Christmas at Saltwater Cove: a Westcott Bay novella Read online

  Sandy nodded. “You say weak, was she falling asleep?”

  “No, not that. She just had trouble getting around. And after we were here for a while, and we were talking to the doctor, she started to get even more weak. That thing on her finger – what do you call it?”

  “The pulse ox – measuring her oxygen?”

  “Yeah, that. It started to drop and the doctor was worried that she wasn’t breathing well enough on her own and…”

  “I understand.”

  He let out a heavy sigh. “Have you heard from Barb? Isn’t this what happened to her yesterday?”

  “Not exactly. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear from her. Her symptoms were different.”

  He sat there, staring into space. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

  “I’m sure the doctor is going to figure out what’s going on,” Sandy said. “And I’m here to help, too. Other than her being on this diet, did your wife do anything differently recently? Start any new medications, go anywhere?”

  He shook his head. “No. Nothing. She lost a little weight, so she was happy about that, but she’s just been really busy at home.”

  “Since she retired?”

  He nodded again.

  At that moment, a nurse approached them. “Mr. Miller? I want you to know that your wife is stabilized and doing well.”

  He stood up. “That’s good.”

  “Yes, it is,” she said gently. “The doctor wants to speak with you – she’d like to transfer Linda to a hospital in Bellingham. Can you follow me?”

  “Of course.”

  They watched as David walked away and disappeared down the hallway. Jack turned toward Sandy. “So are we going to believe that my food didn’t get her sick?”

  “I really don’t think it did. If that’s what she told the doctor, and she was fasting for the whole party, then I don’t think that’s the cause.”

  “But what if she drank something?”

  Sandy shook her head. “Nope. All of the drinks that you made had a ton of sugar in them. It was very unhealthy, you know.”

  “Thank you, I do my best.”

  Sandy stood up and crossed her arms. “I don’t think Barb is connected, but we have to talk to her to be sure. It does seem like a strange coincidence that they both fell ill…”

  “Has Margie heard from anybody else?”

  “Oh! I almost forgot. I’ll call her now and give her the update.”

  Jack stood up. “Do you want me to bring the car around?”

  “That would be great,” she whispered, pulling her cell phone to her ear.

  Jack was happy for any excuse to leave. He didn’t like hospitals – to him, it was a place of pain and worry. He’d spent a lot of time with his mother in the last years of her life going in and out their local hospital.

  Toward the end, it seemed like she couldn’t go even a few weeks without ending up back in a hospital bed.

  At the time it was really difficult for Jack, but he was in awe of all of the staff that took care of his mom. She became such a frequent flyer that he got to know everybody – the nurses, the medical assistants, even the phlebotomists.

  They were so kind and so patient with his mother’s failing memory. Not to mention the doctors – his mom had wonderful doctors. They always explained things to him so well and treated her with the utmost dignity.

  He slipped into the front seat of his car and started the engine. He was happy to get out of that lobby, despite getting to witness Sandy’s impressive focus.

  The day before, she was dressed as a jolly elf when she effortlessly handled Barb’s medical emergency. Jack was so startled that he could barely dial 911, but Sandy didn’t seem to need to think twice before hopping into the ambulance.

  And today – if there was anyone who could figure out what was going on, it was Sandy. He had full faith in her. It was like watching a composer string together a beautiful symphony – he knew that he was in the presence of a master.

  The least he could do was drive the car. He wasn’t waiting outside long before Sandy joined him.

  “I gave Margie the update. She’s horrified, of course – even though I told her that Linda didn’t eat anything at the party.”

  Jack frowned. “I mean, I get it.”

  “The good news is that she hasn’t heard from anybody else. And also, she gave me Barb’s address so we can go check on her.”

  Jack raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  “And she also gave me Linda’s address…in case we need it.”

  Jack didn’t know exactly what that meant, but he wasn’t asking questions. He was excited just to be involved.

  “Just tell me where, and we’ll get moving.”

  Sandy frowned. “Are you sure? I feel bad making you chauffeur me around.”

  “Don’t feel bad, this is exciting! I mean – it’s terrible, but it’s exciting to watch you work.”

  Sandy rubbed her face with her hands. “It would be a lot easier if I could look at Linda’s bloodwork or see any of the tests she had done.”

  Jack shrugged. “I believe in you. Where to?”

  They got to Barb’s house and Sandy didn’t hesitate – she got out immediately, walked toward the front door, and knocked. Jack was a few steps behind her, hoping that he wouldn’t have to say anything.

  After a moment, Barb opened the front door. “Well if it isn’t Mrs. Claus!”

  “Hi Barb, it’s good to see you again. This is my friend, Jack. Jack, I think you remember Barb from yesterday?”

  He extended a handshake. “How could I forget? She made quite an exit from the party.”

  Barb threw a hand up. “Oh that! I hope I didn’t kill the mood.”

  “Not at all,” said Sandy. “I just wanted to check how you’re feeling today.”

  “That’s nice of you. I feel fine. Do you want to come in?”

  Sandy shook her head. “No – I don’t want to be a bother.”

  She shrugged. “I was told that I should be resting today.”

  “Can I ask – what did they tell you happened yesterday?”

  “They said that I had a mini stroke.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” said Sandy. “But I’m glad that you are doing better.”

  “Yeah, me too. I have to follow-up with a neurologist next week. And you know what? My husband and I realized that this probably wasn’t my first mini stroke.”

  “Oh really?” Sandy asked.

  “Yeah! I had an episode like this once before – but it passed so quickly that I didn’t think anything of it.”

  “Good thing Dr. Randall was there,” Jack said with a smile.

  “Yeah, good thing! I’m glad you’re here, actually, because I wanted to apologize for being so…difficult. I don’t remember much of being in the ambulance, but I think I wasn’t very nice.”

  Sandy laughed. “Please, don’t worry about it. That’s pretty common after having an event.”

  “An event like a Christmas cookie party?” asked Jack.

  “No,” Sandy said shaking her head. “After a neurological event.”

  Jack shot Barb a smile and she let out a large laugh.

  “I think he was pulling your leg, doc.”

  Sandy turned around to look at him. “I thought you were going to cool it with the jokes for today.”

  He put his hands up. “I’m sorry! That’s it, I’m done.”

  “Well – thanks for talking to us. The thing is, Linda is in the hospital now. I wanted to make sure there wasn’t any connection – it doesn’t sound like it’s related at all.”

  “Oh no, is she okay?”

  Sandy shifted her weight. “She’s not doing great – they’re trying to figure out what’s going on.”

  A hand darted to Barb’s mouth. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry to hear that. I hope that they can figure it out.”

  “I hope so too.” Sandy glanced at her phone. “Excuse us – it looks like I’m getting a phone call.”


  “Good luck!” yelled Barb.

  Sandy answered the phone as she slowly walked back to the car. “Hello, this is Sandy.”

  Jack watched her carefully. Her expression was unchanged.

  “Oh, really? Double vision? Okay…yes. Oh, right – I just spoke to Barb. She’s fine, and it’s not related, I would say. Okay – right, thanks.”

  She ended the phone call and stared at Jack. “Bad news. David is starting to have the same problems. The nausea, the double vision.”

  Jack’s stomach dropped. “Now what?”

  She leaned back against the car. “How uncomfortable do you feel about being a getaway driver?”

  Chapter 11

  Jack cocked his head to the side. “I have no idea what you’re thinking, but I’m in.”

  Sandy laughed. Somehow he wasn’t sick of driving her around – he seemed totally sincere. But he might change his tune when he heard what she had to say.

  “Let’s get to the car and talk in private,” she said.

  “Oh, mysterious.”

  She smiled but said nothing. She wasn’t trying to be mysterious – really, she felt a pang of sadness. She’d enjoyed spending this time with Jack. She was surprised by that – a little shocked, even.

  At first she thought that Margie was being way too pushy and obvious about him, and it made her cringe with embarrassment. But Jack didn’t seem to mind; he played it all off with that boyish charm.

  After having so much fun together, she’d even entertained the idea of seeing him again once they left San Juan. But if she told him what she was thinking now – if he saw the full extent of her craziness when it came to being a doctor – that idea would die.

  Her ex-husband got tired of waiting around for her to finish her education. First it was medical school, then residency, then fellowship…he accused her of never prioritizing him. And it was true, to an extent – she had a duty to her patients. But she also believed that she did an okay job of making time for him.

  He disagreed. He left her, found someone else, and started a family. It was hard to let him go, but she knew that she wasn’t making him happy.

  She was just starting her career then. She finally made it through all of her training and had a little spare time. Dating didn’t go well, though. She struggled to meet people. She struggled to stay together with anyone for very long.

  Her career was exciting and fulfilling, but her love life was always disappointing. That was when she really gave up. It was too hard – it seemed truly impossible to find someone. And she couldn’t go through the heartbreak of loving someone as much as she loved her ex-husband and losing them again.

  For a moment though, just a sliver of time, she had a hope that it might be different with Jack. She thought that maybe they had a tiny possibility to make something new – a second chance.

  But it was a fairy tale; she knew that now. It was like going on vacation and wanting to move to the place you were visiting – it was only nice because you weren’t working, weren’t embroiled in the stresses of life.

  He might like this version of her – Vacation Sandy. But he wouldn’t like the real life version of her, working long hours, and spending so much time on her patients.

  Not that Linda and David were her patients…but it was close enough. Now Jack would see the full extent of her madness and go running for the hills.

  But it didn’t matter. She felt a duty to help them in any way she could.

  Once they were settled in their seats, Jack prompted her. “So, what are we doing?”

  “Well, just know that you don’t have to be a part of this. The issue is that we really don’t have much information. I mean – I’m pretty sure that it wasn’t something at the party because no one else got sick. The fact that two members of the same household are sick suggests that it might be something in their own home, or specific to them.”

  Jack nodded. “Okay. I think I know where you’re going with this.”

  “Do you?” Sandy bit her lip. “Because it’s a pretty crazy idea.”

  “You want to find them a new place to live, obviously.”

  Sandy stared at him for a minute. “I know that you’re joking, but – ”

  “I’m sorry,” he said closing his eyes. “I swear that was the last one. I’m done.”

  She continued. “No, what I was going to say is that I need to find a way into their house. You know – to look around. And I just need you to drive me, that’s all.”

  He didn’t react at first, but then dug the keys out of his coat pocket and started the car. “Are you assuming that I’ll be able to pick a lock?”

  “No, I don’t think either of us will be able to pick a lock. Actually – I don’t know how we’re going to do it. It’s probably a bad idea. I don’t want to break a window or anything.”

  He shrugged. “I’ll break the window. And of course I’m helping, if we go down, we go down together.”

  “Are you sure that you want to do this?” she asked. “I mean – it’s illegal and we may not find anything.”

  He nodded. “Of course! And wait – couldn’t we just ask David if we could look around?”

  “Oh,” Sandy said. “Is it bad that I didn’t even think of that?”

  Jack laughed. “I mean – you’re kind of a mastermind, but I don’t expect you to think of everything.”

  “No – I just assumed that he would be on his way to the mainland hospital. I didn’t want to make him come all the way back to let us into the house. But you’re right – we should at least give him a call.”

  Sandy pulled out her phone and called.

  No answer.

  She sent a text message and decided to wait for a few minutes.

  “So if he doesn’t answer in five minutes…?”

  She let out a sigh. “Well – if he follows the same course as his wife, he may only have about twelve hours before he’s also on a ventilator.”

  “Yikes! I didn’t think of that.”

  “I know – it’s grim. But that makes me feel a lot of pressure to figure this out sooner rather than later.”

  He nodded. “You’re right. How about we just head over? And then…see what happens.”

  “Okay. See what happens.” She shrugged. “That’s not a bad idea – maybe they keep a key hidden or something. So the sooner we get there, the better.”

  “Exactly.”

  The Miller’s house wasn’t too far – nothing was really far on this island. And they never ran into traffic like in Boston. It was all quite pleasant – they’d just glide along some beautiful roads for a few minutes until they reached their destination. Sandy didn’t think that she’d even seen a single stoplight the entire time she’d been there – was that possible? Did places like that still exist?

  They got to the house and parked on the street. There wasn’t anyone outside they could talk to – the houses were fairly close together, but it seemed like everyone was locked away. Maybe that was for the better – especially if they started poking around.

  Sandy checked her phone again – still no word from David. What if he was progressing even faster than his wife? That would be bad – but at least he was already at the hospital.

  Sandy walked up to the front door and knocked. It seemed empty. She peeked into the windows and saw that it was dark. A black cat jumped up onto the windowsill and stared at Sandy from inside.

  “Hello – can you let us in?” she asked, holding a finger up to the glass.

  The cat watched her with big green eyes. She seemed to be patiently waiting. Sandy was surprised to see that she wasn’t scared. Maybe the cat was upset that her people left so early in the morning and in such a fuss. She let out a little meow and Sandy felt her heart melt.

  “I think she likes me,” she said.

  Jack didn’t answer, so she turned around to look for him. He was nowhere to be seen. She backed away from the window and went around the side of the house where she spotted him behind a tall bush.

  �
�So I found something interesting,” he said.

  “Really? What is it?”

  He took a step toward the house and reached out an arm, gingerly popping the window open.

  “Looks like it wasn’t locked.”

  “Oh.” She said. “That is interesting.”

  “Do you think you can get up there? With my help?”

  Sandy looked around. There was still no one around. “I think so – quick, give me a boost!”

  Jack got down on one knee and motioned for her to use him as a ladder. Sandy got her torso into the window and prepared to lug herself inside when she felt a little push at the bottom of her feet – Jack was still helping.

  It was easier to get into the window than she expected and she went toppling inside.

  She popped her head out of the window and said, “Stay out there and stand watch.”

  “No!” he whispered. “Let me in – I can help! I promise!”

  She frowned. Sandy didn’t want to drag him into this – this was her own scheme.

  “Please?” he said.

  “All right, fine. I’ll let you in the back.”

  She turned around and saw that the cat had come running into the room. “You’re very friendly, aren’t you?”

  The little cat responded by rubbing herself on Sandy’s legs and purring.

  “Oh my gosh, you are too adorable. Are you hungry? Come on, help me open the door.”

  As if she understood, she diligently followed Sandy to a door that led to the backyard. Sandy unlocked it and let Jack step inside.

  “Okay, so what are we looking for?”

  “Well – anything. Chemicals. Weird seeds – I know that Sandy said she got into gardening now that she’s retired. Anything that looks broken – like maybe a broken appliance?”

  “Uh – you mean something that could cause carbon monoxide poisoning?”

  She frowned. “No – that doesn’t make much sense, does it? I mean the symptoms kind of line up – but they wouldn’t have both gotten worse after getting to the hospital. They would’ve died in the house, probably.”

  “Whoa! That got serious.”

  “Sorry – you know what I mean.”

  “I do. Right. I’ll start here in the living room.”