "One of these formulas is for a very strong sedative." He remarked. "Knowing what we do about the clinic's operations, it's not difficult to see what use they would put it to -- but I imagine having it on hand might be the sort of thing that would damage the credibility of their cover story, or at least seem suspicious."
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Post by Jordanna on Feb 6, 2009 22:09:55 GMT -5
"Any straw we can clutch at," Vance muttered. "We'll call Mayor Cole and let him know about that. Maybe the authorities cleaning up what's left of the clinic can stumble across the stuff."
Handy frowned. "If the big bad guys haven't chased off all the city cops."
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Post by skybright on Feb 7, 2009 2:31:42 GMT -5
"Or paid them all off." Daws muttered, scowling.
Hubert nodded. "That's probably likely, if Mayor Cole is correct about that police commissioner."
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Post by Jordanna on Feb 8, 2009 23:16:13 GMT -5
"I'm gonna see to it Cole starts cleaning that up himself," Vance growled. "But not before we find out where that crooked cop can lead us."
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Post by skybright on Feb 8, 2009 23:29:52 GMT -5
"Probably to a depressingly large number of other crooked cops." Daws said glumly.
Hubert thumbed through a few more sheets of paper with an abstracted frown, then glanced up with an apologetic expression. "There isn't much else I can tell you at the moment, Major. Some of this seems fragmentary -- we might be able to puzzle out more, given a bit of time. I'll turn my attention to it right away."
Caddy nodded. "I can't promise my full attention, but I'll do the same -- and I'll call in some favors to get you the names of those hospitalized victims. I can start in on that right now, actually."
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Post by Jordanna on Feb 8, 2009 23:37:07 GMT -5
Vance nodded. "Fine. Disappearing one of their researchers'll probably spook the people up top even more, but it's a chance worth taking at this point. If we can--"
He was interrupted by thudding footsteps on the stairs, and an excited Alex suddenly appeared. For the moment, he was clearly oblivious to the doctors' other guests.
"Doc, Doc--Miriam squeezed my hand!"
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Post by skybright on Feb 8, 2009 23:45:19 GMT -5
"What?" Caddy was on his feet in an instant, the papers on his lap slithering to the floor in a forgotten heap. "Okay, really good. Excellent. This is a good sign."
He was at Alex's side in two bounding strides, and he caught the other man by the elbow, steering him back towards the stairs. "Were you talking to her? Did it seem like response? Gimme some details, here."
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Post by Jordanna on Feb 8, 2009 23:48:42 GMT -5
"Yeah--yeah, sure I was talking to her," Alex babbled breathlessly. "Not really saying anything. I just... you know... ran out of real things to say days ago. Just that I love her. And I was stroking her hair."
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Post by skybright on Feb 9, 2009 0:01:26 GMT -5
"Even better." Caddy nodded and hit the stairs at a brisk pace. "That's great. I've gotta . . . Hey, Hubert?" He paused and turned to call back down the stairs, "Do me a favor, willya, and bring up my black bag? And I need my Babinski reflex hammer, too."
Hubert set aside the papers he'd been leafing through and rose, glancing at Handy, Daws, and Vance with a faint smile. "I think it's alright if you want to follow them upstairs." He remarked, before ducking out of the room to retrieve the requested supplies.
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Post by Jordanna on Feb 9, 2009 0:06:39 GMT -5
"I had an idea about doing that anyway," Vance murmured. He glanced at Daws, and led the way upstairs.
In the spare bedroom, Miriam still lay in the bed where she had been unconscious for days. Alex was at her side again, sitting in a chair drawn up close beside her. He was clutching her hand once again, and his eyes were lighted with hope, although Miriam showed no sign of even beginning to awaken.
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Post by skybright on Feb 9, 2009 0:17:33 GMT -5
Daws settled one shoulder against the doorframe, trying to display a nonchalance she very much did not feel as she examined her friend for any sign of stirring.
Caddy was bent over the EKG machine that was nestled close to Miriam's bedside, frowning in intense concentration and scanning the scrawled glowing lines of the readout. "Yeah, definite spike in activity there." He murmured, glancing up thoughtfully at Miriam's face.
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Post by Jordanna on Feb 9, 2009 0:25:32 GMT -5
Handy frowned, gesturing slightly to the machine with his lower left hand. "Does that thing tell ya when she's gonna wake up, Doc?"
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Post by skybright on Feb 9, 2009 0:34:38 GMT -5
Caddy shot him a crooked, humorless grin. "Oh, man, Handy, I only wish they made medical equipment that was half that useful. No, this . . ." He straightened with a vague gesture at the machine, "It's mostly just to tell us what's going on with her right at this moment. How deep she is in the coma, how steady her brain activity is, that kind of thing."
Hubert arrived at that moment, slipping past the trio of observers with Caddy's black back in hand. The younger doctor nodded and carefully drifted the bag across the bed and into his waiting hands, glancing at Alex as he did so.
"Do me a favor, Foxy," He said gently, "And do what you were doing when she responded, will you? Let's see what reproducing the stimulus can do for us."
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Post by Jordanna on Feb 9, 2009 0:40:43 GMT -5
"I don't need any convincing," Alex murmured, a little unsteadily. He squeezed Miriam's hand and gently ran his fingers through her hair, leaning close to her ear to murmur soft pointless words.
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Post by skybright on Feb 9, 2009 0:53:33 GMT -5
Caddy nodded and fished in his medical bag for a moment, withdrawing his stethoscope and fitting it into his ears. As Alex continued, Caddy worked around him -- dividing his attention between Miriam's vital signs, the careful scrutiny of her face, and an equally intense survey of her brainwaves on the bedside display.
As he worked, he kept up a litany of murmured half-comments that seemed to be solely for his own benefit. "Okay . . . not bad . . . good . . . good . . ." He peered at Miriam's face and raised his voice slightly. "C'mon, Miriam. Do us all a big favor and give us a sign, huh?"
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Post by Jordanna on Feb 9, 2009 23:31:33 GMT -5
There was no visible reaction from Miriam, but Alex did not look discouraged. He peered hopefully at Caddy, but it was Vance who voiced the question.
"I can imagine these things take time... but is this a sign she's finally starting to come out of it, Doc?"
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Post by skybright on Feb 9, 2009 23:38:53 GMT -5
Caddy smiled crookedly and glanced up from gently checking Miriam's reflexes with a hammer. "I don't want to get anyone's hopes up too high." He said, "But it's a pretty good sign. That kind of response to stimulus is associated with a higher level of coma than she's been in. Think of it as . . . well, it's kind of like her brain starting to come up for air."
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Post by Jordanna on Feb 9, 2009 23:48:15 GMT -5
Alex kissed Miriam's hand and caressed it gently, leaning his head down to whisper softly in her ear. Vance turned partially away, as if to give him a measure of privacy.
"You know how busy we are, Doc," the Major said. "But if there's any real change in Miriam's condition, call me. I'd like to know--her waking up would be at least one thing right now to feel better about."
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Post by skybright on Feb 9, 2009 23:57:18 GMT -5
"Oh, yeah." Caddy nodded rapidly as he stowed his supplies away in his black bag and turned to scribble a few notes on a pad of paper that lay on the bedside table, "Of course I will. The minute there's any news, you'll know it."
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