Jenna DiNolfo slumped down into her office chair with a million things on her mind at once. She needed a moment to collect her thoughts, but that moment was fleeting. As soon as she sat down she noticed the red light on her desk phone was blinking angrily. She had several yellow notes in different scrawls scattered around her desk. As she reached to check her voicemail, her desk phone rang. With a huff, she picked it up and held it to her ear.
“DiNolfo...”
“My name is Dr. Branson, I am a physician in the emergency room at St. Benedict’s Hospital over in Sunbury... Are you the detective that is looking for the missing girl from Fox Hollow?”
“I am... Do you have any information for me?”
“A girl just passed through my ER that fits the description on the flyer...”
“I’ll be right there. Don’t let her leave.”
DiNolfo threw down the phone and ran for the door. She was on the highway within minutes, and did 80 miles per hour down I-70, barreling towards the hospital. She could feel the sweat dripping off her brow; not from heat, but from nerves. She eyed the approaching exit sign and belted towards exit 18A. Within minutes she was pulling into the parking lot of St. Benedict’s Hospital for the Infirm.
The sun gleamed brightly off of the glass building causing DiNolfo to shield her eyes as she entered the building. She made a beeline for the front desk, where a burly security guard was sitting half asleep. She tried politely waiting for him, but when he didn’t feel her heated glare or respond to her impatient tapping on the desk, she decided to resort to more drastic measures. She took her right hand and slammed it hard onto the desk in front of him.
“Yo! Look alive!”
The burly guard woke up immediately, drool sliding off his lip, eyes wild with alarm as his arms flailed at his sides.
“Sorry... I was just...”
“I am certain you were not!”
After a breath DiNolfo spoke again, “I am Sergeant DiNolfo from Elkhart. I got a call from a Dr. Branson. Please direct me to where he is.”
The guard started typing into his computer, and promptly printed out a visitor’s badge for DiNolfo. She followed the guard’s directions to the emergency room.
As she approached the nurse’s station, she was greeted by Dr. Branson. A tall man with a neat appearance stood behind the nurse’s station. His face stoic and serious, DiNolfo could immediately tell by his no-nonsense manner that he wasn’t a man who was accustomed to waiting for anyone. He looked down at her over thick, wide-rimmed glasses, taking her in, making sure he had the right person.
“Sergeant DiNolfo?”
DiNolfo nodded in agreement.
“Branson. Follow me, please.”
DiNolfo followed the doctor down the brightly lit and immaculately clean hallway. She kept up, hurrying behind him as they weaved through the maze of a hospital. Finally, they approached a set of double doors that read “Emergency Department” in big bold letters, and the words “Authorized Personnel Only” underneath in a black capital font.
The serene calm from the hallway stood out in stark contrast from the erratic bustle of the emergency room. Nurses were rushing about with clipboards and treatment orders, patients were complaining of a variety of ailments, and the noise level seemed to reach maximum level in the ER. Dr. Branson waded through the department as multiple people tried to catch his attention, but he kept moving, as if he hadn’t heard his name being called. DiNolfo’s respect for professionals in the medical field was renewed tenfold. Just standing in the chaos caused her teeth to go on edge.
“Just around this corner...” Branson said reassuringly.
DiNolfo followed the doctor into patient room 7; a small observation room with sea foam green walls, outdated pictures of a beach scene on the wall, and colorful privacy curtains concealing the patient beds inside. DiNolfo noted that it felt like she had swallowed a bowling ball. Her stomach was dead weight. Anticipating the worst, but hoping for the best; her nerves were on edge. What if it wasn’t her? She hoped it was. As Branson pulled away the privacy curtain, DiNolfo felt as if she was going to be sick.
*
“I can’t just sit around doing nothing! I feel worthless...” complained Jack to his mother, who was sitting in the darkened living room looking deeply upset.
“Then get to work on your farm. Keep busy and leave the investigating to the professionals. It’s different this time. The good ‘ol boys are nowhere near this case. And may I remind you that your daughter is tough as nails? She will be found. I know it. Focus on your work.”
Jack sat in the dark, not answering. Irritated, Moira let Jack have it.