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“Thank you, Mrs. Gaston.”
“Doctor, I’m sure you know best, but—”
“I’m sure I do, too.” He gave her a stern look. “I will no longer tolerate this second-guessing, Mrs. Gaston.”
“I’m only considering what’s best for the patient.”
“You don’t think I am?”
“Of course you are, Doctor. I wasn’t implying that at all.” She drew herself up straighter. “But I’m a well-trained nurse with years of experience.”
“Which is why you were retained for this position. But you’re overstepping your bounds.”
“Mrs. Merritt is overly sedated. If you ask me—”
“I didn’t!” George shouted.
“Furthermore, I think her lithium dosage is dangerously high.”
“You see the lab reports. Her lithium blood level is exactly where it should be.”
“Then I don’t trust the lab, and I don’t believe the reports.”
George’s heart was pounding against his ribs. His knees had turned to jelly, his pulse throbbed behind his eyes, and he knew his face was red.
Forcibly calming himself, he said stiffly, “Your services are no longer needed, Mrs. Gaston. Please pack your things immediately. I’ll have someone return you to Washington tonight.”
She splayed her hand over her chest. “You’re firing me?”
“You no longer fit in to Mrs. Merritt’s treatment program. Now, if you will—”
She shook her head stubbornly and reached for Vanessa’s hand. “I won’t go. She’s my patient, too. I refuse to leave her in this condition. If you want my honest opinion, I think she’s toxic and near comatose.”
“If you won’t go voluntarily, I’ll have no choice but to have you physically removed.”
He strode across the room, opened the door, and shouted for the Secret Service agents.
Chapter Twenty
“Barrie Travis?”
“Speaking. Who’s this?” Barrie plugged up her free ear with her fingertip to better hear the soft-spoken woman over the cacophony of the newsroom.
“Do you know about Highpoint?”
Barrie was instantly alert. “In what regard?”
“Something’s happened.”
“Can you be more specific?”
“No. I don’t know. I can’t say.” Her distress was clear. “Someone needs to find out what’s going on out there.”
Then the caller hung up.
Barrie rang the switchboard operator. “Did the caller you just put through identify herself or say where she was calling from?”
“No, she just asked to speak to you. Another kook?”
