Fleet Hospital
Fleet Hospital–it's the U.S. Navy's version of M.A.S.H.At Camp Pendleton near San Diego, Fleet Hospital is conducting a simulated emergency under the command of Captain Michael McLowery. This means the place is filled with servicemen and women "moulaged" to resemble the wounded.Also on-site is reporter Lori Sepanik–aka Jo Marche–of tabloid fame. She's looking for journalistic legitimacy in the form of a good story; she thinks reporting on the Fleet exercise will provide this. But the last thing she expects to find is a "dead" body that really is!Michael's in charge of the murder investigation–and he wants Jo involved. As an outsider, she notices things others don't. She also notices the very attractive Captain McLowery….Together, the man in uniform and the woman with a camera make an unbeatable team!
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The U.S. Navyâs FLEET HOSPITALâa world unto itself.
This story takes you into that world and gives you an authentic glimpse of military life.
Meet Lori Sepanikâaka Jo Marcheâone of the most memorable characters in recent romance fiction. Join her as she discovers what Fleet Hospital is all about. And meet Captain Michael McLowery, the man in commandâ¦.
Theyâre both people with secrets. Theyâre both stubborn and individual and self-possessed. Theyâre both workingâsometimes at cross-purposesâto solve a murder.
When they fall in love, sit back and watch the excitement!
âAnne Marie Duquetteâs romantic thrillers are truly
thrilling, full of exciting action and suspense.â
âTess Gerritsen, bestselling author of
Harvest, Life Support and The Surgeon
I would like to dedicate this book to all those who offered
medical aid after the 9-11 terrorist attack.
I also dedicate it to our best friend, Hospital Corpsman
Second Class (USN Retired) Thomas Anthony Tindall. Hugs from all of us at Camp Pendleton and Balboa Naval Hospital who were touched by your life and mourn your death. You made the world a better place. We miss you, Tonyota. Love from Ogre and Row-ger.
Dear Reader,
The tragedy of the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City has led many media commentators to claim that the U.S. just âwasnât prepared.â Regarding the deaths, injuries and destruction, this is certainly true. However, our country was prepared in one wayâin the readiness and heroism of our rescue personnel.
The U.S. Navy maintains hospital ships and containerized field hospitals that can be deployed at a momentâs notice. The unfortunate wounded are fortunate in one sense. These ships have the most state-of-the-art medical technology available and some of the best-trained medical personnel in the world. Two of our countryâs leading medical institutions, Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland and San Diego Naval Hospital in California, along with their support units, train the finest medical caregivers in the military.
Those who watched the news about 9-11 might remember the U.S. Naval Hospital ship, The Comfort, based out of Maryland, ministering to the New York City wounded. The Navy also maintains The Hope, berthed on the West Coast.
Another facet of field training for the U.S. Navy Medical Department is the Fleet Hospital, located at Camp Pendleton military base in California. Not only is this the largest military base, in actual land area, in the world, but San Diego County, where itâs located, holds the highest concentration of military and support bases. San Diego is an important place when it comes to the training of our military and medical heroes.
My own husband, a retired U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman, spent his last five years in the military at Fleet Hospital. While the story, the characters and the murder mystery in this book are entirely fictitious, Camp Pendleton itself and the training of students to the very highest level of medical preparedness are not.
Mobile hospitals with skilled staff are a strong tool in the fight against terrorism. Many injured who might have become fatalities owe their lives to the real medical heroes with their caring, compassion and intense training. They save lives under the most harrowing of conditions. I hope you enjoy my portrayal of them.
Best,
Anne Marie Duquette
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
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER ONE
Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Early October 1967, afternoon
TEN-YEAR-OLD MICHAEL James McLowery yawned, squirmed and scratched at the neckerchief of his Cub Scout uniform. Sweat trickled through his crewcut and down his face, dropping onto the cafeteria table. Where he sat was hot. Hot outside. Hot inside. Hot everywhere. He wished he was at the officersâ pool with his father and baby sister, instead of at school. When they came to pick him upâthank goodness that would be soonâtheyâd be nice and cool. Not like Michael. Hawaii sure was roastingâ¦.
Not like Boston, Dadâs last duty station. Once more Michael checked his black âGlows in the dark!â Seiko watch, a smaller version of his fatherâs, and groaned. Half of Saturday was already gone, and where was he? At Navy housingâs elementary school, working on his first-aid merit badge. If that wasnât bad enough, his mother, in her starched white nurseâs uniform, was teaching the badge class. Dutiful boys filled in the blanks on mimeographed handout sheets.
His mother was even more boring than his history teacher. He couldnât believe it. This day was one big gyp. Heâd never wanted to be a Scout. He wanted to go out for Little League and become the next Carl Yastrzemski, but Dad said it was too much driving for a family with only one car. Stupid Navy only shipped one car to Hawaii, instead of their two from Boston. No sense buying another, Dad told him. The same rules worked when leaving Hawaii. Stupid Navy.
