Malpractice Makes Perfect

Chapter 12

          The soft glow from Manny's 60-inch flat screen was comforting somehow. The dull lighting flickered blue against the walls creating a sort of peace deeper than any trance. The sound from the tv was high but my mind was drifting off to slumber, so little about it registered but white noise. I yawned against Manny's shoulder, snuggled a little closer, and curled my legs deeper into the sofa cushion.

          "Tired?" His voice seemed both close and distant at the same time.

          My eyelids fluttered open. "No, no. I'm awake. I'm listening. So, um, the lab fucked up?"

          That was his cue to resume ranting. His voice became strained, almost agitated. I tried my hardest not to yawn. "Yeah, they fucked up. I sent that shit in two days ago. So, I called, and they hadn't even started!"

          "Really?" I pressed my lips together to ward off a looming smile.

          Manny was too caught up in his story to notice. "I told them to take their thumbs out of their asses and get me my results!"

          The bewildered laugh that rattled up from my gut shook the both of us. "I take it they didn't like that?"

          "The Chief called me into his office. Told me to play nice with the techs."

          "So, you're like a mean boss then?" I pushed up and looked at him fully, an amused smile spread across my face.

          He stared back, a smile of his own growing wide. "I wouldn't say mean. But I expect competency."

          "My man said, 'Get it right or fuck off'."

          "Well, yes I did. But politely, though."

          "Man said, 'Run me my results'."

          "The longer they take, the less likely we are to find the culprit."

          "Man said, 'Procedure? Ain't nobody got time for that shit'."

          "You're such a goofball." He laughed and reached his hands out to tickle me in the dark. I broke into a fit of giggles and fought back gallantly but my attacker was too powerful. Once he had his fill of entertainment he leaned back and asked, "So, how was your day?"

          I looked over, still smiling. "Pretty boring."

          "How's the case?"

          That perked me up almost more than the tickling. "Oh my God. Let me tell you 'bout this shit." I sat up fully and turned my whole body to face him. "First of all, the nurse is missing."

          "What do you mean 'missing'?"

          "Like after the funeral she disappeared. The family doesn't seem to know where she is but that's not the craziest thing." My movements were overly animated, but he listened attentively. "I called her employer. They've never heard of her."

          "What?"

          "Yeah! No one knows where she came from. At this point I'm not even sure if she's an actual nurse." Or how she got hired in the first place. "How do you even pull off that level of fraud?"

          "Fraud isn't my expertise. They have detectives for that just like homicide." A loud commercial suddenly blast through the speakers of his tv making me jump and making Bertie raise her head from the doggie bed she was sleeping on in the corner. Manny grabbed the remote and put it on mute. "If you're having trouble with the background check try searching for an alias."