I responded with a weak smile. “Was it busy this morning, Eric?” I put my lunch in the bottom desk drawer.
“Not really.”
“Hello, ladies,” Doug, wearing Tommy Bahama patterned nursing scrubs strolled down the corridor toward us. “Are we doing shift reports in Marabel’s office?” His bright white smile faltered at Marabel.
“Yep.” Marabel headed to her office.
“See you later, kiddos.” Nora pointed her walker towards her room and began her slow thump-slide journey.
Marabel sat at her desk and Doug pulled in a couple of chairs for Vi and me.
“What happened?” Marabel asked.
Doug closed the door. “Mr. Marino rang and told us he was missing his Percocet. When the pharmacy tech dropped it off this morning he was using the bathroom. When he came out, his other meds were there, but not the Percocet. Gwen, the new CNA we hired, said Mrs. Garcia and Mrs. Almond also complained they were missing pills. Mrs. Almond told Gwen that she thought it had happened before, but she assumed she’d taken them.”
I glanced at Marabel, tempering an I-told-you-so look with crap-what-now.
She raised one eyebrow warning me it was about to get worse.
The door opened and Violet squeezed in along with Julie, the other morning nurse. Vi sat next to me.
Julie leaned against the door. Her cheeks were pink and her wide eyes searched for Doug. “Did you tell them about you-know-who?”
Doug shook his head. “Just getting there. Okay, so Gwen mentions that maybe Eric noticed something when he was helping her this morning. Now, the guy is usually a waste of air that occasionally answers the phone for me but Gwen insists he’s a real team-player. I’m like, really? What do you mean?” Doug sucked in a deep breath. “She tells me Eric helps all the time, takes the food trays out, takes the garbage out, runs and grab sodas for the CNA’s.”
“That’s news to me,” Marabel said.
“Yeah, well, today we have him on the camera footage. He waits until the RN’s are in a room and then assists. He’s quick, just one room at a time.” Doug’s lips pinched. “And guess what? He went into those three rooms to retrieve lunch trays.”
“Have you called the police?” I didn’t hide the excitement from my voice. It certainly made it more likely that Ray’s mom had nothing to do with the drugs in Evie’s room.
Doug nodded. “I told the Director, Theo, right away, and told the CNA’s not to ask for Eric’s help. Eric doesn’t know we suspect him, I’m not even sure he knows the camera caught him going into the rooms,” Doug said.
Marabel spoke up. “Theo called me before I came in. Two detectives are in his office watching the videos and live stream. They want to get a warrant to search Eric’s car and house.”
“And I hoped Nora’s day-glow hair would be the excitement for the day,” I whispered.
Marabel grinned. “I love her.”
“Me, too.” And her hair would fade fast. Hopefully. “I think Eric was here the day that drugs were found in Evie Feeney’s room. Maybe he hid them in her room and they were found before he could retrieve them.”
Marabel’s head nodded like a bobblehead on a washing machine. “That makes sense. I’ll check the schedule and let the police know.”
“Anything else going on that we should know about?” Vi asked.
Doug and Julie gave their end-of-shift reports on the patients. Fortunately, our patients seemed to thrive on the excitement of stolen narcotics.
We left Marabel’s office. Kendra, the other nurse who worked the morning shift sat at the nurses’ station.
Doug motioned to Eric’s vacant seat. “Where’d he go?” he asked Kendra.
“He clocked out at two, exactly. Makes me want to run to the parking lot and see what’s going on.” Kendra scooted past Vi.
“Me, too. Let’s go. Bye all.” Doug waved. He, Julie and Kendra speed-walked toward the locker rooms.
Mrs. Almond’s call button lit up. “I’m on it if you man the desk,” I said.
Vi slid into the chair. “Sure. Call me if you need me. Here comes Missy.”
“Will do.” I waved to Missy, our favorite ward clerk, as she hurried toward the desk.
“Sorry I’m late. There’s a police dog in the parking lot sniffing everyone’s car.” The phone rang and Missy slid into the spare desk seat and answered politely.
I poked my head in Mrs. Almond’s room. Dr. Kotelawala, the podiatrist, knelt in a puddle of water on the floor.
Mrs. Almond lay on the floor, looking displaced and flustered, but comfy. “I’m okay,” she said.
I grabbed towels and tossed one on the floor and handed another to Dr. Kotelawala. I dried the puddle. “Did you get a little ticklish during your pedicure and fall out of bed?”
“Exactly.” Dr. Kotelawala looked at me, his handsome face puckered with worry.
“How are you feeling, Mrs. Almond?” I assessed her, noting she seemed more embarrassed than in pain.
“I’m okay.” She slapped Dr. Kotelawala’s hand away from her shoulder. “I’d like to sit up.”
Dr. Kotelawala and I leveraged her to a seated position. “Let’s hang out here for a minute. Any dizziness?” I asked.
“No. The only thing hurt is my pride. I slid very slowly and Dr. K caught me.” She huffed. “I just don’t have the strength to stand up on my own.”
I patted her shoulder. “I’m so glad you’re not hurt. You don’t think you overstretched a muscle?”
“I promise I’m not hurt,” she said.
“Give me a minute to change your sheets, okay?” I stuck my head into the hallway and waved to a nurse’s aide. The CNA helped me make the bed and then she took the wet things with her.
Mrs. Almond was a tiny thing, but I put the gait belt around her waist and Dr. Kotelawala and I transferred her back to bed. Fortunately, her clothes were dry. I dried the remaining water on the floor.
Dr. Kotelawala finished trimming her toenails. His damp white shirt clung to his body and highlighted his dark, toned muscles.
Mrs. Almond’s eyes twinkled because she’d caught me checking him out.
I mouthed, “You’re
