“You must be feeling better,” Walter observed.
“Not really,” Daphne admitted. “The medicine has taken the edge off, but I still feel like hell.”
“Dice said you were poisoned. Is that right?”
Daphne nodded and told the story to Walter and Buck.
“Have the police been notified?” Buck asked.
“Not yet. We’re waiting on the official results from the lab before we file a police report.”
“Is there a reason why?” Walter asked.
“On the off chance whoever did this has a contact at the police station. Having existing results from an official lab will prevent any accidental loss of evidence or fabricated lab results from their end,” I explained.
“Well, color me impressed.”
We were interrupted when someone knocked on the door. “Hi, we’re here to move you to your new room. We’ll be going to room two hundred twelve on the second floor.”
“You guys go ahead,” I told Ink, Walter, and Buck. “I’ll stay with her and meet you up there.”
Daphne fell asleep notlong after she got settled in her new room. Walter and Buck stayed for a while longer, but they finally left after Phoenix promised to keep a brother stationed outside of her room for the duration of her hospital stay, in addition to my promise to stay by her side at all times.
“We’ll be back first thing in the morning,” Walter said.
“We’ll be here.”
“I’m going to head out, too,” Phoenix said. “Ink volunteered to take the first shift.”
“Tell him to get his ass in here. He doesn’t have to stay in the hall all night.”
Phoenix chuckled. “I’ll tell him, but I think he has his eye on one of the nurses. I’ll check in tomorrow morning.”
“Later, Prez.”
Leaning back in the ridiculously small recliner in the corner of the room, I closed my eyes for what felt like a few seconds before someone softly knocked on the door. Seconds later, Patch entered the room with a piece of paper in his hand.
“These are the results from the cookies. They tested positive for amatoxin. This is not my area of expertise, but Miriam said the amount present in the sample she tested was enough to be lethal if an entire cookie was ingested.”
“What about two bites? Daphne said she only took two bites of the cookie.”
“It’s hard to say. Less is always better.”
“What happens now?” I asked.
“We’ll keep her here for a few days and continue what we’re doing unless something changes,” he said.
“Thanks, Patch.”
“There’s one other thing,” he said. “Now that we have confirmation that this wasn’t an accidental poisoning, I’m obligated to notify the police. I know the timing is shit, but I can’t wait until morning.”
“That’s fine. I hate to disturb her when she’s finally getting some decent rest, but I understand, and I’m sure she will, too.”
“I do,” Daphne said groggily.
“I hope we didn’t wake you. How are you feeling?” I asked.
“You didn’t,” she said. “I feel like hell. Is that normal?”