A Body to die for

forty.”
    “You want a medal or a monument?” I asked.
    “A simple thank you would suffice, Wanda.”
    “I’ll be back in a flash.”
    Alex said, “Kiss her for me.”
    I walked toward the double doors. Alex waited for me to give him the wink, and then he clasped his arms around his gut and screeched in agony. “My valve!” he cried. “Oh, God! I’m dying!”
    The cops glanced at him, and then back at the TV set. So much for creating a good distraction. I pressed the wall switch and the double doors popped open. I strolled inside—the cops didn’t move a centimeter. I was golden.
    A nurses’ station was in the center of the pen. I headed for it purposefully, hoping they’d assume I belonged there. I scanned the faces of the patients in their beds along the way. Most were old-timers with IVs, NGs and other tubes sticking in various holes. One painfully thin young man lay on his bed wheezing for breath. Just as I passed, he began a long coughing fit that didn’t end even after I’d walked the entire loop around the emergency room. I didn’t spot Leeza, but there were a couple screened off beds in the back. No one had yet questioned my presence. I figured I might as well take a look.
    The first curtain I peeked behind housed the kid the cops had just brought in. A doctor was attempting to stick a needle in his arm, but the kid fought her off. Behind curtain number two: pay dirt. I recognized Leeza’s yellow hair pulled into a ponytail. My first feeling was relief. She was alive and no tubes were sticking out of any of her orifices. She lay unconscious on her back. There were bandages on her throat, and some patches on her cheek. A fiftyish doctor in hospital greens was giving her a chest examination. He seemed to enjoy it more than he was supposed to. He was rubbing himself under his lab coat. I stepped back, shocked by the sight. I looked again, and he’d turned her on her side. He took an anal thermometer out of his pocket. I swallowed hard and threw back the curtains.
    The doctor shrank at the exposure. He recovered and looked me over. Okay, so maybe my tattered sundress and sandals didn’t project an air of authority. “Cop a nice feel?” I asked. “Is that part of the regular exam?”
    His face dropped, knowing he was busted. “Visiting hours aren’t for another thirty minutes, young lady.”
    “That’s certainly enough time for you to get a nice long look at my sister’s ass. And maybe you might even find the time to fiddle around a bit.”
    He flinched and I knew I was right on target. “I’m going to call security,” he said.
    “You’ll save me the trip.”
    The doctor harrumphed and stormed off. I watched him to see if he’d report me at the nurses’ station. He didn’t. I made a mental note to get his name before I left. I closed the curtain behind me and slapped Leeza gently on her nonbandaged cheek. Her eyes fluttered. I said, “Leeza. Wake up. You’re okay. You’re in the hospital.”
    She stared up at me. Her face was puffy and bruised. She eked out, “Hi, Wanda.” I remembered her missing teeth. Speaking sounded painful for her. My heart sank. I was responsible. And all she was trying to do was make a few friends.
    “You don’t need to worry about making friends, Leeza,” I said. “You’re too good-looking to worry about anything.” Even with the bruises and wraps, she looked decent.
    “Women hate me because of my looks, Wanda. You do.”
    Guilt settled on me like a tire iron. I wondered if Leeza had ever met my old friend Santina, a veritable expert at inflicting guilt. I said, “Did you see who attacked you?”
    “No.”
    “Why did you go up to the suite?”
    She had to think about that question. “I wanted to help with the investigation. So I agreed to make a date with a john.”
    Jeez, I thought. Janey worked fast at recruiting. “With who?” I asked.
    “Van Owen,” she said.
    I asked, “How did you get up there?”
    “Janey gave me a key.”
    Another key? “Did Van Owen show?”
    “He never did. I felt rejected in a way. I really wanted to be dangerous like you for a while.”
    Leeza drifted a bit. She wanted to be like me? Poor, misguided fool. Her head rolled to the side. I wondered if she’d been given too many tranquilizers by that molesting doctor. It was enough to make me never want to get sick. Her eyes cleared suddenly and she said, “I think I need to throw up now.”
    “Relax,” I suggested. I found a bedpan on a nearby shelf.