Free Killer in the Kitchen by Donald Bain

asked.
    â€œNo, thank you. I’ll see how Seth is doing. He’ll drive me home.”
    When I entered the hospital’s lobby, I saw Seth sitting with Brad Fowler on a bench in the far corner of the room. Seth waved me over.
    â€œHow is Isabel?” I asked.
    Seth just shook his head, a somber expression on his face.
    â€œIs she—?”
    â€œShe’s alive, but it was a massive stroke, intracerebral if I’m not mistaken. She’s undergoing a CAT scan as we speak.”
    Brad, who was fighting back tears, asked, “Is she going to make it, Doctor?”
    â€œWe have to give it some time, Brad. We generally do pretty well with stroke victims who are treated within three or four hours of the onset, depending upon the sort of stroke it is. We’ve got a few good drugs that really help early on.”
    Brad stood and paced the lobby.
    â€œQuite a night for him,” I said to Seth.
    â€œOne he’d just as soon forget. What happened at the restaurant after I left?”
    â€œMarcie took charge, and there’s a sous chef named Jake who was taking over in the kitchen.”
    â€œGood. I keep thinking about that arrogant son-of-a-gun Leboeuf and the way he acted.”
    â€œHe’s the least of Brad’s worries at this moment,” I said.
    Seth was paged and told me to wait for him. Brad slumped into the seat next to mine. “She was so happy today,” he said. “She was smiling and trying to cheer me up, while I was a nervous wreck.” He looked at me sadly. “I don’t want to disappoint her, Mrs. Fletcher. She’s invested all she could to make our dream come true—Marcie’s and mine—even though we’re not exactly experts in this business. She never held it over us. She spent hours in the kitchen, patiently showing me everything she knew. ‘It’s my pleasure,’ she kept saying when I told her she needed to rest. Do you think that’s what made her sick?”
    â€œI’m sure Isabel was telling you the truth when she said it was her pleasure, Brad. And I don’t see how that could have made her sick. Whatever health problems she has are not because she spent too much time teaching you to cook.”
    â€œShe’s the best mother a guy could ever ask for.” He shook his head. “I haven’t been the best son, I know. I was a terrible student. Got in trouble in school. I’m short-tempered and stubborn. I can’t seem to help it. She says I’m just like my dad, but I think she just says that to give me an excuse.” He sat back and closed his eyes, a tear escaping and rolling down his cheek. “At least I did one thing right.”
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œI married her favorite person. She loves my wife like a daughter. And Marcie loves her right back.”
    â€œYou’re a lucky man to have two such beautiful women in your life.”
    Brad swiped under his eyes with his fingers and smiled. It was the first smile I’d seen on his face that evening, but it didn’t last. “We’ll take care of her no matter what. But what’ll I do if Ilose her, Mrs. Fletcher?” He shook his head and knocked a fist against his skull. “I can’t even think like that.”
    â€œIt’s better not to anyway,” I said. “Dr. Hazlitt and the other medical personnel will do everything in their power to keep her with us. We can’t ask for more than that.”
    We said little more to each other until Seth returned twenty minutes later, his face etched with apprehension. He sighed as he sat next to Brad.
    â€œIt’s not good news, son,” he said. “I’m afraid she’s sustained a lot of cranial bleeding. There is a strong possibility of permanent damage. All we can do is wait and see if the drugs will get her through.”
    â€œCan I see her?”
    â€œNot right now. They’ve taken her up to intensive care. The