Father and daughter both had had chest x-rays that were all clear, but Lexa had also sent blood samples to the lab to be sure she wasnt missing anything. The only thing shed been missing was Coles blood alcohol levelwhich was more than double the legal limit for drivingand the presence of Fentanyl.

Morgan remembered Lexa talking about this one. It had bothered her. The man had clearly endangered his child and Lexa was a mandatory reporter. Child Protective Services had been notified. Shed said the little girls wails as shed been taken away from her father had broken Lexas heart. Shed asked Morgan what else shed been supposed to do, if thered been a way to handle it better.

There wasnt. Or, at least, not that Morgan knew. They saw a lot of people whod made some bad decisions in the Emergency Department. Hutton was one more.

Morgan looked through the mans file to see if there was anyone whod been there that he could talk to. He saw the names of two nurses that he had at least a passing familiarity with in the case notes. He looked up at the clock. It was after eleven. He did a quick search and found that one of themImani Thomaswas working in the Emergency Department right then.

He jotted down some notes and went to find her.

The Emergency Department was in its usual state of controlled chaos. Hed done the required rotations there as a resident, but it wasnt his scene. Morgan operated from a slight remove, observing and comparing and calculating. There wasnt time for that in an emergency. That was all about instinct and muscle memory.

It didnt hurt if you were a bit of an adrenaline junkie as well.

He spotted Imani coming out of a curtained-off bay. She was a light-skinned Black woman with graying braids piled up on top of her head. Even with the braids, she barely topped five foot four, though. He raised a hand to wave to her and get her attention.

Her steps slowed when she saw him. She gave him a quizzical smile and pointed to her chest as if to ask, me? Morgan smiled and nodded.

Imani tapped her watching and held up five fingers and then pointed to a consulting area off in the corner. He got the message.

Morgan settled in to wait. It was a little room with a desk, a computer terminal, a light box for viewing X-rays, and a few office chairs.

It was more like ten minutes, but Imani eventually came in and sat down across from him. Dr. Stark, how can I help you? Her voice had just a trace of an island lilt to it.

I wanted to ask you about a patient named Cole Hutton.