Waking Dead: A Novel

By Jay Glendell

The story involves a hospital-based physician facing a bitter divorce and the possibility of losing his job because he works in a hospital facing financial problems. He finds that he is unsuspectingly and unwillingly involved in solving recent murders and death of employees at his hospital and another hospital in the northwest that had occurred in the past. He is recruited for this investigation by a gorgeous young female FBI agent, who had grown up in the northwest of United States. Her father, who had worked at a hospital in a university community there, had died from a hunter’s stray bullet along with other colleagues who had died from similar suspicious events. His daughter, who always suspected that the death was not accidental, had found a definite way to identify the murderer that, until recently, was not available. To definitely prove it, however, she must trace the history of the suspect back to his origins in Europe and find a family that includes an elderly brother who is on his deathbed but is an essential piece of the puzzle. The plot includes romance, adventure, unusual locations, and surprise.

Pacific Book Review
A doctor’s life is in disarray. An FBI agent is on the trail of a killer. An esteemed medical man may or may not be a monstrous ex-Nazi. A monastery in Spain may hold the key to a generational mystery. All these elements combine to create an intriguing multidimensional thriller in Jay Glendell’s novel, Waking Dead.

Paul is a doctor going through a crisis. He’s suffering from horrifying nightmares that don’t always end when he wakes up. His job’s long hours are taking a physical toll. His impending divorce and potential loss of his children are making his mental state fragile. Then things get even worse. The ex-wife of a doctor (and friend) in the hospital where he works is brutally murdered. Soon after, his friend is hit and killed in what is initially thought to be a hit-and-run accident—but was it really accidental?

Karen is an FBI agent with an incredible story and an even more unimaginable plan. She tells Paul that the highly regarded senior physician at the hospital where he works may well be a serial killer plus a fugitive from heinous crimes committed during World War II. She coerces Paul into joining her investigation that will take them to South
America and then on to Europe in hopes of uncovering a hoax which has allowed a psychopathic degenerate to continue his murderous ways for years.

Their quest for answers will lead them on a dangerous journey that culminates in gun battles, life and death decisions and surprises neither one of them could have imagined—but will it end with justice being served?

Glendell is a skilled writer who keeps his tale moving forward swiftly. Important information is deftly revealed piece by piece. His characters are finely drawn both physically and psychologically—the minor ones as well as the major players. The way he tells his story however, often puts a degree of emotional distance between the reader and what is being read. Parts of the story are told via informational prose that could have been dramatized more forcefully if played out in interpersonal dialogue between the participants. Still, he manages to infuse his narrative with intrigue and energy that makes one want to know what will happen next.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Aug 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9781532053771

Jay Glendell

The author is a retired medical doctor and educator who has previously published in medical journals and presented medical research on a national and international level. He presently lives in Florida and passes his time boating and fishing when he’s not reading or writing. His greatest love is his wife, Eleanor who has been at his side from his medical school days and more recently three grown children and four grandchildren who complete his life.

Book preview

Waking Dead

a novel

Jay Glendell

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WAKING DEAD

A NOVEL

Copyright © 2018 Jay Glendell.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-5320-5376-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-5377-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018908791

iUniverse rev. date:  09/18/2018

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Epilogue

Chapter One

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I   can’t catch my breath; a black wall is crushing my chest. No air is getting into my lungs, and the pressure is unbearable. Suffocating and paralyzed, I will stop breathing! I’m dying he thought, terrified of what was next. The alarm went off; it’s five AM, the worst time of the day for Paul Peres. Drenched in a cold sweat, he dreaded the early hour. It was the time of the day when men seldom survived the widow maker, a blockage of the main artery of the heart muscle that kills suddenly in the early morning hours while asleep in bed. The nightmare had been repeating more frequently, leaving him in a dream-like state, semi-conscious but paralyzed and speechless. Each time, he’d remain horrified by the thought that he was dead and lingered in a conscious state. Some of his patients brought back from the brink of death told him that they had died but were fully aware of what was happening around them and couldn’t communicate or react. Rationally, Paul knew that what he had endured was not a near death experience but only night terrors with sleep paralysis. However, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had been dying and waking dead.

He hurried to the hospital earlier than usual to review the charts of patients scheduled to be seen in the afternoon medical clinic. As the director of the outpatient department, his job was to supervise the interns and residents in the clinic. Paul, an internist and full-time employee of North County Hospital had been subpoenaed by his wife’s attorney to appear in court that afternoon. His wife sought sole custody of the children and had charged him with child neglect and abandonment. His life was in a tailspin with the uncertain future of his employment at the hospital and the stress of the divorce. Appearing in court at that time conflicted with the clinic and he decided to leave detailed instructions on each patient’s chart, so the interns and residents could function without him. A covering doctor had been assigned to take his place that afternoon, but Paul was not confident he could depend on him. A mistake would get him fired.

He arrived at the hospital and entered the cafeteria for a cup of coffee. It was usually a busy place but appeared deserted at that hour, except for someone slumped over a table, at the other end of the room. He walked over to the table and realized it was Raj, a pathologist, and friend who worked there. Raj cradling the dining room table with his hair rumpled up and face covered with both hands, didn’t see him. Paul hearing his muted sobs tapped his shoulder and asked what was wrong. He had never seen him in a disheveled state since his friend always appeared impeccably dressed, dapper and debonair. Raj’s voice cracked with barely audible sound, while he told Paul about his former wife, Elaine, who was murdered the previous evening. The police had called him early that morning to identify the body that was found in her apartment. Shocked, Paul sat next to him with his arm around his shoulders steadying him as Raj cried, and told him the harrowing details of Elaine’s murder, describing it with startling precision.

The body was found dismembered with her arms and legs scattered throughout the apartment. On the dining room wall were pinned her amputated breasts staring at him as he entered the room. They seemed surgically removed as in a double mastectomy. Her stomach and intestines floated in a fish tank filled with blood red water surrounded by dead fish. Raj said the blood covered walls filled the apartment with the stench of death. Continuously shaking his head from side to side while sobbing he cried that it was the work of a human monster. He purposely didn’t mention the mutilation of the genitalia and rectum, to preserve her dignity and to spare disturbing his friend further. Paul knew Elaine and was visibly shaken as he imagined the entire bloody scene. Raj insisted a surgeon or pathologist had performed the mutilation with such meticulous technique that only a doctor trained in surgical anatomy could have been responsible. He told Paul that the police believed the crime was drug-related.

Paul had difficulty regaining his composure and with a look of disbelief shouted, Drugs!

The word reverberated off the cold tile cafeteria walls as though there was a chorus echoing it. The cops claimed that Raj’s former wife was stealing ketamine from the research lab and selling it to drug dealers. The ketamine used in the research lab to sedate animals was sold on the street as Special K, a popular dance club drug. Vials of ketamine along with needles and syringes were found in her apartment. Raj told the police it had to be a set up to hide the real reason for her murder. He said that Elaine hated recreational drugs and never used them when she was married to him. He was unsure why anyone would do such a terrible thing and could not think of anyone who wanted her dead. Everyone admired her good looks, intelligence, and carefree spirit and she had no known enemies on the staff. She was a flirt, and Paul thought possibly a jealous wife or girlfriend murdered her, but it seemed macabre and too ordered to be the result of jealous rage.

Iraj Mussomi (called Raj by his friends and colleagues), had immigrated to the USA after finishing medical training in Italy. Born in Iran, he decided not to return to his family’s homeland after the Ayatollah and his followers came to power. Raj’s family belonged to an opposing political faction in Iran, so he sought asylum in the USA. A big handsome man with a dark complexion, piercing brown eyes and a large stock of white hair, he was usually mistaken for someone of Latin or Mediterranean origin. His appearance was an asset in a Westchester community of New York with a significant portion of the population from families’ originating or the descendants of immigrants from Italy and Central and South America. Paul was born in the States, and his parents were from Puerto Rico. Raj’s foreign accent and fluency in the Italian language acquired during his years living in Italy gave rise to many patients identifying him as an Italian. Paul’ s heritage was more challenging to discern, and some thought he was Italian, and others considered him Hispanic. Raj could fool many with his comical Italian posturing and gestures and was the quintessential Italophile whose love of everything Italian included reading the Italian newspapers every day. His spontaneity performing Italian operatic arias with hysterical gestures amused the nurses of Italian descent who enjoyed his ability to brighten their day.

Paul asked if there was anything he could do to help him. Raj nodded no and said he would stay in the cafeteria waiting for the final report of the autopsy that was still underway. Although divorced from Elaine for several years, he continued to love her and be her confidant. Paul disturbed by her murder, and his friend’s anguish couldn’t get the incident out of his mind. He remembered how Raj had helped him when he first joined the hospital staff. They often had lunch together in the same cafeteria talking about professional and personal matters. They were from differing ethnic backgrounds than most of the physicians on the staff which created a special bond. Paul was an only child, and Raj was like an older brother that he had never had. He recalled that when Elaine and Raj were married, she was cheating on him and sexually involved with other men. Raj was heartsick when learning of it, however, the inner turmoil didn’t paralyze his ability to function. He was ten to fifteen years older than Elaine and realized her free spirit and a monogamous marriage were not compatible.

Paul finally walked into the medical clinic to review patient charts gathered for the afternoon clinic. No one else was in the clinic at that hour, and the atmosphere was chilling and gloomier than usual. His sorrow was intensified by the nauseating antiseptic smell and faded inhospitable green walls that deepened his depressed state of mind. Vintage wooden examining tables covered with frayed mats and shimmering mercury columns of the blood pressure units hanging on the walls interrupted the monotony of the clinic’s drab appearance. One exception to the decaying presence that surrounded him was a brand-new computer set upright on a tattered grey metal desk. He reflected on how a modern machine in the vintage setting surrounding him seemed, somehow out of place, like him. Put there to modernize medical records, the new technology failed to transform the atmosphere of a hospital that no longer succeeded in providing health services in a changing world.

While attempting to focus on patients’ charts, his mind wandered and recalled his feelings about his friend and Elaine. Everyone had warned Raj of her history of affairs with other men, but he was dazzled by her beauty and intelligence and unable to see what others saw of a relationship that would fail. Before they were married, she worked in the same hospital unit as Raj, but regulations forbade married couples from working together in the same department. She applied for a position in the surgical research laboratory evaluating drugs used in the treatment of patients receiving organ transplants. Her area of expertise was pharmacology and the medicines used to treat patients receiving organ transplants were often problematic due to drug interactions that interfered with the function of the transplanted organ. The job was a natural for her and she was immediately hired.

Recalling his friendship with Elaine and Raj cut into the time to complete his morning duties and hospital rounds with the interns and residents had to be reduced to discussing each patient’s progress in the hallway rather than at the patient’s bedside. Before leaving the hospital, he interrupted the chief resident’s morning report with the director of medicine to remind her to keep an eye on the afternoon clinic. The director of medicine, Doctor Albert Stark, scowled at Paul chewing him out for leaving early and not being present to supervise the clinic. Paul reminded Stark that he was given no option for choosing the day or time for the court hearing and sarcastically thanked him for his cooperation as he walked away to finish rounds and leave the hospital. On leaving the hospital, he drove to the courthouse.

Private insurance funds and donations supported North County Hospital, a small nonprofit hospital with both teaching and research programs that had been established in prior years. The cost of maintaining the programs had drastically risen, and with Medicare and Medicaid cutbacks the hospital lost money each year. The hospital was at the point of bankruptcy and to continue to operate had to eliminate those programs or close its doors. The only hope for its survival was a bailout from a medical school or corporative healthcare provider. A prestigious medical school had approached the hospital administration for a possible affiliation, and the public relations department presented the possible association to the local newspapers as a significant step toward providing improved medical care. The real reason was that the blessing of a university label and medical school agreement would allow the charges for hospital services to increase. The hospital would be known as the North County University Hospital giving it a competitive edge over neighboring hospitals that did not have the sought-after university title. Like royalty and aristocracy, the medical staff rewarded with newly designed titles of academia could return the kingdom to the peace and riches of the past. That’s what the accounting and finance departments of the hospital hoped for after spending millions of dollars on a consulting firm to research and sell the affiliation to the hospital board and doctors.

The chief of surgery and director of research, Doctor Hans Reisbach, had his career on the line due to recent cutbacks. He was one of a handful of surgeons in the country performing pancreatic transplant surgery to treat diabetes. Since it had been considered research, the operation wasn’t fully reimbursed by private insurance, Medicaid or Medicare. The drug used to control rejection of the transplanted pancreas was developed by him and considered investigational, and the hospital was hoping to sell it to a pharmaceutical company after its approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Without a medical school arrangement and FDA approval, the drug would never make it to the marketplace in time to recover the money invested in its development. If the regulatory agency