Page 19 of Tear Me Apart

“Are you?” The elevator dings and Lauren’s hand goes to her throat. “God, Juliet, I’m sorry. I haven’t slept, I’m worried, I’m—”

“I know. Iknow. So stop, okay? Stop snapping, stop apologizing. It is what it is. Let’s go see Mindy, let me give her a hug, then I’ll take the test.”

8

That evening, Juliet sends Lauren and Jasper to the cafeteria for food before it shuts down. They are haggard, both of them, pale and gray-skinned. She instructs them to eat a decent, hot meal and take a break. She’s happy to watch over Mindy for a while.

Lauren begins to protest, but Jasper grabs her hand and gives Juliet a grateful smile.

“We’ll see you in an hour.”

“Take two. I’m not going anywhere.”

Mindy sleeps through it all. The emotions of the day have been grueling, and she’s finally crashed.

Standing at the end of the bed, watching her, Juliet is filled with love. What a magnificent creature her sister has created. What a wonderful young woman they’ve raised.

Juliet sees a red light out of the corner of her eye. The electronic chart on the screen across the room has an update. The system is state of the art—the lab tests show up the moment they’re finalized. She can’t help herself, she moves closer. It has to be the DNA results. It has to. The timing is impeccable.

Any minute now, the doctor will come into the room and tell them who is a match.

Or she can look herself...

She’s been around the hospital long enough to see the password to the system. The nurses don’t try to hide it—who would want to log in and look at the charts, most of which are in gibberish scientific code so dense most laypeople can’t understand them?

But Juliet isn’t a layperson.

She glances once over her shoulder at the door, which is cracked but almost closed. No one will know.

She crosses to the computer and types in the password she’d seen the nurse use earlier in the evening. The system is tied directly to the lab, and the email is bolded.

Case #867745453 Results Ready

Juliet clicks on the file and begins to read.

Confusion fills her.

There is no DNA match. The results from the three of them—well, Juliet knew it was a long shot for Jasper to be even a peripheral match, but Lauren and Juliet should at least share a few markers with Mindy. Maybe not enough for a stem cell transplant, but as mother and aunt, the mitochondria should match.

She runs through the screens again. It isn’t possible. They don’t match Mindy at all.

How can this be? She shakes her head. The lab has made a mistake.

She checks the name of the lab. It is a private firm out of Denver that is incredibly well respected. She knows the head of the lab, Cameron Longer. The odds of his people making a mistake of this magnitude...no, they must have been given the wrong sample for Mindy. It will be a huge fuss; they will have to retest her. It could cost the lab the contract with the hospital.

Perhaps Juliet can help a different way. She can call Cameron and tell him they need to redo things, and quickly. Help them avoid a costly and embarrassing mistake.

“Ma’am? Excuse me, what exactly are you doing?”

Juliet jumps away from the computer, smack into Mindy’s tray, which tips over, spilling everything from water and Kleenex to ChapStick on the floor with a clatter. Mindy jerks awake.

“Aunt J? What’s the matter?”

“Ma’am, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Mindy, it’s fine.” And to the nurse, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I was just checking to see if I could access the internet off this thing.”

The nurse slaps the keyboard up into place, effectively shutting off the machine. “You can’t. It’s an intra-hospital system. No outside internet.”