How do you survive being shot and left for dead in the Chihuahuan Desert? By being found by a beautiful wildlife photographer willing to risk her life to save yours.
A bitter ex-cop fights for his life after he runs to the sound of gunfire on the Ri...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Dr. Reisner returned to Hank's house about twenty-four hours after his first examination of Gust. Hank and Bobby were waiting.
"I drew blood yesterday." He pulled a sheet from his briefcase, and handed it to Hank, tapping the paper. "He had a mix of sedatives and tranquilizers in his blood system. A sedative is a pain killer. The tranquilizer calms anxiety. And he's taking bipolar medicine. That combination can induce dementia-related psychosis. Hallucinations. Delusions."
"Will he recover?" Hank asked.
"I can't say." The young doctor was direct. "Did he take them hoping to die? You seem to think someone did this to him intentionally."
"My brother didn't do this to himself!"
Bobby's heart sank. He turned his back, gazing at the courtyard. How could April do something like this? Was her goal to keep Gust in a catatonic state? To control him? Slowly kill him? Make it look natural, like dementia or Alzheimer's?
Hank and the doctor were going back and forth.
"Have you talked to his nurse?" the doctor asked.
"She's fired." Hank waved his arm. "She just doesn't know it. Will you check on Gust every day?"
"Glad to."
"What do we do in the meantime?"
"Give him food and fresh air. Get him to move, more and more as he can." He gestured to the courtyard. "Your swimming pool and sunshine would be good for him. Don't push him. He'll know when he's ready." He turned to Patty. "I'll prescribe a mild anxiety medication. Let's keep him on it for a week or so and go from there. No more sedatives. No more bipolar medicine. Or alcohol. His blood alcohol level was off the charts yesterday."
Bobby shook his head. Pops and Gust. They both drank too much.
Hank turned to Patty. Her eyes were wide, and she shrugged. "He hasn't asked me for a drink."
Hank snarled. "Probably putting it in front of him and telling him to drink! I'm going to kill someone."
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Dr. Reisner gathered his briefcase and turned to walk out of the room. "Please, Mr. Watson. Don't say something like that again. At least not in front of me. Puts me in a bad position. But I can understand how you feel."
He left. Hank grabbed Bobby's arm, speaking quietly. "You say you trust this Mendocino character?"
"I guess. Amos is a straight arrow, and he trusts him."
"And he's not working for anyone?" Hank asked.
"Not that I know of."
"Get him in my office."
Bobby knew his father. He'd seen that look a time or two. Hank was about to go on the offensive. "Are you serious?"
"You brought it up. Said we could trust him. We need someone we can trust."
