“Caroline, you didn’t know,” he said trying to comfort the young woman.
“I knew. Of course, I knew. I saw that assignment and knew it wasn’t right but I was so worried about my damn grade I couldn’t think of anything else.”
“He was in a position of trust. That’s understandable,” said Bullett.
“Thank you for trying to make me feel better,” she said trying to give him a smile.
“Give yourself some grace and time. You did what you thought you needed to do. Being brilliant doesn’t mean you have all the answers.”
“Thank you. I’m really tired now,” she whispered. He nodded at her as she closed her eyes, the starkness of the white sheet against her pale skin making her appear even more fragile.
Bullett left the room, walking down the sterile hallway of the hospital. A doctor passed him, giving him a nod and Bullett continued to the nurses station.
“Can I help you sir?” she asked.
“Caroline, in room 357, what’s her prognosis?” he asked.
“She’s malnourished, severely dehydrated but she should make a full recovery.”
“That’s good to hear. Has she had any visitors?” he asked.
“None. Her folks are from Wisconsin and they’re trying to get flights down now. We’re hoping they’ll…” She stopped, the alarms behind her going off. “What on earth?”
“What is that?”
“It’s Caroline’s room. Her heart monitor is off.” Bullett turned, seeing the doorway to the stairs at the end of the hall closing.
“No. Fuck no! Call security!” he yelled. Racing down the hallway, he opened the door and heard the door to the street close. “Shit!”
Running back to the room, he stood in the doorway, helpless as the doctors and nurses called it a spontaneous cardiac arrest.
“Fuck,” he muttered. He pulled out his phone and dialed the number. “Joey? I got a problem here.”
“It wasn’t your fault, son,” said Gator. “There was no way for you to know that the doctor wasn’t a real doctor.”
“I should have. He looked right at me and smiled, nodding. What doctor does that?” he frowned. The others grinned, knowing that their own doctors would do something like that.
“Bullet, you’re gonna drive yourself crazy brother. You couldn’t have known. They must have known that she didn’t keep anything and would eventually talk to someone. Did she say anything at all?”
“No. Just that she didn’t keep a copy after she gave the papers to Professor Mills. She said that her topic was sterilization without surgery,” frowned Bullett.
“Fucking sick shit, brother,” growled Joey. “Nothing left to do here, man. Let’s get back to base. We’re all staying there to ensure safety.”
Bullett nodded as they walked by the nurses’ station. He realized that Caroline’s parents had arrived from Wisconsin.
“We’re so sorry,” said the nurse. “She died of cardiac arrest.”
“Cardiac arrest? How does a perfectly healthy, perfectly normal twenty-four-year-old woman die of a heart attack?” Bullett continued to walk past them and turned to Joey.
“That’s what I want to know.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Marisa smiled at Joey as he realized that they were placed in a group environment in one of the barracks. There was no privacy, no double beds, no opportunity for them to be alone.
“Are you kidding me?” he mumbled.
“It’s okay,” she smiled. “They thought it would be best if we were all in one location. There are MP’s outside the hut guarding us and we’ve got our team inside.”
