This will be the last chapter for this novel. We're at roughly twenty percent which is the max I can post without repercussions from the retailers. Too much is going on this summer to mess with taking down posts later.
I would appreciate it if you'd let me know what you think in the comments.
Next week's post will be a status update. Lots of stuff is happening in the land of the Angry Sheep!
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Penny sat up in her hospital bed when Doctor Hudson strode into her room. After all the tests over the last twenty-four hours, she was beginning to feel like a guinea pig. Even worse, no one could tell her what was going on with her staff or her customers.
“Well, Doc?” Penny asked hopefully. Gene squeezed her left hand trying to reassure her, but after the scene at Java’s Palace, she wasn’t sure she’d be okay again.
Doctor Harold shook her head. “There was absolutely nothing abnormal on your MRI.”
“But she’s been having these headaches all week,” Gene protested.
Doctor Harold eyed Penny. “You said they started on Tuesday.”
“That was the first one,” Penny admitted. “Between the thunder storms and butting heads with Justine, I chalked it up to stress and the change in barometric pressure. But after a good night’s sleep, I felt fine the next morning.”
Doctor Harold pulled the stylus off the tablet and jotted some notes. “Tuesday was also when you both said Justine came down with that stomach bug.”
“Yes,” Penny said.
“We followed the school guidelines and kept her home Wednesday,” Gene added.
“And you haven’t felt any ill effects?” Doctor Harold asked.
“None,” he replied.
The physician turned back to Penny. “But you had a headache Wednesday night?”
“Yeah, but it was nothing like Tuesday’s or Thursday’s.” She shrugged. “I never even finished my chocolate martini.”
Doctor Harold poked at the nosepiece of her glasses. “Did you have any alcohol the other two nights?”
“No.” Penny slumped against her raised bed. “And I only had half of the martini Dani made for me.”
Doctor Harold’s brunette ponytail waved back and forth as she shook her head. “None of this makes sense. None of it.” She stalked back to the door, closed it, and turned back to Penny and Gene. “We need to have a frank talk, folks.”
Penny exchanged looks with Gene, who appeared as confused as she felt. She faced the physician again. “What do you mean?”
“Have you imported any unusual foods or drinks from out of the country?” Doctor Harold asked while she walked back to the bed.
“None that didn’t go through my usual suppliers,” Penny said. “The only new thing I had on the menu was starfruit smoothies this summer, and I made sure to warn customers that if they can’t eat grapefruit because of the drugs they take, they shouldn’t be ordering the smoothie.”
“Hold on,” Gene said. “Why are you insinuating my wife did something illegal?”
“I’m not saying that.” Doctor Harold leaned one hand against the foot board of Penny’s bed. She stared at the floor for a moment before she eyed Penny again. “None of the people brought into the ER are exhibiting the same symptoms. And except for Justine’s stomach bug and your migraine level headaches, all of the symptoms point to diseases that aren’t common in the U.S., much less Illinois.”
“Symptoms like what?” Gene said.
“I can’t break HIPPA—”
“You can talk to a fellow doctor when you want a second opinion,” he asserted.
Doctor Harold sighed. “And you’re going to tell Penny if I consult privately with you, won’t you?”
“It won’t leave this room.” Penny crossed her heart over the ugly blue-striped hospital gown she wore.
“Nobody has the same symptoms.” Doctor Harold started ticking diseases off on her fingers. “One person presented as Dengue fever when they arrived. Another as African sleeping sickness. A third as Hantavirus. The only one we’ve confirmed through bloodwork so far is malaria, but before we could administer treatment, the patient recovered. The second set of bloodwork showed no sign of the parasite.”
“You sure it came from the same patient?” Gene said.
Penny could see hackles rise on the physician, but Doctor Harold forced them back down.
“Yes, I’m sure,” she said more calmly than she obviously felt. “Not one person from Java’s Palace has the same disease. We’re still waiting for results on the rest, but everyone seems to be responding to non-treatment.” She gave an uncomfortable chuckle.
Penny could feel her heart dive into her stomach acid. “You’re not letting any of us go tonight, are you?”
Doctor Harold shook her head. “Not until we figure out what the hell happened. Can I please have a list of your suppliers?”
Penny grabbed her phone from the overbed table. “What’s your cell number?”
She punched in the number the doctor rattled off and texted the document containing the master list of her suppliers to the physician.
Doctor Harold’s phone beeped. She looked at it and nodded. “Thank you. Someone will be in to take another blood sample shortly.” She strode out of the hospital room, closing the door behind her.
Penny looked at Gene and reached for his hand again. He took it and squeezed it.
“Don’t worry, sweetie.” He kissed the back of her hand. “Once the health inspectors’ took their samples yesterday, I called a cleaning service.”
She scrunched her face. “Norah?” Norah Ackles had been Penny’s cleaner since she opened the coffee shop. While Valerie and the staff kept up on the day-to-day stuff, Penny liked having Norah and her crew come in and do an even more thorough deep clean.
Gene sighed. “No, Safety Clean.”
“What?” Penny shrieked. “They’re a crime scene clean-up crew!”
“They also specialize in biohazardous waste removal.” A hurt expression crossed his face. “Given the circumstances, the place was more than Norah and her girls should be handling.”
“I know Matt threw up but—” Penny began.
“Sweetie, he wasn’t the only one.” Gene lowered his voice. “Mrs. Langston and couple others in her knitting group vomited blood.”
“Oh, my god.” Penny stared at the ceiling. Once this got around Oakfield, would she even have a business left? That thought reminded her of Courtney’s strange comment.
Penny looked at Gene. “Did you pick up the mail at the shop?”
“Sweetie, you need to rest.”
“No.” She jerked her hand from Gene’s grip. “Right before everyone got sick Courtney was at the shop.”
“Are you suggesting—”
Penny shook her head. “She’s not intelligent enough for bio-terrorism. Bu she’s vindictive enough to let something slip about the land Java’s Palace sits on being sold.”
He stood. “If you promise me you’ll take a nap, I’ll run by the post office and pick up your mail.”
“I promise I’ll try.” She smiled up at him.
He kissed her forehead and left the room. She wasn’t sure what she’d do without him.
She plumped her pillow and returned to staring at the ceiling. None of this made sense. How could starfruit make people sick months after she’d used them up? Did any of this have something to do with Dani’s heart stopping Wednesday night?
Penny checked her texts. Everyone sent a message asking how she was doing. Even Francine. Penny took a deep breath and texted Dani first.
U still in hospital?
A minute later, Dani replied.
Home. Want me to sneak in milkshake?
Penny grinned and sent the thumbs-up emoji. She answered Wila and Francine’s texts before she set aside her phone. Maybe together, she and her friends could figure out the weirdness that targeted them this week.
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