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Adam and Kathryn Lee met Beau and Margaret Massie in the foyer of MCV hospitals.
“We’re to go to the private family waiting room on the ICU floor,” Beau informed them. “It’s also called the VIP waiting room,” he added. “The general is already up there.”
General Rothrock looked every bit like a career military man. He was tall, lean and in great physical shape. He greeted them in full dress uniform. He literally shone with bronze, silver and gold medals. He kissed Kathryn and Margaret on the cheek and asked, "Whatever has happened? The doctor I spoke with was vague, almost evasive about what happened to Mother."
Margaret nodded and touched the general’s hand, "I'm very sorry, Stu. I honestly don't think they know what happened. We were out to lunch today, and by 'we' I mean Kathryn, Dottie, Camilla, and I. Everything was going great. We’d had a great lunch and all of a sudden, your mother seemed unable to speak."
The general shook his head. "I don't understand. Did she have a stroke? Did she have a dizzy spell? Why can't they tell me what's wrong with her... and what happened?"
Margaret shrugged her shoulders and said helplessly, "I simply don't know. However, it seems to me that by now they’d have a good answer, don't you think so, Beau?"
Beau Massie was one of the wealthiest man on the East Coast, an avid University of Virginia alum and mover and shaker in RVA. He was most decidedly a Virginia blueblood, just like the Rothrock family was in the great state of Alabama. Tall and impressive in his late seventies, Beau still pretty much ran Richmond from his downtown office. While his eyes showed concern for the general’s mother, his face was flushed with anger. Beau was not known for his patience. "Beats the hell out of me. In my opinion, they should've known everything single thing that happened to your mother a few minutes after it happened. If we don't get the answers we want now, I'm gonna make sure we get them, even if we have to go to the Chief of Medicine."
Margaret touched his hand and said softly, "Don't get all upset, Beau. We're gonna find out what's going on with Camilla."
General Rothrock stood, his posture straight. His salt and pepper hair was short, his nails neatly groomed and his shoes spit shined. "I'm going over there and ring for that doctor again. I've been traveling most of the day and I'd like answers."
Margaret stood and said, "I’ll walk with you. They did tell you, didn't they, that she’d had a heart attack?"
The general nodded. "I knew that. Also that her lungs were failing and she was in heart failure. What I don't know is what happened to her. I'm a bit suspicious because no one seems to be able to tell me."
"Well," Beau blustered, "that's just unacceptable. Let's go find out," he said as he jumped from his chair, always ready for a good fight or battle. Beau Massie was a man of action. If he didn’t have the answers, he’d travel the food chain to get them and bully his way to the top. He’d never been one to sit around and wait.
The group left the waiting room headed towards the ICU when they met a tall physician dressed in blue scrubs. The doctor was young and handsome, probably in his early forties. He had dark brown eyes and wavy brown hair. He looked at the well-dressed couple and the man in military uniform. His eyes studied General Rothrock as he said, "I'm Dr. Vancouver. You must be Mrs. Rothrock’s son, General Rothrock."
General Rothrock nodded. "I am. I believe we spoke on the phone." He turned towards Beau and Margaret and said, "These are my mother's lifelong friends, Beau and Margaret Massie."
Dr. Vancouver smiled at the Massies and said, "Weren't you with Mrs. Rothrock at lunch today, Mrs. Massie?"
Margaret nodded and said, "Yes, I was."
"I know you’ve been asked this a dozen times, but will you tell me once again exactly what happened?"
Margaret exchanged glances with Beau and the general and said, "Yes, we were having lunch at Lamaire. We’d just finished eating and were talking when suddenly it seemed as though Camilla couldn't focus and couldn't speak. Then her eyes got big and her head fell forward. That's about it," she finished as she surveyed the tall, young doctor. Dr. Vancouver nodded and glanced at Camilla's medical record. "Let's go back into the waiting room so we can talk privately."
A feeling of dread swept over Margaret and she glanced at Beau out of the corner of her eye. It may have been her imagination, but she could swear that General Rothrock stood taller than he had a moment before. The group returned to the waiting room and sat at a round table as General Rothrock introduced Adam and Kathryn. Five fearful but expectant faces stared at Dr. Vancouver.
"What's wrong with my mother?" General Rothrock blurted. "I’m unable to get any answers and I think the time has come to demand them," he said as his voice ended on a harsh note.
Margaret saw a flicker of something pass over Dr. Vancouver's face. She wasn't sure whether it was anger, impatience, or some emotion she just couldn't identify.
The doctor nodded and said, "I understand your frustration. To be straightforward with you General Rothrock, we’re not exactly sure what happened to your mother. She was in and out of consciousness when she came in to the emergency department. Now she’s in a coma. She has stabilized from her heart attack but from a neurological standpoint, it’s unclear where she'll go from here."
"So... what exactly caused her to have that vacant look and stare on her face? What happened to her in the restaurant? And why did her pupils get so big?" Margaret asked. "It was totally scary. It was like Camilla wasn't in there anymore."
The doctor sighed deeply and said, "We're not ruling out the possibility that she could have been poisoned or, less likely, had an allergic reaction to something she'd eaten for lunch. We have no idea how or what, but we have contacted poison control and are checking every possibility."
"Poisoned! What the hell?" Beau blurted. "Who the hell would poison Camilla Rothrock? She's just a nice lady out for lunch. I doubt she's ever hurt anyone in her entire life. I can't imagine someone would poison her."
Margaret watched General Rothrock quietly acknowledge this information and pale beneath his deep Florida tan.
"Stuart. Do you think someone would try to poison your mother?" Margaret asked.
Stuart’s voice was calm. "Deliberately? No. Absolutely not. That's not even a possibility," the general assured her. He turned to Dr. Vancouver and asked, “You're thinking food poisoning, correct?”
The physician stood to leave. "You're correct, General. We suspect food poisoning. But, we're not ruling out any kind of poison. It’s a guess at this point, but there’s nothing else we've uncovered that can better explain her condition.” He looked at the folks sitting around the table, two of the most prominent men in Virginia. “I'll keep you posted on her condition. Thank you for your time," he said as he disappeared in a flash of blue.
Beau looked down, examined his fingernails and mused, "Poisoned? What the hell?"