Chapter 4 - DR. HARRIS KNEW EMILY BEFORE THE ACCIDENT
Daniel confronted Harris privately.
Not dramatically.
Not in front of Emily.
He closed the consultation-room door and placed the photocopy on the desk.
Dr. Harris read it.
His face changed.
Daniel saw recognition immediately.
“You knew.”
Harris sat down.
“Where did you get this?”
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
Daniel’s anger rose.
“You knew Emily before the accident?”
“I consulted on lab results.”
“For what?”
Harris removed his glasses.
“Environmental exposure.”
Daniel stared.
“To what?”
“That was the problem. We didn’t know.”
Three weeks before the crash, Emily had come to Harris because she was pregnant and worried about possible occupational exposure.
Blood testing showed slightly elevated levels of an industrial solvent metabolite.
Not enough to explain illness.
Enough to concern her.
“What solvent?”
“Trichloroethylene exposure was one possibility. There were others.”
Daniel frowned.
“From her job?”
“She believed it came from a redevelopment site.”
“Which?”
“She refused to tell me until she verified it.”
Daniel put both hands on the desk.
“Why didn’t you tell police?”
“I did.”
“When?”
“After the accident.”
Daniel went still.
Police had told him Emily lost control on wet pavement.
A traffic accident.
No evidence of foul play.
Harris continued.
“Detectives reviewed it and found no connection.”
“Did they test the site?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you tell them she wrote your name in a notebook?”
“I never saw this notebook.”
Daniel believed that part.
Maybe.
Harris looked toward the hallway.
“Mr. Carter, you need to separate two things.”
“What?”
“Whatever Emily was investigating and her neurological condition.”
“Can you?”
Harris paused.
“Yes.”
Too quickly.
Daniel noticed.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
The doctor’s expression tightened.
“Emily’s coma was never entirely typical.”
Daniel’s heart began pounding.
“What does that mean?”
“She had a traumatic brain injury.”
“I know.”
“But imaging never fully explained the depth of unresponsiveness.”
Daniel stared.
“You told me that could happen.”
“It can.”
“Then?”
Harris took a breath.
“Her sedative requirements in the first weeks were unusually high because of intracranial pressure management and agitation.”
“Agitation?”
“Autonomic episodes. Movement.”
Daniel went cold.
“She was moving?”
“Not purposeful. We believed.”
“You believed.”
“Yes.”
“And now?”
May you like
Harris looked at the photocopied note.
“Now I want every assumption reviewed.”
