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Crisis & Catharsis -- Part XVI Matthew burst into Nora’s room waving a piece of paper. He jumped up on the bed beside her. “Guess what this is, mom.”   Nora sat up, smiling at him. “What is it, sweetie?”   Michael and Rachel followed Matthew into the room. Nora looked up at them. “What’s going on? Where have you guys been?”   Matthew pushed the paper into her hands. “We were down in the lab. Michael let me help him run my blood test. Look at what it says.”   Nora looked over at Michael. “Blood test? What is this?”   Michael stepped forward. “Bo asked me to have Matthew tested too, just in case…”   “Rachel got tested too,” Matthew interrupted. “But she was a big baby about it. Michael said I am much braver than she is and she’s my big sister.”   Rachel pretended to frown. “Watch it, little brother.”   Matthew laughed. “Michael said maybe Rachel was going to pass out and he would have to call for help. It was nothing for me. And I passed. Michael says I’m okay.”   “Me too,” Rachel added.   Nora sighed. “Thank you, Michael. That’s a huge relief for me.”   Michael nodded. “I figured. How are you feeling?”   Nora shrugged. “Okay, I guess. Considering the circumstances.”   Michael picked up her chart, flipping through the pages. “Everything looks normal here.” He moved to her side and took her pulse, watching her closely. “You look tired, though.”   Nora nodded. “I am. It’s been quite a day.”   Rachel looked over at Matthew. “That’s our cue. Let’s head home and let mom get some rest.”   “I don’t want to go home,” Matthew whined. “I want to wait for dad to come so I can know what’s wrong with mom.”   Rachel shook her head. “That can wait. It’s more important for mom to get her rest so she can come home, isn’t it?”   Matthew pouted. “I guess so.”   Nora gently stroked his back. “Thank you, sweetie. Daddy must have gotten held up. I’m sorry it’s taking so long. I’m sure I will feel much better in the morning and we can all talk about this.”   Michael nodded. “I may even be able to let your mom go home tomorrow.”   Matthew brightened a bit. “That would be great.”   Rachel nodded. “Yes it would. Come on, little guy. Why don’t we stop off at the diner before we head home.”   Matthew grinned at her. “Anything is better than your cooking.”   Rachel frowned at him. “You better watch your mouth or you go hungry.”   Nora smiled at them, enjoying their banter. “Thanks for taking care of him, Rachel.”   “No problem, mom. You just get some rest and feel better. We’ll be fine.”   Rachel moved to the bed and gave her mother a hug. Matthew waited his turn, kissed his mother on the cheek and left the room with Rachel, waving back to Nora as he left.   Nora turned to Michael. “Thanks for making sure they are all right. It’s a big relief for me.”   Michael nodded. “I know that. I’m going to test Bo as well, when he shows up.”   Nora sighed. “I hope he has some answers. I feel terrible putting Matthew off but I want to know all the facts before talking to him about this. It’s going to be very hard for him, especially on the heels of my Daniel fiasco.”   “He’s a tough little guy, though. And I have a feeling you and Bo will work together to make sure he comes out of this okay.”   Nora smiled. “Yeah, we will. We may not agree on much, but we both want the best for Matthew. We haven’t done a very good job thus far, but we’re both trying.”   Michael nodded. “He seems like a pretty happy kid. No doubt he knows he is loved.”   Nora nodded with tears in her eyes. “Yes, he is.”   Michael smiled at her. “I’ll let you get some rest. You have the call button if you need anything. My shift is over in a couple hours but I will look in on you before I sign out, okay?”   “Thank you, Michael, for everything. You don’t know how much it means to me to finally know what’s wrong with me.”   Michael put her chart back at the end of her bed. “I think I do. I’ll see you later.”   Michael left the room and Nora turned out the light, enjoying the darkness and quiet. She laid back in the bed with a deep sigh, relieved to finally have the answers she needed regarding her health situation. But as she closed her eyes, she knew that as one question had been answered, many more remained.   *************************   Paige looked at Bo incredulously. “I’m sorry, what did you just say? Nora is being poisoned and you think that my cookies are the cause?”   Bo shook his head. “I don’t think it’s the cookies, I know it is. Michael had them tested and they were positive for Hemlock.”   “Hemlock?” Paige repeated. “Why would there be Hemlock in my cookies?”   Bo shrugged. “You tell me. We tested every food in Nora’s house and the only item that showed evidence of Hemlock was your cookies.”   Paige shook her head, not believing what Bo was saying. “That’s impossible, Bo. Wait a minute. Did you say Michael tested the cookies?” Bo nodded. “Why would Michael do that?”   “Why did you refuse Michael’s request for additional blood work when Nora was in the hospital last week?”   Paige fidgeted nervously. “Who told you that?”   Bo scribbled in his file. “Nora did, actually. Michael asked me to help him with a patient but he didn’t tell me it was Nora. He was adamant that you not know about his mystery patient because you were sandbagging him. Why would you not want Michael to explore every avenue to make Nora better?”   Paige sat forward in her chair. “It wasn’t like that, Bo. Michael was overstepping his bounds. He is just a Resident and I’m Chief of Staff. I can’t have my decisions being questioned by my underlings!”   Bo pounded his hands on the desk. “When it comes to the health of my son’s mother, I expect you to listen to the janitor if he has an idea! How dare you play hospital politics with Nora’s health!”   Paige was taken aback by Bo’s outburst. “Calm down, Bo. I had no idea he was really on to something. I thought he was just trying to show off to the head of the hospital. Of course, I wanted to figure out why Nora was sick.”   Bo shook his head. “You certainly never acted like it. You exploded at me when I suggested Nora get a second opinion in New York. It seems curious that a doctor would object to a patient seeking answers, doesn’t it?”   Paige smiled at him. “It wasn’t like that, Bo.”   Bo folded his arms. “Then tell me what it was like. Because from where I’m sitting, you went out of your way to prevent Nora from finding out why she was having dizzy spells. When Michael investigates, he finds out it was caused by poison in the cookies YOU have been baking her. I’d say that’s pretty strong evidence, wouldn’t you?”   Paige looked at him incredulously. “You can’t seriously think I was poisoning Nora?” Bo continued to stare at her. “Bo! I just moved into your house. You have to know I would never hurt someone. I’m a doctor, for heaven’s sake.”   Bo shook his head. “Then how do you explain the Hemlock in the cookies? Every other food in Nora’s kitchen was tested. All negative except your cookies.”   Paige shrugged, smiling at him. “I don’t have an explanation. I just know that I did not do anything to harm Nora.”   Bo scribbled in his file again. “Let’s get back to the ingredient you were discussing with Spencer. What is it exactly?”   “It’s an extract of some sort. Organic, I think. His mother lives in the country and she gets it around her farm. I’ve been using it in the ginger cookies for years. It seems to make them crisper. I can’t believe that would be the cause of Nora’s poison. It has to be something else.”   Bo shrugged. “Last I remember, Hemlock is organic. I’m going to need you to get me a sample of that extract for testing. We took all the other cookie ingredients from my garret this morning. They are being tested right now.”   Paige stared at him. “Do you really believe I would do this, Bo?”   Bo avoided her stare. “I don’t know what I BELIEVE right now. What I KNOW is that Nora has been sick for a while, which you kept from me. You’ve been treating her, and refused to allow Michael to run extra tests that it turns out DID answer the question of what was wrong with her. You’ve been meeting secretly with Spencer, your ex husband and you seem awfully invested in getting close to my son. It may not be an airtight case, but it’s a helluva lot of circumstantial evidence.”   “But you know me, Bo. You must know I could never do something like this.”   Bo shook his head. “I don’t know any such thing.”   Paige leaned forward, smiling at him. “But how do you feel?”   Bo looked at her closely before answering. “Honestly? Sick to my stomach. I feel like a chump for not seeing who you really are.”   Paige stood. “You’re being unfair, Bo. There is no call for you to treat me this way. What can I do to make this better?”   Bo shook his head. “Nothing. I just want you to leave me alone right now.”   Paige nodded, smiling slightly. “Am I being charged with something?”   Bo stood to face her. “No, but I will have more questions when I get the lab results back."   Paige nodded. "Then I'm free to go?"   Bo nodded. "For now. Don’t go too far.” Paige turned to leave. “One more thing.” Paige turned to him. “It goes without saying I don’t want you anywhere near Matthew… Or Nora.”   Paige smiled at him. “This is all a huge mistake, Bo. You will see that I had nothing to do with this and you will owe me an apology.”   “Don’t hold your breath,” Bo said as she opened the door and strode out of his office and hastily left the squad room.   Bo followed her into the squad room, walking up to Jenkins. “I want you to follow Dr. Miller. I want to know everywhere she goes, everyone she talks to – no detail is too small. I want you to check in on my cell every 30 minutes. If I don’t answer, leave a message.”   Jenkins nodded. “Yes, Sir.”   “And don’t lose her, Jenkins. You don’t want to come back here if you do.”   “I’m on it, Sir.” Jenkins hurried out of the squad room.   Bo retreated to his office, dropping into his chair with a heavy sigh. He picked up the file in front of him and glanced at his notes. John knocked on his open door. Bo looked up and motioned him in.   John stood in front of Bo’s desk. “How'd it go?”   Bo sat back in his chair and took a deep breath. “I don’t have any more answers than I did an hour ago.” He tried to grin. “But I think I am down one housemate.” John smirked. “Is that a good thing?”   Bo shrugged. “Right now I don’t have time to figure that out. I’m sure I don’t have the whole story yet. I want to give her enough rope to hang herself.”   “What did she say?”   Bo flipped through his file. “She claims the money was for a heart machine, while Truman said it’s to help Kelly with her fertility issues. So that’s a lie.”   John nodded. “But which one is the lie?”   Bo shook his head. “I don’t know. I know I should believe Paige but there is something off about this whole deal. She never told me Nora was having problems, which I know is doctor/patient confidentiality but I should have been told. Then she couldn’t figure out what was wrong and denied Michael’s request for tests. And the fact that the cookies she baked contained the poison is pretty damning evidence. She claims Spencer gave her an organic extract to use in the cookies."   "Is it included in the stuff we got from your garret?" Bo shook his head. "She said she ran out. That's what their discussion was about the other night."   John watched Bo closely. "Is her story credible?"   Bo shrugged. "It sounds plausible and Spencer is a slimy character just like his brother.”   “But Paige's actions do add up to pretty suspicious behavior.”   Bo nodded. “And when it comes to Matthew, I can’t afford to take any chances. After what happened with Daniel, that kid has been through enough.”   John put his hands on his hips. “How do you want to proceed?”   Bo looked up. “I have Jenkins tailing her. He’s going to report in every 30 minutes.”   “What’s your gut tell you?”   “I think she’s heading straight to Spencer. They’ve got to get their stories straight. Something is going on, but I don’t have a read on what it is. I’m pretty wiped out at the moment. My brain isn’t firing right.”   John nodded. “Why don’t you head home? I can handle things around here for the rest of the day.”   Bo shook his head. “I need to head over to the hospital and check on Nora. We have to talk to Matthew about this. I’m sure he has a million questions.”   John turned to leave. “You take care of your family, Bo. Don’t worry about the station.”   “Thanks, John.” Bo grabbed the file with his notes, slipped on his jacket and left his office.   TBC