It was Just a Little Thing

It was just a little thing that got it all started. It happened on a Friday afternoon. My six-year-old daughter Evie who was in grade one got dropped off after school by one of her school friends' mother. Since they were driving right by anyways, she had called me to ask me if it was okay if she brought Evie home with her as they lived nearby. I said sure.

Instead of pulling in she just stopped the car at the side of the road to let my daughter out. Evie being eager to see me she got out and started to run across the street to our driveway. As she was taught, she walked out from behind the car. She got hit by a driver going the other way. She had been so excited she had forgotten to look both ways. I called nine one one right away. Within minutes both an ambulance and the police had shown up.

My wife of seven years was at the nursing home working her normal shift. Since it was the Nursing home policy that all cellphones had to be locked in their staffs' assigned locker during work hours. I had called them on the way to the hospital to ask them to convey what was happening to my wife. That's when I learned because of the unexpected slow down at the nursing home all full-time staff had been asked to use some of their accumulative permanent time off hours to save some from layoffs. My wife had chosen today to use some of hers. The little problem was that she had worn her nurses' uniform when she left for work this morning. It was just a little thing, but it did not add up.

I had no clue she had the day off. If she was going to use some of her accumulative time off it was normal for her to discuss it with me first. I wondered if she had taken some private work elsewhere to help someone who was in a jam. The only thing I knew for sure was that the receptionist had deliberately fed me a line of bull shit. It was just a little thing, but it stuck in my mind.

I called her cell phone and it went to her answering service. That was strange because since she was not working, she would normally answer it. Something was not right, but I had no clue as to what. It was just a little thing, but it bothered me. I left a message telling her in detail what was going on. I had gotten my daughter's paperwork filled out. I still had not heard from Emma. The emergency doctor had sent her for x-ray's and an MRI because she was still not coming around. They were afraid that something may have caused her to go into a coma. I was really getting worried.

Finally, about an hour after what would have been her normal time to get off work my wife showed up. I could smell the scent of fresh soap off of her body as I hugged her. That was a smell I normally found on her right after her shower first thing in the morning. I knew instantly that something was going on, but I didn't know what. Still, it was just a little thing. The problem was that there were just too many of them. I now knew something was going on, but I did not know what.

I said to Emma didn't the receptionist pass my message on to you. She responded as soon as she got the chance. I was tied up with a patient that needed to be transferred to St Francis and you were here in Southeast. I knew she was lying but I let it slide. This was not the time or the place. Two females had lied to me today. I knew I had to find out why. What had started as a normal day had led to lies and a few little things between us that did not add up. The only thing I knew for sure that my wife was not behaving like she normally would.

We had just gotten the tests completed when the apple of my eye started to come around. I'm glad that as a dad I was there for her. The doctors decided it would be best if she stayed in for observation overnight because of how long she had been out. At about ten pm after she fell asleep, we headed home stopping at Taco Bell's drive-through on the way. After eating and having a cold beer. We headed to bed.

That Saturday our little angel was cleared to come home. We were lucky there was no serious damage. When we got to the hospital our family Doctor was there checking her over. I was impressed because Doctor Ronald Foster appeared to take his job seriously. Before leaving he instructed us to call the office and set up a follow-up appointment in three weeks. Sometimes he explained there can be problems that show up afterward that are related to the accident. Without follow up they might be never known. Best to be careful in these situations he said when they're so young.

Once we were back home and settled, I asked Emma again how her Friday went. The answer I got was not satisfactory. Normally she would tell me if there was something funny that happened or if they had a new transfer come in from the hospital. Those little tidbits of normal communication and information were missing. It was just a little thing, but these little things were now adding up to forming a pattern. Whatever my wife had been doing on Friday it was clear that she did not want me to know about it. I was beginning to ask myself why? It got my mind looking back over the last few weeks to see if there was something, I had done to piss her off. Emma if she felt she wasn't being treated fairly could hold a grudge for weeks.

Emma and I had been sweethearts all the way through high school. From the moment I met her that first time in junior high for me, there was never anyone else. Though we broke up three or four times we always ended up back together. Emma had a bad habit of having something catch her eye and then go after it to figure out what the attraction was. During those times we would break up. I just thought that all of it was part of growing up. Surely it was a stage that she would grow out of. Each of these breakups was caused because she had developed an interest in someone or something else.

I was part of the Jackson high school football team she had been a cheerleader. Both of us were very popular students. Everyone thought we belonged together, but we ended it in our senior year because I saw us going nowhere. After high school, I joined the fire department working my way up. She got her LPN certification and started working towards becoming a registered nurse.

It was because I got injured on the job fighting a fire that was the reason we hooked back up. Six months later we were married. Our daughter was two years old when Emma became a Registered Nurse. Emma had dark shoulder-length black hair, blue eyes and a figure that was very attractive. It was her giving personality that most who knew her seemed to love. What was puzzling for me was that in our years of marriage we had never had a serious conflict or problem. A few months ago, we had been considering expanding our family.

On Sunday we had been invited with our daughter to an afternoon barbeque. It was to be an outdoor party around the pool by one of her co-workers. So, we got ready to go by putting on our bathing suits under our regular clothes. We all were assigned something to bring. On the way, I stopped to pick up the items we decided to bring from the grocery store. We brought enough smokies and buns for about sixteen. These were premium Franks that I always boiled before putting on the grill. They were done in a natural casing and the boiling gave them a richness and bulkiness that got hidden when grilled from out of the package. Instead of being dry these would be moist when grilled and the flavor of the smoke would be tasted in every bite. I had discovered them by accident and now they were the only ones I would eat. I called them smokies because that was the flavor that came through so strongly. It turns out the way I prepared them made them a hit. It ended up with me doing that we always had more meat than bread.

No one noticed me that Sunday as I was in the kitchen at the stove boiling the franks in the salted water. I kept watching over them until they puffed up which didn't take long. Once they reached that point after draining the water off, I would dry them off before taking them to the grill.

My wife Emma was talking with our host Oliva while standing just outside the patio doors. Oliva was the head of the human resources department where they worked. They both were looking out towards the pool where our daughter and her son were playing with a few others. I really didn't pay attention to what they were saying to each other until the very end. What I heard at that point hurt me deeply. It rocked me to my foundation hard. It was their conversation that explained quite clearly to me what was going on.

"Doctor Ronald Foster the wildly popular single doctor used to come every Friday afternoon to check up on his patients that are in residence," Oliva said. "Now he shows up only on the Fridays that you are on. It's making some of us wonder if there is there something going on between the two of you. If there is it something that I should be aware of?"

"No, not really," My wife said while looking more than a bit flushed as if she really did not want to discuss the issue.

I knew by that look that it usually meant that she was caught doing something that she did not want to explain. I now knew of two people whose normal Friday's routine had suddenly changed. I also now knew that Emma had a very good reason why she did not want the truth known. She was keeping something very secret and for her, that was not normal.

"We are just professional friends." Emma tried to explain to Oliva without any success. "He likes the detail reports that I send him on his Alzheimer's patient's behavior patterns. He says it makes it easier for him to medically look after their needs."

"Well that's not what being spread in the halls," Oliva said. "Whatever is going on between the two of you it better be toned down a lot when you're on the job or the rumors about the two of you are only going to get a lot worse."

"I will be sure to mention that to him the next time I see him. I have another scheduled doctor appointment with him next week." Emma said. "I guess I best go check on Evie."

I watched Emma walk away to check on our daughter who was in the pool. I let the words son of a bitch she's lying escape my lips. She has no doctor's appointment next week.

Oliva heard me and turned seeing the look of shock on my face. Her face went white because she realized just as I did at that moment that there was definitely something going on and that I had not been aware of any of it until today.

"You heard us didn't you Damen," Oliva said. I just nodded my head. "You think that there is something going on between them, don't you?"

"Over the last few days, there have been a few little things that just did not add up. Now with what I just saw and heard its painting a very different picture. Her facial responses made it clear she is hiding something that she doesn't want anyone to know about. It has forced me to look at things a lot differently. Can you tell me please just how long Emma has been taking every other Friday off?" I said.

"For the last three months. She suggested the new arrangement since she works a lot of extra hours. Most of her overtime goes towards additional taxes she says. She takes the day off to cut down on her overtime hours and saves her permanent time off for family stuff." Oliva explained. "We in human resources like it because, in the long run, it saves the corporation money, and it gives a part-timer more hours."

"Another question, how close are Emma and the receptionist who answers the phone," I asked?

"Best friends. Why?" Oliva replied.

"When I called because of Evie's accident on Friday the receptionist told me Emma was taking an accumulate permanent time off day because it was so slow that the management had requested all full timers to do in an attempt to prevent the laying off of part-time staff."

"You were lied to. We are operating at full capacity. We have no room for anyone else. What are you going to do?" Oliva said as she poured me a very stiff drink. "Emma is definitely hiding something; her best friend appears to be helping her and it appears she has been doing so for a while."

"I sure hope what I am now suspecting is not true," I said. "Dr. Foster is our family doctor. If what my gut is telling me is right. I will destroy his career, divorce my wife and go for sole custody of our daughter."

"Well according to the gossip going around you're not the only one who thinks something else is going on," Oliva said. "The nurses she works with feel their just too friendly with each other for it to be nothing more than just a professional relationship. They seem to spend too much time in a patient's room with the door to the unit closed. If I hear anything further, I will let you know."

"Please do. As a fireman, we always say where there's smoke there's a fire. It might be nothing more than a mutual attraction going a little too far. Either way, I am going to find out." I said while drying the smokies off.

"Nice try but I don't think it's going to work," Oliva said. "I've been there and when our gut tells us something its usually right."

At that time, I was beginning to believe that I was seeing the same behavior pattern from Emma that I had experienced with her during high school. If that was true it only meant one thing Emma's eyes had found another.

Doctor Ronald Foster had bought into the partnership group just over three years ago to take over the family practice of our former doctor. The local hospital because of his age had been making things difficult for him and the partners in the group he belonged in basically forced him to retire. Emma was a Registered Nurse and had gotten her license while working at the Southeast hospital before joining the nursing home. The Southeast Hospital a training hospital wanted a more youthful look and if our former family doctor was not going to self-medicate himself or diet to achieve that certain look it was time for him to get out. It's sad when a medical organization puts science and image over time and experience.

For the next six weeks, I would be on the evening schedule working from six to six. Four days on then four days off. It was time to get me some needed help. If there was something going on my work schedule gave them the perfect opportunity to do whatever they wanted without getting caught. My loving wife by her conduct had created enough doubt that I made a move that I thought I would never have to. Before taking out the smokies to the grill I texted one of the crew I regularly worked with saying call me in five minutes.

I was standing by my wife when he called. Before I answered I told my wife that since it was work-related, I was going to go out front to have some privacy. After answering him I asked him to hold on and walked away from the back yard. In truth, the only reason I did that was because I did not want Emma to hear the conversation.

"Bob, remember the team we put together when we had to find out for Glenn what was going on with his former wife a couple of years ago," I asked.

"Of course, I do Damen it worked really well and did not take long," Bob replied. "Who needs our help this time?"

"I do. From what I have learned I believe it's been going on for at least the last three months. Emma and the man I think she is involved with is Doctor Ronald Foster." I said. "Even her fellow staff at the nursing home believe somethings going on. I know because I just overheard one of the management staff talking to her about it. For that to be brought up it has to be a serious relationship. Whatever is going on the head of human resources told Emma to tone it down when they were together at her work."

"Ouch if that was said it's been going on for a while. I'll start making the phone calls to try to arrange for us all to meet at the fire hall tomorrow when we're on." Bob said, "Our friends in the Sherriff department will glad to have something out of the ordinary for them to do. Remember Damen we will have to put the same rules on you as we did Glenn."

When we put the plan together to help Glenn after we found out what he knew. The one rule we set that he had to stay out of it until the team was done. We believed that any changes in his behavior could cause his spouse to change what she was doing. It took less than a month for us to get the job done. When we were done what was presented to him was a day to day detail of everything his now-former wife and lover had done. The way it was presented in the package his lawyer said it was so detailed that not even a worm would not be able to slither through it. Glenn won his divorce hands down with him getting primary custody of their three kids.

We met that Monday night just after supper in the meeting room at the fire hall. The six sheriff department members, five firemen, and two police officers were all present. I told them all that had happened on Friday and what I had learned since. All agreed it appeared that something was definitely going on. I gave them the description of my wife's car her license plate number and her regular hours of work. She worked eight hours a day starting at seven am ending at three-thirty in the afternoon.

They asked me to obtain copies of our medical records for the last two years from the files in our home. They wanted to be able to verify that Doctor Ronald Foster was still our family doctor by viewing the medical billings records. If they were involved in a romantic way, he should have assigned us to another doctor in their limited partnership practice. After that, I was asked to leave the room so they could plan who would do what and when.

On Tuesday morning after I saw my daughter get on the bus, I saw my retired neighbor getting his morning newspaper. So, I walked over to say hello. We got to talking and he asked why the doctor had stopped by last night. Are you sure it was a doctor I asked? He said he was still wearing his white overcoat when he got out of his car. I watched him take it off and leave it in his car before he went to your door. Your wife had the front door open and was waiting for him. He was still at the house when I went to bed around ten, he said. I hope it's not anything serious. I replied I did not know why but I'd ask my wife about it when she got home.

Walking back to my house I realized that my fears had been right. Grabbing my cellphone, I walked back over to my neighbor and showed him a picture of Doctor Ronald Foster from the medical groups facebook page. He said that he was the doctor he had seen.

Emma called and said she was going to be late. I ended taking Evie our daughter over to my mother's so I could get to work on time. I let Bob know what the neighbor had said as I gave him copies of our medical records and our health insurance reports. They proved that Doctor Ronald Foster was still our family doctor. My wife's last appointment with him had been two weeks ago.

The following Tuesday a few of the boys came in while my wife was working and did a few things inside of the house. I was not allowed to go into the house until they were done. So, I sat and chatted with my next-door neighbor about things. My neighbor said the doctors' visit last week wasn't medical, was it. I told him he was a smart man. He said your friends are wiring the house up. I said yep but they are doing it without me.

It was done this way so that I would not know where the stuff was. If I had known what they did I like every other human would be watching to see if they were working and perhaps my change of conduct would give it away.

I wish I had friends like you do when I got my divorce years ago my neighbor said. It might of save me thousands of dollars in legal fees alone. These days you must do everything you can to protect your ass even from those you trust. Sad this new computer age really has helped to destroy what little family values we had.