The Medical Examiner gently cleared his throat, “Ah, Brian, if the son is in medicine why didn’t he care for his father?”
Dr. Milligan slowly let a smile work its way across his face, “Oh, he told you he was in medicine, didn’t he?” Shaking his head, he smothered a laugh, “Mr. Granger Pino is not a medical man. He has a license to practice pain management with massage and chiropractic skills. The two of us have had problems many a time for he seriously knows nothing about Western medical procedures or Western medicine. Give him rubbing oil and a towel and he goes to work. A stethoscope would be beyond him.”
The Medical Examiner turned to the older paramedic, “Where is Ignacio? He needs to start the interviews with the family.”
The older paramedic shook his head, “He told me he preferred to interview them down at the station.”
“Call him. He needs to be here for this. I know he is shy and cautious, but he needs to follow procedures. I covered for him last time and told him never again. Get him on the radio, get him in here now!”
Dr. Milligan turned back to Sophia, “Let me get her out of here so you guys can get on with your work. I’ll call you later this afternoon.” He turned to Sophia, “Come, we should go and let these men do their jobs.”
She shook her head, “No, I want to see this.”
“Brian, she shouldn’t be here for this.” The Medical Examiner shook his head.
Dr. Milligan knelt down and hugged her by the shoulders, “Come on, Sophia, this isn’t something you need to see. This is a messy job. Please remember your father the way he was ten years ago. Come on, let’s go into the kitchen and get you some hot tea.”
Sophia allowed him to lead her out of the room and down the hall. She quickly came face to face with Carol Grover. “Sophia, come with me. You’re just the person I need to speak with, Sophia, come outside, we need to talk now!”
Carol was of a solid frame. She was five feet tall and five feet wide. She was excellent at lifting patients with her firm muscles. She pushed Sophia ahead of her down the hall. Carol’s frosted dark hair bounced as she walked. Her ready smile was now a stern frown. She followed Sophia out the front door, sideways onto the wooden bench against the front porch wall. Sophia sat down with a groan. “Carol, he’s dead, did you see him? He’s really dead!”
“Sophia, get a grip! You and I both know he was doing better! We both know this! If his bed was kept upright he would still be getting better. Someone put the bed flat or at least low enough for him to not be able to swallow.” Carol’s bright blue eyes flashed with anger as she gulped for air, “I want you to file charges against your brother Granger.”
Carol placed her plump hands on her hips and began to pace, “God, Sophia, I am sorry, but I absolutely cannot stand your brother with his smooth velvet demeanor. He’s repulsive to me, absolutely repulsive. How can you two be so completely different? In all of my fifty-three years on this planet I have never met anyone who is as phony as your brother! How can he stand there as if he is sorry when he is the cause? Sophia, answer me!” Carol stood over Sophia, glaring.
“What do you want me to say, Carol? You want me to admit that he killed my father, his father? I can’t do that, I can’t!” Sophia stared at the dirt ground in front of her. “Besides I heard Granger tell the Sheriff in there he was at home last night. He never came over here to help Mom.”
Carol threw her arms up into the air to scream, “What? You believe that slimy slug? Sophia, how can you believe a word that comes out of his mouth? Are you going to let them get away with this?” Carol gently pushed Sophia so she could sit beside her. Carol’s nose was inches away from Sophia’s. “You know he lives within minutes of here, just over the ditch road? You know this? He’s already using your father’s money to buy the fancy Mercedes he drives! Sophia, what part of this don’t you get?”
Sophia pulled her red cap forward to protect her forehead from the wind, “What do you want me to do? This is my family, Carol!” Sophia stood. “This is my family, as confused and bizarre as it maybe—this is my family. I am not sure what happened, my mind is reeling. My father is dead. Right now what can we do? There is nothing more to do. Carol, there is nothing more anyone can do.”
Carol firmly grit her teeth, “Oh, so, then the deed is done? Is that it? Let’s just bury the man and forget all about this? Sophia, this is a crime! What the two of them did was murder!”
Sophia swung around, “Carol, no! Now you listen to me! My brother, my mother, whoever it was who put my father’s bed down killed him. You know it. I know it and apparently most of the medical staff knows it. How does that make my father any less dead? Huh? How does this help anyone? We are all in mourning and you want to argue and press charges. How is that going to bring my father back?” Sophia wiped the tears from her cheek.
Carol shook her head, “Fine, then! But listen to me, Sophia. I may walk away from here, but by golly I will not forgive. No! I liked your dad, I liked him a lot. Sure he wasn’t the easiest person in the world, but he was getting better! Sophia, you’re just as bad as they are!”
Carol kicked dirt in Sophia’s direction as she walked between the cars to her yellow Volkswagen. Sophia screamed out to her, “I am NOT like them. I am not like them at all!” She flung her red scarf over her shoulder and ran to the barn.
Her mother’s horse stood expectantly waiting for his breakfast. The sixteen hand Quarter horse bay leaned his broad chest on the paint peeling wooden fence. He nodded his head up and down. Sophia rubbed his nose and then hurried through the wooden barn gate into the large metal barn. “All right, Geordie, it’s way past breakfast time.” Sophia scooped some alfalfa and timothy grass onto her cupped forearms. Using her mittened fingers, she lifted the metal latch of the stall gate and dropped the food into Geordie’s empty trough.
“You could probably do with a good brushing. You don’t want to get involved with what’s going on in the house.” Geordie got a good neck rub and a pat on his withers. “It’s hard to believe everyone forgot about you. You perfect animal you!” Sophia removed her right mitten to stroke Geordie on his forelegs. “Your arthritis has gotten worse, huh, old boy?”
Geordie snorted in the alfalfa and timothy grass causing dust to float through the air.
“What’s this on your chest?” Sophia felt a large lump the size of a grapefruit on his shoulder muscle. “Let’s get you rubbed down and your blanket buckled. The weather is turning for the worse and it is cold in here.” After Sophia brushed Geordie, she gathered up his green horse blanket from the neighboring stall. Gingerly placing it on his back so as not to startle him, she buckled the leather belt across his chest.
“Geordie, you haven’t eaten anything. What are you doing with your breakfast? You’re just pushing your food around, making a mess. Are you trying for more attention?” Sophia rubbed his cheek.
The leather buckle that went under his abdomen was buckled and in a fluid movement Sophia reached under his tail to buckle the final belt. This would keep the blanket from moving forward. Her arm came away with a smear of dried blood. “Oh, Geordie, you have blood coming out of your rear end, buddy boy! What’s going on with you?” Sophia buckled the leather belt to study the dried blood from his rectum. “Geordie, everyone was so preoccupied with Papa we didn’t take time for you. We need to get a vet out here to check you. Everyone needs care around here these days.”
Sophia hugged Geordie’s neck as he continued to shuffle the alfalfa around with his nose in the bin. She opened the stall gate to re-enter the main barn. The grey light from the stall doors allowed the dirt particles to dance. Sophia took the plastic cup hanging from a hook on the wall to scoop out a cup and a half of molasses senior feed with bran. “Don’t know about the bran for you seem to have no problem dropping your horse apples, old boy.” Sophia laughed as she poured the mixture into Geordie’s grain bucket, which hung into his stall from a rope on her side in the barn.
“Well,