Wednesday Briefs: Evans Woodworking chapter 6

They had all seen enough medical dramas to note the stress that always appeared on a doctor’s face when he was about to give bad news was absent. “Are you relatives of Ethan Evans?”

“Yes, he’s our brother,” Chris responded. “How is he?”

“Why don’t we all sit down over here?”

Alison gasped at the suggestion. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

“Well,” the surgeon began slowly, “it’s neither good nor bad. It just is.”

“Would you please explain to us how he’s doing?” Chris asked.

“Okay. The surgery went well. We irrigated the lining inside his head and bandaged it. He’s getting antibiotics to help keep it from getting infected until the hole in his skull, which is about the size of a quarter, closes. We were able to repair his spine and pelvis. There’s no evidence of nerve damage to his lower extremities, so the chances a good that he will not suffer any paralysis. His brain scans are consisted with is current condition.”

“Why do I sense there’s a but in there somewhere?” Troy wanted to know.

“Unfortunately, there is. He lost almost half of his total blood volume, which we were able to replace. The question is, were we able to replace it in time in order to prevent any tissue or organ damage. It’s a wait and see game. Once he’s recovered, we’ll do a series of scans and tests to determine if there’s any damage and to what extent.”

“The ER doctor told us that there were a number of blunt force trauma wounds. Was there any internal bleeding associated with the wounds?” Attorney Alison questioned.

“Fortunately there was no internal bleeding, and the wounds were no more severe than a simple black eye. We were lucky there. Those will heal relatively quickly.” He looked at each one of Ethan’s family members, making eye contact with each one. “One thing you have to keep in mind is that his young age and his high level of physical fitness will work in his favor. Now if you will excuse me, I need to check on him. Once he’s awake he’ll be transferred to the Intensive Care Unit. You’ll be able to see him then, but only for a few minutes. He has a long road to recovery ahead of him and will need all the rest he can get.” They all thanked the surgeon

The three of them clung to each other fiercely, crying hysterically. Their baby brother was alive and will recover.

~~~~~

Bret Saunders, Alison’s boss, paid the Chief Enforcer a visit. “What do you have on a Patrick Sims?”

The Chief Enforcer tapped a few times on his terminal. “Not much; just a handful of low-rent charges.” Bret couldn’t help but snicker at the use of the archaic terms. Some just worked better than any modern terminology.

“Take a look at this.” He handed a chip to the Chief Enforcer who put into a slot on his desk. Within a few seconds, a holographic representation of the video played, making the Chief Enforcer want to vomit. “The person mixing the drink has confessed to the victim that he mixed Rohypnol into the drink. The same person also intentionally infected the victim with HIV.”

“Are you sure? From what I can see, it could have been any one of a dozen men.”

“Yes. If you watch the video in enhanced slow motion, you will see that each of the men except for the perpetrator wore condoms.”

“I see. Do you know the name of the perp?”

“Yes, one Patrick Sims.”

“Okay, we’ll pick him up. Can we get the victim in here for identification?”

“Unfortunately, no; he was the victim in a hit-and-run earlier and is in critical condition at the hospital. However, since the perp, as you call him, had dated the victim for quite some time, any of the victim’s family can make a positive ID, including Alison Evans, who works for me.”

“Hm. We cannot use her without the possibility of an impropriety claim. Is there anyone else that can make the ID?”

“Yes. He has two brothers.”

Just then the Chief Enforcer’s telecommunicator beeped. “Yes? I see. One moment please.” He turned to Bret. “I think you’ll find this interesting.” He set the telecommunicator to full audio. “Please, for the record, state you name and repeat what you just told me.”

“Yes, sir; this is Enforcer Wakefield. While we haven’t identified the victim of the earlier hit-and-run, we were able to apprehend the pilot of the vehicle. His name is Patrick Sims. He is currently in custody.”

“Excellent work, Enforcer. He’s also wanted in a sexual assault case where he raped and infected the victim of the hit-and-run with HIV. Again, excellent work.” He disconnected.

Bret couldn’t wait to call Alison. “If you will excuse me, I have a family to notify and get someone to ID Sims as the one who assaulted the victim. Leaving the Chief Enforcer’s office, he immediately called Alison. “Alison, great news. Patrick Sims was arrested for Ethan’s hit-and-run. He’s not getting out of that one.”

“Oh, god, that’s awesome news.” She quickly told her brothers who jumped up and fist-bumped each other, a tradition that had survived the centuries. She set her telecommunicator to full audio. “We’re all very happy to hear that news,” which was greeting with an affirmative from Troy and Chris.

“I showed the video to the Chief Enforcer and he would like to have one of your brothers to come down to make a positive identification. You need to stay clear of this case since the victim is your brother and you’re an attorney. The one thing we don’t want is the case overturned due to an impropriety.”

“I’ll be right there!” Chris exclaimed, running from the room. Alison told Bret that Chris would be right there and disconnected.

~~~~~

“Hi, I’m Chris Evans. I’m here to identify the person who committed the hit-and-run.” He told the Enforcer at the door.

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