"I thought he'd gone out for lunch," Angela said.
"That's what he told everybody," Darnell said. "Obviously he hadn't. He asked me directly if you had left Bartlet. I couldn't lie. I had to tell him."
"Did you tell him I went to see the chief medical examiner?" Angela asked.
"Yes," Darnell said.
"Then it should be fine," Angela said. "Thanks for letting me know."
"Good luck," Darnell said.
No sooner had Angela returned to her office than a secretary appeared to let her know that Dr. Wadley wanted to see her in his office. That was an ominous turn of events. Wadley had never used an intermediary before.
Angela found Wadley sitting at his desk. He stared at her with cold eyes.
"I was told you wanted to see me," she said.
"I did indeed," Wadley said. "I wanted to inform you that you are fired. I would appreciate it if you would pack up your belongings and leave. Your continued presence is bad for morale."
"I find this hard to believe," Angela said.
"Nonetheless, it is so," Wadley said coldly.
"If you're upset because I was gone at my lunch hour, you should know that I drove to Burlington to visit the chief medical examiner," Angela said. "He'd called to ask me to come as soon as I could."
"Dr. Walter Dunsmore does not run this department," Wadley said. "I do."
"Didn't he call you?" Angela asked. She felt desperate. "He told me he would call you. He was excited about something he'd discovered concerning the body found in my home." Angela quickly related the details, but Wadley was unmoved.
"I've only been gone for a little over an hour," Angela said.
"I'm not interested in excuses," Wadley said. "I warned you just yesterday about this very same thing. You chose to ignore my warnings. You've demonstrated yourself to be unreliable, disobedient, and ungrateful."
"Ungrateful!" Angela exploded. "Ungrateful for what? For your sniveling advances? For not wanting to rush off to Miami for a weekend of sun and fun with you? You can fire me, Dr. Wadley, but I'll tell you what I can do: I can sue you and the hospital for sexual harassment."
"You just try it, young lady," Wadley snapped. "You'll be laughed out of the courtroom."
Angela stormed out of Wadley's office. She was beside herself with rage. As she passed through the outer office, the secretaries quickly scattered in her wake.
Angela went to her office and gathered up her belongings. There wasn't much. All the equipment belonged to the hospital. Packing her things into a canvas tote bag, she walked out. She didn't talk to anyone for fear of losing her composure. She didn't want to give Wadley the satisfaction of making her cry.
She intended to go directly to David's office, but then she changed her mind. After her recent argument with David, she was afraid of his reaction to her losing her job. She didn't think she could handle a confrontation in the hospital. So instead she went directly to her car and drove aimlessly toward town.
Just as she was passing the library she put on the brakes and backed up. She'd spotted Calhoun's inimitable truck in the parking lot.
Angela parked her car. She wondered where Calhoun might be. She decided to check the library, recalling that Calhoun had mentioned he knew the librarian.
Angela found Calhoun reading in a quiet alcove overlooking the town green.
"Mr. Calhoun?" Angela whispered.
Calhoun looked up. "How convenient," he said with a smile. "I've got some news."
"I'm afraid I've got some news as well," Angela said. "How about meeting me up at the house."
"I'll look forward to it," Calhoun said.
As soon as Angela got home she put some water on to boil. While she was getting out cups and saucers, Calhoun's truck came up the drive. Angela called out that the door was unlocked when he knocked.
"Coffee or tea?" Angela asked when Calhoun came into the kitchen.
"Whatever you're having," Calhoun said.
Angela got out the teapot and busied herself getting the tea and the honey.
"You're off kinda early," Calhoun said.
Having reined in her emotions ever since she'd fled Wadley's office, Angela's response to Calhoun's innocent comment was overwhelming. She covered her face and sobbed. At a loss for what he had said or what to do, Calhoun stood helpless.
When Angela's tears reduced to intermittent choking sobs, Calhoun apologized. "I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry."
Angela stepped over to him and put her arms around him and her head on his woolly shoulder. He hugged her back. When she'd finally stopped crying he told her that she better tell him what happened.
"I think I'll have some wine instead of tea," Angela said.
"I'll have a beer," Calhoun said.
Sitting at the kitchen table Angela told Calhoun about getting fired. She explained how dire the consequences could be for her family.
Calhoun turned out to be a good listener, and he had the intuitive sense of what to say. He made Angela feel better. They even discussed her concerns about Nikki.
When Angela had talked herself out, Calhoun told her that he'd made some progress in the investigation.
"Maybe you're not interested anymore," Calhoun said.
"I'm still interested," Angela assured him. She dried her eyes with a dish towel. "Tell me."
"First of all, I discovered how the eight patients whose admission summaries Hodges was carrying around are related," he said. "All of them were former patients of Hodges' who had been shifted to CMV and had subsequently died in the months preceding Hodges' murder. Apparently each death came as a surprise for Hodges. That's why he was so furious."
"Did he blame the hospital or CMV?" Angela asked.
"Good question," Calhoun said. "As far as I could find out from his secretary he blamed both, but his main beef was with the hospital. It makes sense: he still thought of the hospital as his baby. So he was more disappointed with its perceived faults."
"Does this help us find out who killed him?" Angela asked.
"Probably not," Calhoun admitted. "But it's another piece to the puzzle. I also discovered another one: Hodges believed he knew the identity of the parking lot rapist. What's more, he thought the perp was connected to the hospital."
"I see where you are going," Angela said. "If the rapist knew Hodges suspected him, then he might have killed Hodges. In other words, the rapist and Hodges' murderer could be the same person."
"Exactly," Calhoun said. "The same person who tried to kill you the other night."
Angela shuddered. "Don't remind me," she said. Then she added: "I learned something specific about this person today, something that could make finding him a bit easier: he has a tattoo."
"How do you know that?" Calhoun asked.
Angela explained why she had gone to Burlington. She told Calhoun that Walter Dunsmore was absolutely convinced that Hodges had scraped off part of his killer's tattoo.
"Hell's bells," Calhoun said. "I love it."
When yet another nurse from the second floor called and asked to be seen for the flu, David was eager to see her. When she arrived, she was surprised that she didn't have to describe her symptoms; David described them for her. They were the same as his, only more pronounced. Her gastrointestinal problems had not responded well to the usual medications. Her temperature was one hundred and one.
"Have you had increased salivation?" David asked.
"I have," the nurse said, "and I've never had anything like it before."
"Nor have I," David said.
Seeing how uncomfortable this nurse was, David was thankful his own symptoms had waned during the day. He sent the nurse home for bed rest and told her to drink plenty of fluids and take whatever antipyretic medication she preferred.
After the last office patient had been seen, David started off to the hospital to see his patients. He'd been back and forth all day, checking on both Nikki and Sandra, so he expected no surprises.
When he entered the ICU, Nikki saw him immediately and beamed. She was doing remarkably well. She'd responded to the IV antibiotics and ministrations of the respiratory therapist. She hadn't even minded the hustle and bustle of the ICU. Still David was happy to learn that she was scheduled to be transferred out of the unit the following morning.