Mary Daheim
agitated. “I’m supposed to be off duty at eleven,” she
said with a quick glance at her watch, “but as you
probably know, we have had an emergency. I have to
stay a bit longer. I’ll take your vitals now and then get
some more pain medication.”
The nurse’s fingers fumbled with the thermometer;
she gave herself a good shake. “Sorry. It’s been an upsetting morning.”
“What caused Mr. Randall to die so suddenly?” Judith asked.
Corinne didn’t look at Judith. “I don’t know. He
seemed to be doing quite well.”
“Why did they rush his body down the hall after he
died?” Judith queried. “I mean, he was already beyond
help, wasn’t he?”
Corinne gave a curt nod. “Yes. He must have been
an organ donor. The same procedure was followed
with Mr. Somosa and Ms. Fremont.”
Judith pressed on before Corinne could put the thermometer in her mouth. “Will they perform an autopsy
on Mr. Randall?”
“Yes, it’s required in such cases.” The nurse still
avoided Judith’s gaze as she began the pulse routine.
Renie had managed to get herself back under the
covers. “But how can they do an autopsy if he’s donating his organs? That doesn’t make sense.”
“They can take the corneas,” Corinne replied. “Eyes
aren’t part of a routine autopsy.”
“So they did autopsies on Fremont and Somosa?”
Renie asked, filling in for her cousin, who now had the
thermometer in her mouth.
“Yes.” Corinne kept focused on her watch. “As I said,
they have to when a patient dies unexpectedly. The
county automatically assumes jurisdiction in such cases.”
SUTURE SELF
59
“What did they find out with the first two?” Renie
inquired.
“I couldn’t say,” Corinne replied, removing the thermometer from Judith’s lips. “There, now let’s take
your blood pressure.”
“Couldn’t?” Judith smiled. “Or can’t?”
“Won’t.” Corinne wound the cuff around Judith’s
arm. “The hospital has made its public statement.”
“ ‘Extenuating circumstances’?” Renie quoted from
what she’d read in the newspaper. “As in, not the hospital’s fault?”
Corinne shrugged, but said nothing. Judith couldn’t
resist goading the nurse. “I saw the news last night on
TV. Good Cheer is being sued, I gathered.” It was only
an assumption, given the brief news bit the cousins had
seen, but it seemed a logical conclusion.
Corinne made no response of any kind, but removed
the cuff, made some entries on a chart, and started
