Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

"Linda is dead," Aria announced, and it was Ian and Ivy's turn to stand up in shock.

"What?" Ivy was too mortified to speak further while she waited for Aria to reveal more. 

"Yes, Stuart called me just now. We need to get going." Aria mumbled in a hurry, and the three people left towards the ward where Aria and Ian had last talked to the now deceased woman.

"How can Linda die? Didn't you and Ian speak to her just a few moments ago?" Ivy whispered to Aria as they hurried towards the ward. They had to push themselves through the crowd to make their way. A small crowd had accumulated near the ward, making it impossible for anyone to walk by without forcing themselves through, and all the crowd was speaking about was the woman's sudden and unusual death.

Stuart waved at Aria as soon as he saw her while greeted Ivy with a smile.

"What happened, Stuart?" Aria panted lightly as she looked at the ward where the guards were nowhere in sight..

"I am not sure either, Aria. I was on rounds when one of the nurses came running to me. The patient was having trouble breathing and her mouth was swelling as time passed. But by the time I came here..." Stuart just shook his head with his lips pursed and let out a deep sigh.

"What is happening now? Why are you outside?"

"The nurse is preparing for the post mortem. We need to see what caused her death. But according to the symptoms and her body state, I assume it to be a case of anaphylaxis." Stuart folded his hands and stared hard as the nurses wheeled the now dead woman towards the lab to conduct the post mortem.

Ian's eyes too followed the woman, who was alive and filled with hatred a few minutes ago before he turned to Stuart. "I need to have a word with you. Would you mind following me?"

It was not a request but an order and Stuart did not have any problems following it. Although he was uncertain, he had already found a thing or two about Ian. Ian was not only a cardiothoracic surgeon, but he also held an important position in the management of the hospital and its board of directors.

"Aria, Ivy." Ian tilted his head, asking the sisters too to follow them, and the group of four went to his office where there was complete privacy. Ivy made sure to lock the door after her, lest someone should interrupt them in their conversation.

"Stuart, could you repeat the symptoms you found in Linda when you saw her last?" Ian folded his hands while his face scrunched up with a frown.

"Sure. When I reached her ward, the patient was already dead. Her mouth was completely swollen, and there were blisters near her lips and eyes and rashes on her hands. From these severe reactions, I presumed that her to have been suffering from anaphylaxis." Stuart stopped speaking once he was done and waited for Ian's opinion, while Ivy looked at the three people in confusion.

"What is anaphylaxis?" She did not hesitate to ask even though she knew how odd her question sounded when they were involved in such a serious discussion.

"Umm, anaphylaxis is an allergic reaction. From Stuart's analysis alone, it is evident that Linda had anaphylaxis. She must have consumed something that triggered the reaction." Aria explained, and Ivy took in her words with a frown.

"Shall I presume that it was a case of intentional poisoning or was it a blunder from the medical staff?" Ivy continued, and Ian's frowned deepened in frustration.

"We cannot say it to be a blunder, Miss West. I had the patient's previous medical reports where all her allergies were stated. We made sure to not give any of the medicines to the patient she is allergic to." Stuart affirmed, ruling out the possibility of errors completely.

"Someone deliberately poisoned Linda." Ivy continued. "Did anyone enter the ward after Ian and Aria did?" She mused, and Stuart shook his head immediately.

"No. I asked the guards. After Dr. West and Dr. Davis, nobody entered. It was only when they heard the patient groaning and screaming in pain did they call the nurse." 

"Now, I am completely lost." Ivy raised her hands and plopped on one of the chairs, her face scrunching up in annoyance. "How long does it take for anyone to start having allergic reactions?"

"It depends on each person, Ivy. Some may show the symptoms as soon as they consume the allergen while it takes an hour or more in other cases." Aria elaborated.

"It must be the second scenario with Linda. If no one entered the ward after Aria and Ian, I am sure someone injected the chemical inside her before she met them. Is there any possibility that she consumed the allergen while she was still in prison?"

"That's not possible. We performed tests on her when she was admitted here but did not find any medications in her body. If she had consumed it, we would have known about it." Stuart stated.

"What if her allergy was not a cause of medicine but something else?"

"We will have to wait for the post mortem report to confirm what has happened. Until then, we cannot conclude anything about this." Ian dropped his fierce stance and leaned against the table as he pressed his forehead.

"And there goes my opportunity to interview this damn woman," Ivy mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear it. "What are the chances!" She could not help but groan at the predicament she was in. How coincidental it was that Linda died right on the day she thought of interviewing her!!

"By the way," Ivy sat up straight when a notion hit her. "Why was she admitted to the hospital? What had happened to her?"

"The patient tried to cut her wrist or that was what the prison guards told us. But we do not think so." Stuart answered and took the other empty chair. He did not conceal the truth for he knew with Ivy being Aria's sister, she would never use this information in the wrong way. And Ian himself had not stopped him when the man had a say in the matters related to the hospital. 

"Why?"

"It is not that difficult to find out if a person has slit his own wrist or if anyone else has done it. It sure looked like suicide but the depth of the blade says otherwise. Also, we cannot ignore the marks on her hands and legs. Someone forced her down to keep her still while they attacked her. There are obvious finger marks on her body."

"Ohh," Ivy did not know what more to say. She just sat still, staring at her sister blankly.

"This case does not seem to be that simple. There must be something else which we are unable to see." Aria spoke after a few minutes of silence.

"Why do you think so, Aria? Did you sense something odd about it?" Ian gave her a puzzled look.

"Not exactly, Ian. But my intuition strongly says that we are missing something, that she came to our hospital on a purpose which, right now, we are unable to decipher."

Ian was just about to probe further into it when a knock at the door interrupted him. A nurse was waiting for him and she was surprised to see the other three people in his office. "Dr. Davis, the police are here and they want to speak you and Dr. West."