Maddy's Floor Read online

  He liked it. The place offered companionship and medical care without cloistering each person in their own room for hours on end. There was room to walk and be social and yet, there was privacy.

  Footsteps approached, the sound mingling with the gentle whisper of a small cart rolling forward. A cheerful voice called out, "How are you doing, Dr. Lenning?"

  "Cold," he muttered, his teeth chattering uncontrollably. "So cold."

  The nurse frowned and immediately pulled out a thermometer from the medicine cart. She checked his temperature, before returning to a small computer on the cart to make a notation on the file. "I'll be right back."

  She took her cart back down the hallway. It seemed to take forever before she returned, but then she wrapped his shaking body in heated blankets. She put a second one over his shoulder and neck.

  "Ohhh," he moaned, sinking into the welcomed heat. He turned his face into the blanket, feeling the warmth on his cheeks and against his eyes.

  "It's okay. Let's give your body a chance to warm up. I'll come back in a couple of minutes."

  The nurse disappeared again.

  He didn't care. For the first time in hours, heat was seeping into his old bones.

  Warm and feeling safe, he succumbed to fatigue and his eyes drooped closed. His sense of balance reasserted itself. He almost believed he'd imagined the whole thing.

  Almost.

  ***

  Maddy moved through the morning, trying to ignore the sense of foreboding hanging over her head. Not an easy thing. Something had warped through her world, leaving a trail of unease and confusion in its wake and she didn't know what it was or where it had come from. What she did know is that she couldn't let fear or unrest take over her thoughts.

  Moving through the floor, she checked on each of her patients.

  At Beth's bedside, she spent a few minutes with the sixty-four-year-old woman. The patient had a zest for life that Maddy admired. Today, that spirit had disappeared. Beth lay curled up in a ball, the covers pulled to her neck. Tiny already, she looked like a child now.

  "Bad night, Beth?"

  Beth shuddered, her pink scalp showing through her sparse white hair. "Horrible. I had nightmares about death and dying. Nasty stuff." She lifted her liver-spotted hand and reached out for Maddy. Though she tried to smile her lips had a tired droop.

  Maddy sat on the side of her bed. She noted the pallor of the woman's skin and the tremors shaking her hand.

  It was obvious, Beth, along with every other one of her patients, had been disturbed last night.

  "Well, it's a new day, Beth, and that terrible night is over, sent into the annals of history with every other bad day in your life."

  Beth attempted a bigger smile. It failed. "I don't know, Dr. Maddy. It scared me pretty good."

  Maddy studied the position of Beth's bed. Looked around, wondered. Was it possible? Jansen's bed was at the far end of the floor. Beth shouldn't have seen anything, yet she'd obviously felt it. No surprise there.

  "Beth, what was the dream about? Maybe if you tell me about it, you'll be able to let it go."

  The old woman's trembling increased. "I don't think so. It seemed like death was sitting on my bed, watching me, waiting for me. There was no lightness or angels. Only darkness and ice." She gasped for breath, a thin film of sweat breaking on her forehead. "I can't think about it! I know my time is coming and soon. I'm petrified that death will be like my dream." Her eyes filled with tears. "Dr. Maddy, I'm scared."

  Not good. Beth's attitude toward her own health and death management had been spot on since Maddy had first met her. This dream had really sent her for a spin. Maddy pulled out a small bottle of Rescue Remedy, a homeopathic tincture, and gave the old woman several drops under her tongue. The natural remedy was used by many paramedics for shock and trauma of all kinds. Maddy had found it worked well for frights too. And being all-natural, it didn't mess with patients' energy or medications.

  Satisfied, once Beth rested comfortably, Maddy stepped over to her next patient. And found a repeat of the same story. Frowning, Maddy made her way through the floor, finding variations of the same theme. The negative energy ripple had a bigger effect than she'd thought possible.

  As Maddy approached the new wing, Dr. Lenning called her over.

  She frowned as she saw him bundled up, his head swathed in warm blankets. "Bad night?"

  "Terrible, just terrible," he whispered. "Thank heavens this place is equipped with blanket warmers. So, what happened, Dr. Maddy? Did the furnace quit overnight?"

  That surprised her. None of the other patients had complained of a debilitating coldness. Chills, yes, but not to this level. Although his reaction reminded her how she'd felt when she'd first seen Eric's energy. "No. There were no reported problems or dips in the temperatures. Apparently, several people did have a weird night, though."

  "Honestly, it feels like I've had less than an hour's sleep."

  Maddy frowned. "Any change in your medications?" She stepped closer, pulling up his file on her tablet. He wasn't taking anything unusual.

  "Oh, it isn't my drugs. No, I woke up and thought I saw something going on over at that bed." He pulled a frail hand far enough free of the blanket to point at Jansen's old bed.

  Maddy spun around, realizing that from this position, Adam would have had a good view of Jansen's area. Staring down at him, she also understood that Dr. Lenning really was a helpless old man now. Why had she given him so much power over her emotional well-being? Shaking free of the thought, she sat at the edge of the bed. "What did you think you saw?"

  "When I watched the curtain, it appeared as though someone attached a rope to Jansen's body and was pulling him up toward the ceiling. He didn't lift clear off the bed, his back arched up and down several times. Then it was like someone cut him free and he collapsed back down again. It was almost like someone was trying to pull his shadow from his body." His hands folded the corner of his sheet over and over in precise uniformly sized folds, but his eyes darted up to see her reaction.

  Maddy's spine locked in place at his first words. Oh no. She needed to call Stefan, her friend, mentor and fellow energy worker – and fast. Though worried, she did her best to placate Adam.

  "I'm not sure what to say. I can't imagine Jansen being able to do that on his own and there's certainly no evidence to suggest anyone else was here with that physical strength. Jansen, like everyone else here, came to enjoy the last days he had. It was just his time to go." She gave a casual shrug, patting his hand. "Take it easy and rest." With a gentle smile, she turned and walked back toward the nurses' station.

  ***

  "Dr. Maddy, was there a full moon last night? I swear everyone is acting weird today," Amelia asked. Several of the other nurses gathered alongside the long-time nurse to hear Maddy's answer.

  Maddy shook her head. "I have no idea." She reached for the schedule. "Who was on last night?"

  Amelia handed over the staff roster. "Amber. So far today, I've heard that last night was the result of everything from a bad planetary alignment to the new government's spending."

  The nurses chuckled. Over the years, these nurses had heard it all. And sometimes even they were surprised by the comments and actions of patients and their visitors.

  "Susan mentioned patient concerns in the meeting this morning. I wrote it down." Nancy held up her notepad.

  Maddy stepped over to read the note over Nancy's shoulder. "The thermostat registered normal temperatures; however, all patients were hollering about feeling cold. She says staff were kept running with requests for sleeping aids, water and hot blankets. Hmmm."

  "I know that hmmm. What are you thinking?" Nancy twisted to look at Maddy. Her gaze narrowed on Maddy's face. "Is this all related to Jansen's death."

  "Maybe."

  Nancy frowned, leaning in closer so as not to be overhead. "How?"

  Maddy glanced around as the nurses resumed their other duties, then lowered her voice. "It's hard to say. However,
energy is energy and whether it is used to heal or to kill, everyone will feel it or experience it in a different way."

  "We've had deaths here before without everyone freaking out."

  "I know. This does concern me. I can only assume at the moment that as the healing energy here increases, everyone becomes more sensitive to changes in that energy."

  Nancy walked to the coffee maker. "So this may not be a bad thing?"

  "Let's say I'm not panicking over it yet. If it happens again, we'll have to look at minimizing the impact on those left behind."

  "Can we do that?" Nancy was wise. Her years of working with Maddy had made her intuition more open and she was more receptive to new concepts. That they were best friends and confidants didn't hurt, either.

  Maddy smiled. "To some extent." Something else occurred to her. "I wonder if patients on the other floors were affected."

  "We can ask."

  With a gentle squeeze on Nancy's shoulder, Maddy said, "Ask one or two of the nurses on the other floors, will you please? Find out if anyone there had similar reactions. Or was it localized to our floor?"

  ***

  Dr. Roberta Miko sat at her overflowing desk, dwarfed by the stacks of papers and files circling her. The rest of the office looked the same. Tuning it out, she debated the issue for hours in her head. There'd been no reason to believe Jansen Svaar's death was suspicious, not with his history of Stage II mesothelioma and diabetes. He had been exposed to asbestos during his decades-long work in the shipyards. Chemotherapy and radiation had slowed the progression of the lung tumors for just about a year. Then the cancer had advanced. When he had moved into The Haven, his prognosis had been for less than seven months. He couldn't care for himself and had slid to skin and bone. That had been close to ten months ago.

  She frowned. So, what had happened in the meantime? She walked over to the cooler and pulled out the drawer where the body was stored. Lifting the sheet, she gave the body a slow perusal. This man showed a healthy weight with good skin tone and elasticity. At first glance, he appeared to have been doing fine. These signs of health meant nothing except that they were in direct opposition to the condition he'd been in when he'd arrived at The Haven.

  Something at The Haven had worked for him. Maddy again. Roberta hadn't been sent many of Dr. Maddy's patients down here, a fact she'd pondered more and more as time went by. When Maddy's patients arrived at The Haven, they were no healthier than the rest. Roberta cocked her head to one side, and considered possibilities. She didn't know how bed assignments were arranged here. Maybe those on Maddy's floor had to fulfill requirements different from those of other patients. Something she'd look into.

  She'd heard the rumors. She didn't have a basis to believe or disbelieve them. Except… She stared down at the interesting case before her. What a perfect opportunity to learn more.

  FRIDAY

  Maddy closed the door after the last of the nurses left and allowed her shoulders to slump. The daily meeting had cleared the air on several issues. Dr. Cunningham had shown up late as usual.

  Her stomach grumbled. She'd missed lunch again. The small fridge contained the usual stash of yogurt and veggies, only she needed more today. Her eyes studied the stack of files on her desk. As much as she'd love an hour away, her workload also beckoned.

  Her cell phone rang.

  Maddy recognized the number and picked up. "Dr. Miko, hi."

  The pathologist spared no greeting. "Look, I don't know what to tell you. Jansen Svaar's cancer was in remission. So whatever magic you were doing up there was working. There were several tumors of varying sizes in his lungs. However, there was no evidence they were growing or contributed to his death. I'm waiting on the tox screen so I have nothing specific at the moment. The only thing I can tell you is that I can't give you a direct cause of death at this point. And I have to tell you that I don't like that much, either. In fact, this one is liable to bug the hell out of me." By the end of her tirade, Roberta's voice was almost snapping with annoyance.

  Maddy didn't like the information, either, but it wasn't as if it were the first time or indeed, unexpected. She said gently, "And sometimes, people just die. Jansen was seventy-eight. He'd lived a good life and he died a good death." At least she hoped he had.

  Maddy had seen plenty of deaths that science didn't explain. Still, with any death, she always saw a blockage or a major energy system gone awry, or the energy cords thin and worn out. The body ready to go. Very rarely, did a person go to bed and disconnect their one link to their body – their own energy cord.

  And when death did happen in this way, instead of being a horribly sad event, it was usually a peaceful passing.

  But Jansen's death didn't feel the same. Her misgivings stemmed from her sense of guilt over that purple-black energy she'd seen hovering over him – that same energy she had yet to identify. In hindsight, she realized she shouldn't have left him alone. Yet it was impossible for her to be everywhere all the time.

  "Maddy, are you still there? What's wrong?"

  Staring down at the phone in her hand, Maddy shook her head – hard. Lord, Dr. Miko was going to think she'd lost it.

  "I'm here. Sorry. Lost in thought." She coughed several times, clearing her throat. "Roberta, were there any bruises to indicate perhaps he'd fallen or other signs of trauma that we may not have noticed? Anything out of the ordinary?"

  "No. Except for…" A slight silence filled the line. "A small bruise at the base of his spine. But there was no puncture or damage to the spinal column or even the muscle tissues. It appears to be a superficial mark."

  Maddy snatched up a notepad and jotted down the coroner's words. "Could you send me a copy of the autopsy report, please? Oh, by the way, that bruise, what size is it?"

  "About that of a quarter, maybe slightly larger. As there was little else to put into the report, I have measured it out and documented it along with a photo should anything arise later."

  "Right. Let's hope the mystery can be solved one day."

  "So many never are."

  "Isn't that the truth?" Maddy sighed. "Thanks for the call."

  After she signed off, Maddy stared out the window. A bruise might mean anything, except in that location, it made her uneasy. Settled in behind the base of the spine in a spot most people referred to as the root chakra, or root energy center, lay the Kundalini energy. This powerful energy lay dormant at the base of the spine in everyone. It was less developed in children, but still an incredible energy source. If someone outside that body could access it... And that was a big if.

  It also related to the crown chakra, another powerful energy center, at the top of the skull.

  She'd forgotten to ask Dr. Miko if she'd checked Jansen's head. Should she call her back? Or let it go as a slim-to-none chance that Jansen had a matching one at the top of his skull?

  Shit. She had to know. Maddy quickly dialed.

  "Roberta, sorry. Did you happen to notice a matching bruise on Jansen's head?"

  "Hmmm. Checking the report now. At the base or the crown?"

  "Crown. It would probably be around the same size as the other one." Maddy couldn't help chewing her bottom lip nervously as she waited.

  "I don't have anything written down. Let me go check."

  Maddy listened as Roberta placed the phone on the desk with a clunk, followed by soft-soled steps and a heavy metal slide. Her impatience grew, the longer she waited. What could be taking so long? Surely it was a simple matter to check? Then she remembered Jansen's hair. That man had a full head of stiff, wiry stuff. He'd always liked it long. In fact, he'd been quite particular about keeping it just right.

  "Maddy?" Roberta's voice sounded odd, confused even. "I'm not sure. You might be right. I'm going to take a closer look and call you back."

  Maddy's heart sank.

  She'd hoped she'd been wrong.

  ***

  Doris held her notepad firmly in one shaking hand and tried to finish the letter to the Board. No way was she
was going to lie down here while her brother used underhanded tricks to get his way. That man thought way too much of himself. That he'd been able to buy the spot she'd been waiting for on the famed third floor, was intolerable.

  She cast a furtive glance at Sissy in the bed beside her. She hadn't been able to stop studying her all morning. How odd. She looked better every day. How did that happen? As Doris had steadily declined, that woman appeared to have steadily improved. In the last few months, the improvement had been noticeable.

  Sissy wasn't friendly. She had that better-than-everyone attitude, so it wasn't as if Doris could up and ask her what she'd been doing. As it was, the two rarely spoke.