Diver Down (Mercy Watts Mysteries) (18 page)

Shield your eyes!

“Sir, what is wrong?” asked Bruno, fully dressed. Thank goodness.

“We need a car,” said Graeme.
 

I bit my lip and glanced at the bed. Empty.
 

“I don’t have a car,” said Bruno.
 

“You know my Aunt Tennessee, right? I’m Mercy.”
 

“Yes, of course. Your aunt speaks of you often.”
 

“So you know I’m a nurse. Can you find a car? We need to get to the Coxen Hole hospital.”
 

“In this storm? It’s not a good idea.”
 

Both men looked at me. “We have to,” I said, wiping the water out of my eyes. “His wife suffered a stab wound yesterday and it’s infected.”
 

“Can’t that wait a little while?” Bruno’s voice was low and calm and it made my breathing slow down.
 

“I’m afraid not. Her condition is deteriorating fast. Too fast for a normal infection. There must be a spine lodged in the wound.” I hesitated. Graeme looked positively terrified. “The combination of whatever was on the barb and the foreign object may be causing sepsis.”
 

“Oh, shit. That kills people,” said Graeme.
 

“Yes, it does.” I turned to Bruno. “Please?”
 

“My friend Penny has a car.” Bruno put on a raincoat and opened the door. A rush of water held back by the door flooded the room. “I’ll be right back.”
 

Then he was gone, leaving me with Graeme. The guy who might’ve caused this problem in the first place.
 

“I can’t believe this is happening,” he said. “This was supposed to be the perfect vacation, but it’s a nightmare.”
 

Graeme put his face in his hands and I considered him. The more I talked to Graeme the less I thought he hurt Lucia. But I could be wrong. Maybe he was a world-class actor and I was alone with him. I’d recently been reminded not to isolate myself when I knew a murderer was around and there I was, alone with Graeme, the prime suspect. Idiot. I backed away from him, sloshing in the cold water until I stepped on fabric. A thick canvas cloth lay on the floor under my feet. It covered a fourth of the floor space and in the center was a large easel. A canvas the size of my bathroom sat on it.
 

“Is that your aunt?” asked Graeme.

The painting was only half finished, but there was a woman done in a style I’d never seen before and I’ve seen a lot of art, thanks to Myrtle and Millicent. The woman reclined on a bench, surrounded by flowers, birds, and clocks. Part of her was made up of the flowers, birds, and clocks and the rest of a combo of cubism, expressionism, post-impressionist styles. I stepped closer. And pointillism around the eyes and mouth. The painting was the strangest thing I’d ever seen and I’d once been forced to go through an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York that consisted mostly of toilets and mannequin heads. This, in contrast, was breathtakingly beautiful. It was right in all the wrong ways and it was Aunt Tenne.
 

“Yes,” I said. “It’s her.”
 

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” said Graeme. “Is it good or just insane?”
 

I was no art critic, but I was pretty confident about that piece. “It’s good. It’s amazing.”
 

“And there’s a lot of them.”
 

One wall of the small room was covered in paintings. They were butted up against each so as not to waste an inch. There were two more of Aunt Tenne. One was photorealist and the other impressionist. Each executed perfectly. Every painting on the wall was a different style or combo of styles and they had life, a kind of glow that comes with greatness, not merely skill. My eyes filled and overflowed. I’m not a crier. I rarely cry at movies, unless a kid or dog dies, but I cried then, because I was in the presence of something amazing. Myrtle and Millicent had taught me to know brilliance when I saw it.

The door burst open behind us and Bruno came in holding up a set of car keys. “I got it.”
 

“Thank god!” said Graeme.
 

We returned to the storm, but for some reason it didn’t seem as bad, even though it was. The rain was just as hard. The wind just as wicked. But it didn’t matter. All I could think of was Aunt Tenne in that painting, so beautiful, crazy, and totally unexpected. Great art can take you out of your life. I’d never been so happy to leave mine.
 

Mom flung the office door open when we got there and I stumbled inside. Bruno yelled that he’d get the car and disappeared in the sheets of rain. I sucked in a deep breath. I didn’t realize I’d been holding it.
 

Lucia was still on the sofa, but Dixie was on the floor next to her holding a trash can. I sloshed over and touched Lucia’s forehead. One hundred and three at least.
 

“She’s vomiting now,” said Dixie.
 

“I see that.” I took Lucia’s hand. “It’s alright. Bruno found a car for us. We’ll get you to Coxen Hole in no time.”
 

“Okay.” Lucia’s voice was so weak, I had to lean in to hear it.
 

Bruno burst in. “I’ve got it.”
 

Graeme picked up Lucia and charged back into the storm.
 

“Mom, you two stay here,” I said.
 

Mom pulled me back from the door and crushed me against her chest. “Be careful, honeybabe.”
 

“I will.”
 

The worry in her eyes deepened. “Did you see Tenne?”
 

“Like I never have before.” I rushed out the door and dove into the front seat of a beat-up Chevy Cavalier.

One thing about driving around in a tropical storm that’s making you think you’re going to die, nobody is on the roads. Bruno drove down the center of the street with the windshield going on high, but it didn’t begin to combat the rain. Graeme held the shaking Lucia in his arms in the back. The bandage had fallen off her leg. The wound had opened up, gaping to an oval the size of an egg. The flesh was fiery red and must’ve been incredibly painful even with the
 
Norco on board. But what scared me most was Lucia herself. She wasn’t crying. Her face was pressed against Graeme’s chest and she was breathing hard.
 

“How long?” I asked Bruno.
 

“Twenty minutes.”
 

Okay. Okay. We’re not going to have organ shutdown in twenty minutes. But I’m not positive what was on that damn barb. Shit.

Bruno swerved around a car that had been abandoned in the middle of the road. We were between rows of shops, but there wasn’t a person in sight. It reminded me of some disaster movie. All we needed was zombies in hot pursuit.
 

I looked back at Graeme. He had his face pointed at the ceiling and a tear slipped past his ear.
 

Say something, idiot. Be distracting. Conversation is good. Talk. Damnit!

“Bruno!”
 

“Yes.” He didn’t look at me. He was sitting so far forward, trying to see, his chest was practically pressed against the steering wheel.
 

“Did you paint my aunt?”
 

He blushed, I think. His skin was dark enough that the barest amount of pink shown through.
 

“I saw the painting in your room. It was fantastic.”
 

He said nothing.
 

“My godmothers collect art,” I said. “They’ve taken me to museums all over the world. Your work should be in museums. Isn’t that right, Graeme.”
 

Graeme focused on me. “Yes. The paintings are beautiful.”
 

“Do you know art?” I asked.
 

“Only what Lucia has taught me.”
 

“Lucia, are you into art?”

She raised her head and looked at me, unfocused. “Yes.”

“Bruno is a fabulous artist. You should see his work. What’s your favorite artist?”
 

“Toulouse-Lautrec.”
 

Didn’t see that coming.
 

“He’s a dadalist?”
 

She focused, not a lot, but I’d take anything. “No. Post-impressionist.”
 

“That’s right. My godmothers took me to his museum in Albi.”
 

“Really?” she asked. “You’ve been there?”
 

“Twice actually. Have you been?”
 

“Not yet.”
 

“It really is a must. We stayed in a great little hotel.” I went on and on, gabbing about art and museums. Lucia perked up and by the time we made it to the hospital, Graeme looked less like he was going to fall apart. Bruno pulled up to the gate guard shack and found it empty. He drove up to the emergency room door and Graeme ran Lucia inside. I touched Bruno’s shoulder, but he kept looking out the windshield.
 

“Thank you,” I said. “You may have saved my life along with Lucia’s.”

He looked at me with small but expressive brown eyes full of concern and I got what Aunt Tenne saw in him and how it had happened so quickly. “What do you mean?”
 

“I’ll explain when I can. Don’t tell Aunt Tenne what I just said.”

“I don’t keep secrets.”
 

“Not for long. Just until Lucia’s out of danger.”
 

“Okay. Just until then.”
 

“You are a wonderful artist. Can we talk about that sometime?”

He looked away and the pink in his cheeks flared up. I got out of the car and ran into the ER. Graeme was at the desk yelling at a nurse, who was shaking her head.
 

“What’s happening?” I asked.
 

“She won’t take her back,” said Graeme. “She doesn’t care.”
 

“We are very busy,” said the nurse. Her name tag said Louise. Nice name. Not a nice woman.
 

I was about to climb over the desk and take her by the throat, but decided as my knee hit the edge that perhaps a more diplomatic approach would be best.
 

“Okay, Louise. I see where you’re coming from. I’m a nurse in the States. I get it, but we have a situation here.” I put my hand in Graeme’s back pocket and took out his wallet. His eyebrows went up, but he didn’t say anything. “I should explain the situation a little better.”
 

Louise gazed at me with scorn. I could practically see the words “Uppity American” racing through her mind. “I don’t need anything explained to me.”
 

“You’d be surprised.” I came around the desk and took her by the arm. I gave her a look that would freeze lava and she allowed me to walk her through to the back and close the door.
 

“Look, Louise. I don’t expect you to recognize the name, but that’s Lucia Fibonacci out there. She’s a member of one of the biggest Mafia families in the States. You understand Mafia?”
 

She stepped back. “So?”
 

“So you don’t want her to die on your watch. It wouldn’t be healthy for you,” I said.
 

“Are you threatening me?”
 

“Absolutely. I’m glad we understand each other.” I produced Graeme’s wallet.
 

Please let there be money in here. Lots of money.

I opened the wallet and found a stack of twenties.

Thank you, dentistry.
 

“I’m not unreasonable. Take this for your trouble.” I gave her the whole wad. Probably close to three hundred dollars. “How about calling Dr. Navarro. He saw her yesterday.”
 

Louise stuffed the bills in her pocket and picked up the phone on the wall. “Dr. Navarro to ER. Dr. Navarro to ER.”
 

“Thank you, Louise. We needed that.”
 

I went back to Graeme and Lucia. He’d sat down in a chair with her on his lap. Her teeth were chattering so hard, I could hear them across the room.
 

“You talked her into it?” asked Graeme.
 

“I threatened and paid her. A winning combo.”
 

“Thank god.”
 

“I cleaned you out,” I said, holding up his empty wallet.
 

“I do not give a flying fuck. Whatever it takes.”
 

Dr. Navarro ran into the waiting room and I waved to him.
 

“What happened?” he asked.
 

I pointed to Lucia’s leg. “This happened in the last hour and a half.”
 

“Louise!” yelled Dr. Navarro. “Bring me a wheelchair!”
 

She ran over with a rusty wheelchair and Graeme put Lucia in it. Navarro patted Louise’s shoulder. “It’s good you called me. I’m taking her to three.”
 

Dr. Navarro wheeled Lucia out and Bruno came in.
 

“They’re taking her back,” I said. “Can you wait?”

“Yes. It’s better than going out there again,” said Bruno.
 

“Mercy!” yelled Dr. Navarro. “Come back. I’ll see to that cut.”
 

Cut?

Bruno pointed to his own forehead and I touched mine. My hand came away bloody. Ah crap. I followed Dr. Navarro to room three and watched as they put Lucia on the gurney. The doctor pulled up a stool and examined her leg while another nurse, Rosario, took her blood pressure, pulse, and temperature. Blood pressure was low. Pulse and temperature were high. I was only off a half point, one hundred and three point five.
 

“The infection is spreading. I must’ve missed something on the x-ray,” said Dr. Navarro.
 

“Like what?” asked Graeme.

“A spine from the barb, perhaps. I’ll have to get in there and see if I can find it.”
 

Lucia stiffened and her grip tightened on Graeme’s arm, so that a flash of pain crossed his face.
 

Dr. Navarro gently patted her hip. “Don’t worry. You’re in luck. We received a donation of Propofol from a drug company in the States as well as IV antibiotics. We’ll have you back at the resort in no time.”