*
With the body finally loaded into the hearse, Josie and Otto called Marta out to the front porch to discuss what they’d found.
“That poor girl. I suppose she’s been hiding out here for days, knowing her friend was lying alone in the pasture,” Marta said. “Makes you wonder what could have happened to make her so afraid to ask someone for help.”
Josie described the plastic bag she’d found the previous morning, but explained she’d not seen any other signs of someone hiding around her home.
“Has she spoken at all?” Otto asked.
“Not a word,” Marta said.
“Vie said they have a room ready for her,” Josie said. “Vie said her shift ends at eight this morning, so she’ll get her checked in.”
“Any ideas on what happens now?” Otto said. “She’s not a criminal. We can’t hold her.”
“I don’t know where she’d go. If she knew someone, she’d have found a way out of this mess days ago,” said Josie. “I’ll have a translator meet me at the trauma center as soon as Vie clears it. For now … Marta, I’d like you to get her settled into a bed there. Surely we can keep her for observation for a day or two.”
“I’ll start running missing persons reports,” Otto said.
“That’s good. I’ll finish up here and meet you at the office.”
FOUR
The trauma center in Artemis was equipped with a one-room surgical unit not typically seen in small towns along the border. The center was located in a building shared with the county health department. Emergency room doctors served the trauma center on rotation, and a federal grant had at least ensured that the facility could handle some of the increased violence the area had experienced over the past decade.
Marta pulled into the rear parking lot. It had been a quiet drive from Josie’s house into town. Marta had talked about her daughter’s first few weeks living away at college, trying to engage the woman in conversation, but she had remained quiet.
Marta opened the jeep door and walked around to the backseat to lead the young woman into the center. The woman was staring at Marta as if she had no idea what was happening to her.
Marta spoke to her in Spanish, explaining that the doctor needed to check her to make sure she was okay. The young woman’s eyes were wide and her mouth downturned into an exaggerated frown. Her arms were drawn up and crossed at her chest, as if she thought Marta was going to drag her out of the vehicle. Marta still had no idea if the woman spoke English or Spanish, so she alternated between the languages.
After several minutes the woman timidly put a foot onto the pavement and stepped out of the jeep. They walked slowly into the reception area, where a young female receptionist picked up the phone and waved a finger in the air for Marta to give her a minute.
A moment later, Vie Blessings, the trauma center head nurse, came bustling out from the nurse’s station in bright purple scrubs and neon green glasses. Her hair was short and spiked. Marta would have thought Vie’s vibrant personality would have frightened the young woman into retreating, but Vie came across as so incredibly competent that people just gave in to her. Marta had seen it before with great ER nurses; they could take control of anyone, from babies to crack addicts, all of them in crisis and needing help.
Vie wrapped her arm under the woman’s and took her in to the patient wing. She motioned with her head for Marta to follow.
“I’ve got a bed ready for her,” Vie said. “No sense processing paperwork if she can’t talk with us yet. Let’s just get her stable and feeling safe.”
*
Forty-five minutes later Vie was able to sit down with Marta.
“Obviously I’m not a psychiatrist,” said Vie, “but I’m quite sure she’s suffering from psychological trauma. I think she’ll need to be treated for acute stress disorder.”
“How is she physically?”
“Her vital signs are good. She’s dehydrated, but not severely. I’ll call Dr. Brazen, a psychiatrist out of Odessa, and see if he’ll pay us a visit later today to evaluate her. He has a good reputation for working with military personnel with PTSD.”
Marta looked at her watch. It was almost seven-thirty a.m.
Vie continued, “We’ll be lucky if we get him today. He’s a busy man.”
“The other problem is a possible language barrier,” Marta said.
Vie sighed. “For now, we have her stabilized. I’ll give her a sedative to help her sleep this morning. We may be surprised what a meal and hydration and a bed might do for her by late afternoon.”
“I’ll post outside her room. Until we have a better handle on the investigation we’ll work with the sheriff’s department to have someone here with you.”