Chapter 6: Lynn And Erin’s Story 02 – Departures And Arrivals

September – May – Year 2

“Hi Lover. You are awfully late. Is everything ok?’

“Not really Erin. Some guy on the plane was groping me in my sleep and I had to hurt him. The police held me for questioning. I am still in the terminal and I am going to get the rental car and head for the hotel.”

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah. I nailed him in the throat with my cell phone and the cops have him. The airline is going to have to deal with this one.”

“Ok. Lover, it is so late they won’t let you see Paul tonight. I called the hospital to ask for visiting hours for spouses. They won’t let anyone in after midnight and before 7am. If you are already there, you can stay, but no one comes in late. Go get some sleep and go to the hospital in the morning.”

“Ok. I’ll call you from the hospital in the morning. I love you sweetie.”

“I love you forever, Lynn.”

Lynn had to call the rental car facility for a pick up since shuttles did not run on a schedule this late. When she got her car, she put the hotels address into the GPS of her phone and began the forty-five-minute drive to the hotel. When she arrived, she was quickly checked in and was into her room and showered. She had to take a little extra time cleaning the crusted milk off of her breasts. The guy had caused her to leak and fill the pads in her bra. She dried and placed new pads into her bra and got into bed.

Lynn woke up to her alarm at 6am. She dressed and went down to the hotel lobby for breakfast. While drinking her first cup of coffee she dialed home.

“Morning lover.”

“Morning sweetie. I am having breakfast in the lobby. It is about a ten-minute drive to the hospital. I will call you back as soon as I know how Paul is.”

“Ok. The babies and I miss both of you.”

“I miss you all already too. I love you forever.”

“I love you forever. Bye.”

Lynn ended the call and walked out to her car to head for the hospital. She was hoping that she could get in early since she was from out of town to see her husband.

Following the directions on her phones GPS Lynn pulled into the hospital parking lot at about 6:50am. She walked into the Emergency Room entrance and approached the desk.

“Good morning, may I help you?” The receptionist asked.

“Good morning. My husband was brought in here night before last. I just flew in from Boise, Idaho. His name is Paul O’Dell.”

“Let me look. I don’t see anyone by that name.”

“They said he was robbed and they didn’t know his name. Who do I speak to?”

“Wait a second.” She tapped out keys on her computer. “We had a John Doe brought in that night. Let me get a doctor for you.”

Lynn waited where she stood for several minutes.

“Ma’am. Hi, I am the ward nurse. Please come with me.”

Lynn followed along as the nurse spoke to her.

“The guy was brought in unconscious and as of the last check at 10pm he was still out. We are just about to do our morning rounds.”

“I just hope that he wakes up soon and is ok.”

The nurse led Lynn to the station and asked her to sign in. Lynn did so and then was led to the room her husband was in. The police officer at the door stopped them.

“Sam, we think this is the man’s wife. She just flew into town.”

“Ok.” He stepped aside, and the nurse opened the door. Lynn walked in.

“Is he out for a walk?”

“What?’

“He is not here. Is this the correct room?”

“No. Yes. Wait. This is his room. He should be here. Nothing in the charts said that he had woken up.” She ran back to the station and picked up the phone.

“This is not funny! Where is my husband?” Lynn demanded loudly.

“I don’t know. I was here all night and he was there last time I checked.”

“Well he is not here now, is he? Somebody better get me some damned answers really fast.” Lynn demanded.

The nurse ran to the desk and picked up the phone, a few minutes later a man in a suit and an armed guard came walking down the hall in a bit of a hurry.

“Nurse, what is the problem?”

“The patient in 70A is missing. He was brought in night before last and was unconscious. The last reports said that he was still unconscious and now he is not in the room.”

“Check the building!” The man in the suit barked at the security guard.

The guard pulled out his walkie talkie and spoke a code into it and then left to start checking rooms on the floor. In a few minutes, more guards appeared, and they went through every room on the floor finding nothing.

“Start checking the next floor down. I’ll check the videos.”

“Will someone tell me what is happening!” Lynn screamed.

The man in the suit walked to her.

“Ma’am. I am James Walker. I am the hospital administrator. May I have your name please.”

“I am Mrs. Lynn O’Dell and the man you are looking for is my husband Paul O’Dell. The police called me yesterday and told me they had brought him here after he was beaten and robbed at a bar in this town. The officer, a James Polk, said that Paul was unconscious.”

“How did the officer know it was your husband?”

“He tracked him through the rental car at the scene and witnesses said that the victim’s name was Paul.”

“Nurse! Why did we not get this information?”

“I don’t know. The officers that brought him in are not the ones that were here to wait for him to wake up.”

“Damn bureaucracies. My money is on the fact that the attending officers went to the station to call you and file their reports and the cops who came here were only told to wait until the guy woke up.”

“Great! That still does not explain where my husband is.”

Just then the phone at the station beeped. The nurse picked up the phone and called to Mr. Walker.

“It is the security chief, Mr. Walker. He wants to talk to you.” She handed the man the phone.

“This is Walker.”

“Yes.”

“What was the time stamp?”

“Ok. Anything else?”

“Thanks” He hung up the phone and returned to Lynn.

“Well it seems that your husband woke up and walked out of the building at about 2am. Please come with me. I want you to watch the tape and verify that he is your husband.”

Mr. Walker led Lynn onto the elevator and the went to the ground floor. They walked into the administrative offices and back to the rear entrance of the security office. They went through a couple of doors and ended up in a room full of tv’s. The head of security was standing there waiting for them.

“This is Chief Don Tolbert the head of our security. Don this is Mrs. Lynn O’Dell. We need to see the video. The man may be her husband.”

“Right over here please ma’am.” Chief Tolbert led Lynn to a specific monitor and pushed a few buttons.

The video started with a long shot of a hallway. It was dark, but at the end of the hall there was a police officer and a nurse talking. The nurse walked away, and the officer followed her. A few minutes later the door he was standing in front of opened and a form came out and walked down the hall away from the officer and the nurses station. As the form got down the hall, Lynn could see that it was indeed Paul.

“That is my husband Paul. Do we know where he went?”

“He entered the stairway and we have video of him going to the bottom floor and then out into the parking garage. The last video we have of him is as he walks up the ramp and then he turns right and is out of the frame. It looks like he is wearing a bloody t-shirt, so we should be able to get the police to find him.”

“Except that he has a 5-hour head start towards anywhere in this damn town.” Mr. Walker said.

“Let me call the police.” Chief Tolbert picked up a phone and pushed one button.

“Let me call our wife.” Lynn was starting to shake.

“Hello lover.”

“Hi Erin. We have a problem. Paul is missing.”

There was silence on the phone line. Then a quiet voice spoke.

“Tell me everything. Please.”

Lynn told Erin the whole story as far as she knew it, right up to when Paul walked out of the hospital about 6 hours earlier.

“Sweetie, right now he could be anywhere. The police are about to put out an all-points bulletin on him. We have pictures of him from the security cameras and I have given them a picture of Paul from my phone. Now we wait. I am going to go back to the hotel.”

“Ok. I am feeding the babies right now. I will wait for your next call. I will call Bosco and Bobby to see if they have any contacts in Houston.”

“Ok. I love you.”

“Forever? Me too. Please be careful.”

“Forever. I will. Bye.”

Lynn did not leave the hospital. She waited in the security office, leaving only to go to the cafeteria for lunch or to the bathroom. Chief Tolbert kept her up to speed whenever he had any new information, but it was never good news and it was never often enough. Later that day a frustrated Lynn dialed her home number.

“Hi lover.”

“Hi sweetie, I don’t have any good news. Erin, no one here knows anything. They found the cop who brought Paul in. He swears that he had the info he gave us on a piece of paper and left it with the duty nurse in the ER. The nurse remembers the conversation and seeing the paper, but things in the ER got crazy and she has no idea what happened to it.”

“What about the police and their search?”

“So far they don’t have anything. But the doctor who did Paul’s exam gave me a theory. He says that it is possible that Paul might be disoriented because of the hit on his head and he could just be wandering around lost.”

“No!”

“The doctor told the investigating police officer that, and the cop told us that it might make it easier to find him. They just have to look to places where men with no identity, or are trying to get lost, might hang out. Homeless shelters are being checked and the local churches are being checked as well. The problem is, so many illegals come through Houston, that if Paul fell into the underground there may be no trace of him.”

“Lover, they are also keeping a look out at the morgue.” Lynn spoke quietly.

“Ok. I will get that info to Bosco and Bobby. Bosco says that the Brothers have affiliates in Houston and they will put the word out for him as well. Bobby said the same thing that you did. If Paul got into the illegal underground, he will be invisible unless he draws police attention.”

“Erin, I don’t know what more I can do here. I am going to come home to you and the kids. I can use an investigator or a lawyer to keep track of the process down here. I am going to take care of a few things with the authorities and then fly home. I’ll call you with my flight info.”

“Ok lover. Be careful. I love you forever.”

“I love you forever. Kiss my babies for me.”

“I always do. Bye.”