A Degree in Murder

Chapter Twenty-Three: Fate

Edgar was seated on his couch and channel surfing when he heard a knock on the door. Electing to ignore it, he returned to his search for a program worth watching. When the knocks grew louder and more intense, Edgar begrudgingly got up from his seat. He pulled his gun from the waistband while slowly approaching the door. One glance through the peephole of the door caused him to breathe a sigh of relief and slide his gun back in his waistband. I don't know what will kill me first: my job or the insane amount of paranoia that comes with it. He opened the door and came face to face with his neighbour, Alice Goodwin.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you so late in the day but I don't know who else to turn to," said Alice, trembling as she spoke.

"It's alright Alice. Just take a couple of deep breaths and tell me what's going on," replied Edgar, placing a calming hand on her shoulder.

"I... I found my older sister passed out on our living room floor and when I tried to shake her, she... She didn't respond. Please, you gotta help her!"

"Is she breathing?" asked Edgar, putting on his jacket hastily and following her out of the apartment. Reflexively he locked the door behind him.

Alice did not give an answer, her mind clearly focused on one thing and one thing only. When he reached the door to her apartment, Edgar went into full detective mode. He started by looking for signs of forced entry at the door and found nothing. While he was quickly being led to the room of interest, he glanced at the windows and once again he came up empty. When he reached the living room and saw the lifeless body lying on the couch, Edgar immediately rushed over. It was when he checked her left wrist for a pulse that he saw it.

Needle tracks. Damn it. At least she has a pulse.

Edgar placed his ear against her mouth to hear if she was breathing. It was shallow. He checked her pupils and confirmed what he already knew.

"We need to get her to the hospital ASAP," barked Edgar, picking up the unconscious woman. "It'll be faster if we use my car."

Edgar moved swiftly through the apartment and into the corridor. The elevator would be faster but time was of the essence so he hit the stairs. Despite the added weight of another human being in his arms, Alice barely kept up with him. He placed the unconscious woman in the back seat of his pickup and Alice cradled her head in her lap. He turned on his siren and hazards before anything else. The engine roared into life and Edgar gunned it.

The local clinic was only six minutes away but Edgar was unsure if they would be able to handle this situation. In a race against time, it was always best to go with your biggest gun and this gun was a further forty-five minutes out. With his driving, he could cut it down to twenty-five.

"Everything okay back there?" Edgar yelled without taking his eyes off the road.

"I can still feel her breath but her breathing is getting slower," replied Alice frantically.

Edgar's grip tightened as he continued racing down the street, weaving through the slowly building traffic which parted to give him way. Twenty minutes later, he pulled into the emergency entrance of Ridgeville Memorial Hospital. Edgar hopped out of the driver's seat, picked up the still very unconscious lady and ran into the emergency department with Alice in tow. He was quickly met by a nurse with a gurney and a young doctor. His name tag read Dr Ogun Adebayo: ER Physician.

"Her sister found her unconscious. I checked for a pulse but I found a needle track on her left forearm. In addition, her breathing is shallow and her pupils are pin-point. Now, I'm not a doctor but that sounds like..."

"Opioid overdose," concluded Dr Adebayo. "Let's get her to Bay one. I want an IV line, fluids RBS, Oxygen Saturations, Urine and Blood toxicology. We need Narcan over here stat."

"She's going to be okay," said Edgar, wrapping his arm around Alice. There were plenty of questions that he wanted to ask but it wasn't the right time, not that there was one. If the toxicology results came out as expected, an investigation was in order. An investigation he wanted no part in whatsoever. Once he clocked out, work mode almost automatically switched off. Thinking about it all gave him a headache.

Whata way to end an otherwise beautiful day.