missing pieces by kevin curtis

7/28/2019 Missing Pieces by Kevin Curtis

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Missing Piecesby Kevin Curtis

Copyright 2002 Kevin Curtisdba Star Tribute Entertainment, INC

All Rights Reserved

Chapter One

It was cold during the winter nights of December in the small rural town of Gumtree,Mississippi. Preston Keith Carter, the owner of a small, but growing commercial and

residential cleaning business had been thinking about how the family had spent their

vacation the year before when he and his family loaded up the family car and headed up

to the Smokey mountains of Tennessee. What a wonderful time it was watching his threesmall children, Haley, Peter and Bobby playing in the snow while his wife Lisa prepared

steaks on the grill indoors.

Keith and Lisa Gayle ran into one another during a chance meeting one warm springnight in 1991. Neither was in the mood to socialize or meet someone on that faithful

evening. Keith had only lived in Gumtree for a few months since his relocation from the

windy city of Chicago where he had experienced his share of ups, downs, and nearmisses while trying to make it in the music business. Lisa Gayle was a quiet and petite

twenty-five year old redhead who had recently moved out of her family home.

Keith had been working very hard to get his cleaning business off the ground.With the help of his loving wife, Lisa did her part in helping run the familybusiness making calls, keeping records and even took part in cleaning several ofthe local businesses with Keith when he needed a helping hand. The Carter

family was a very close-knit family.

One night while going over taxes with Lisas sister, Kay, who had recently agreedto be their official accountant, Lisa suggested that Keith try to get on at the localhospital. Keith, we could have saved so much money last year if we had betterhealthcare and dental insurance. Keith and Lisa realized they had spent a greatdeal of their earnings on medical and dental care for themselves and the threechildren. Lisa knew several people who worked at the hospital and proclaimed toKeith that their lives and finances would be better if Keith could land a contractthere.

7:30 PM- Wednesday, December 16

Keith had just turned the corner of the emergency room, when he observed aparamedic, a nurse and a doctor trying desperately to restore life into the limpbody of a little girl, who appeared to be around the age of seven or eight. Keithfroze in the middle of the main entrance when he noticed the birthmark on thefrail little girls left foot. Time seemed to stand still when Keith suddenly realizedthat recognized the girl.


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Unable to look away from the scene, Keith wandered where he had seen thislittle girl before? Oh man thought Keith; I know who she is. Suddenly, Keithremembered the little girl playing with his five-year-old daughter, Haley Lynn atthe daycare facility where he dropped his children off each day after school.

Haley had told him about some of the other kids making jokes about herbirthmark when she took off her shoes to play.

Keith watched in horror, as the ER staff used an electric shock device to try andjump-start her heart. Some of the nurses in the ER began to watch Keith.Looking to his left, Keith saw a radiologist technician leave the ER in a hurry. Shereturned moments later with a security guard. Keith then realized he was beingwatched; yet he was still unable to take his eyes away from what was going on inthe hopes that the little girl would be saved.

When Keith realized the little girl was pronounced dead, he left the emergencyroom and found a nearby restroom. There, Keith cried as if the child were his

own. Moments later, Geraldo, a Hispanic floor care technician knocked loudly onthe restroom door.

"Hey Keith, you in there? Keith tried to regain his composure and opened t hedoor. Geraldo said with a strong Hispanic accent I need the auto -scrubberman. "Sure, it's against the wall in the emergency room" Keith said in a quietvoice. I cant believe I just saw a little girl whom I know die right in front of me inthe ER, Keith said looking down the hallway in a blank stare. I've seen herplaying with my children at daycare. Keith took a deep breath as Geraldo saidwith a smile on his face, People live, people die you knowthis is a freakinghospital man, that's what people do. Why people always get so upset all thetime? People should expect something bad could happen when they come here.

Geraldo spoke with such a strong accent that Keith sometimes found it hard tounderstand him. Although many employees often said that it was just his way orhis culture, Keith was not so quick to pass it off as a cultural conditioning. Keithhad lived in Chicago for several years before relocating to Gumtree and hadknown many Hispanics while residing in the windy city, none of which seem toshare the same attitude or mentality. Rather than getting into a confrontation ormoral debate with Geraldo, Keith said, Merry Christmas Geraldo, I'm goinghome and hug my kids.

11:00 PM-Sunday, December 20Keith returned from his four day Christmas vacation in the mountains ofTennessee late that Sunday night. After getting the kids settled down and in theirbeds, he found his project book where he kept records of all pending tile floorand carpet jobs. He turned the pages until he came upon the floor projects at thehospital where he had been asked by the director of Environmental Services tostrip the floors in the morgue. Keith called Lisa into the room and told her howneglected the morgue floors had been over the years because of the high


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turnover rate in the department and the fact that nobody seemed to want to gointo a room with corpses. Lisa laughed and said, "You wouldn't catch me inthere"! Keith laughed, sat down, and began to log everything he would need forthe floor job the following day.

Keith arrived to work around 5:30 PM. He looked over his shoulder to see twonew employee's standing near the entrance of the supply room. One employeeasked "Hey, why do you get to come in to work at different times and we have tobe here at 3:30 everyday?" Keith smiled and explained, I own and operate acommercial and residential cleaning business and my job duties and schedule isa little different from the other floor care technicians. Really asked one of thenew guys. Yeah, youll see me coming and going at all hours of the day andnight. So, are you a project worker like the Mexican dudes? Keith did notreally know quite how to answer him, as he had not been told exactly what histitle would be. I guess you could call it project work since I was hired toexamine all tile floor each week on the ground floor and then map out a schedule

of duties as well as what machines and/or chemicals Ill need. The two newemployeess walked away whispering. Keith wondered if he did the right thing bytaking the time to explain his position to the new guys.

About two hours later, Keith was well into the floor job he had mapped out for themorgue floors. He had been stripping the wax from the old tile floors for abouttwo hours when he began to get a little thirsty. He thought about taking a breakand going to the break room on the first floor to get his usual Dr. Pepper. Then,he realized he would have to stop everything, clean his shoes and chancetransferring elements to his finished tile outside the morgue.

Keith looked over to his right and noticed an old upright refrigerator. Keith movedthe low-speed floor scrubber out of his way and removed his gloves. Keithgrabbed the handle and opened the bottom portion of the old refrigerator door inthe hopes of finding something to drink, but refreshments and ice-cold drinks arenot what Keith discovered. Wrapped in plastic with barcodes similar to that ofwhich you might find on a compact disk or food in a grocery store, were variousbody parts. Keith's heart raced with anticipation and disbelief as he looked ateach of the body parts and organs. Keith scanned the refrigerator in shock as hereached down and picked up what appeared to be a small hand. His heart racedeven more as he brought the severed hand closer in disbelief! Keith could hearthe sounds coming from the ER as they seemed to be growing louder and louder

with each second. Keith returned the small hand and began to count all the bodyparts one by one. There were hearts, livers, kidneys, fingers, arms, elbows, legsand feet!

Keith began to sweat as he closed the refrigerator door. Nothing could prepareKeith for what he was about to discover next. Keith was about exit the morguewhen he decided to open the top portion of the old refrigerator. Keith opened thedoor very slowly. All of a sudden, he froze in complete horror and shock as he


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began to try and make sense of what he was looking at.Wrapped in clear plastic, was a mans severed head! Unable to breath, Keith felthe recognized the mans face but could not recall just where he had seen itbefore. The coming moments would engrave a frightening memory so deep intothe corners of Keiths mind that he would never again be the same person.

Just when Keith thought it could not get any worse, he picked up what appearedto be a small foot resting quietly to the left of the severed head and began toexamine it. As he was putting the small foot back, he noticed a dark markthrough the ice cold clear plastic wrapping. Keith suddenly realized the foot hewas holding belonged to the little girl whom he had seen die in the ER a weekbefore. The events to follow would change Keith's life as well as many others inthis healthcare facility and small rural town forever.

Chills ran up Keith's spine as he tried to come to terms with the last five minutesof his life.

Keith had overheard a conversation take place between the sick man and a

family member. Before he died, he told a family member that he wanted to becremated if anything were to ever happen to him. Keith even recalled the date, asit was the same day as his daughter's birthday.

Keith had even made a note of this in his journal. Keith could not stand thethought of being cremated. His wife Lisa often joked that she would have Keith'sashes resting nicely in a vase over the fireplace if anything should ever happento him. Keith had a fear of fire. At the age of six, he watched his parents homeburn to the ground. The fire claimed the lives of all the family pets.

Unable to make any sense of what he was looking at, Keith shut the freezer door

and rushed out of the morgue and into the restroom just outside the morguearea. Keith became very sick and threw up for a few minutes. After cleaning up,Keith exited the restroom and found himself face to face with a well-known plasticsurgeon who frequently visited the hospital to drop off and pick up files. He oftenstopped by to speak to a few of his friends in Radiology. Without a momentsthought, Keith asked the doctor what they did with the body parts in the morguerefrigerator? Dr. Taylor hesitated as he looked closely at Keith's name badge onhis shirt. Dr. Taylor replied, What do you mean Keith? Keith quickly said, Iopened the door to the refrigerator in the morgue a little while ago and found amans head, some hands, fingers and the foot of a little girl that I personally know.The doctor took a pad from his coat, made a note and said; I'll get back to you

when I have some more time okay.

Chapter two3:30 PM-Monday, December 21

The next day, Keith called one of his friends and fellow coworkers to come pickhim up as his car was in the shop. His friend Troy was a very quiet andmysterious fellow who never spoken unless he was spoken to. On the way to


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work, Keith decided to tell Troy about what he had seen in the old refrigerator thenight before. Troy looked at him in disbelief and asked him was he serious? Keithvented for about twenty minutes before realizing he had not allowed Troy anopportunity to respond. Keith took a deep breath and said, "What would you do ifyou were me?" Troy said, "I'd forget I ever saw it man." Troy stopped the car as

Keith thought about what he was saying. Nothing else was said as they got out ofthe car and made their way to the time cards.

They punched in and began to gather the supplies they would need for the day.While Keith was collecting his things, he heard his name called over the intercom"Keith Carter, please report to the Director of Environmental Services." Keithdidn't think too much about the page until he knocked on the door of thedirector's office. "Hello Mr. Rivera, how are you today"? Mr. Warren Rivera hadbeen the Director of the department for almost twelve years. Mr. Rivera said,"Come inside and shut the door Keith."

All of a sudden, Keith began to feel something was wrong when he shut the door

and noticed four other men in business suits. He did not recognize any of them.Mr. Rivera questioned Keith about his confrontation with Dr. Taylor concerningthe so-called body parts the evening before. Keith began to feel uncomfortableas the soft spoken, yet somewhat intimidating director called in his assistant Mr.Butler.

Mr. Butler was an ex-marine with an always in a hurry kind of attitude. The twoof them started to interrogate Keith while the other three men looked on. Theyscolded Keith as if he were a child. Mr. Rivera began by asking "Why were yousnooping around in the morgue yesterday?" What do you mean Mr. Rivera? Iwas notified this morning by someone in the administration that you questioned aphysician about body parts you saw.

"Well, actually, I did find some body parts and..." all of a sudden Mr. Riverainterrupted Keith and asked him to just sign a document stating that he was in anarea where he was not supposed to be in and could not be found when neededby a supervisor. The written statement also stated that Keith would agree to beremoved from the ground floor and emergency room as well as be placed on"probation" while the matter is investigated. Keith explained, "Sir, the newsupervisor asked me to do the job because nobody else wanted to do it. She saidthat they have been trying to get that project completed for over two years now!Mr. Rivera said, Keith, you sign this statement or consider yourself off payroll, doyou understand what I'm telling you?

I am sorry sir, but I am going to have to go over your head on this and speak tosomeone else in the administration. Keith stood up and just as he placed his righthand on the doorknob to let himself out, Mr. Rivera called security to removeKeith from the hospital. This was the beginning of what became the mostunbelievable set of events and circumstances to ever take place between a

janitorial worker and healthcare organization in this small town.


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Keith walked out of Mr. Rivera's office in complete disbelief. He had worked sohard at his job and had made so much progress in his work. Walking towards thechief administrator's office, Keith reached the door to CEO Dr. Joseph Baren.Before he had the chance to open the door and request a meeting or file acomplaint of his own, two security officer's grabbed Keith and began to escort

him off of the premises.Keith stopped and pulled his hands from the grips of the two men -"What's goingon? You can't grab me like this and force me out of the hospital" -- "We wereinstructed to escort you off our property Mr. Carter." But I'm on my way to file acomplaint against my director! Sorry Mr. Carter, you will have to do that anotherday.

Keith knew immediately that what was happening had to be against companypolicy and/or the law. One security officer called for back-up as Keith started

back towards his previous destination when he heard a voice say, Mr. Carter,we've been asked to remove you from the hospital's property. What Keithgasped. Mr. Carter, you cant step foot on hospital property or any otherproperties owned by the hospital until you have been notified in writing by thedirector of Environmental Services. Do you understand? Keith looked around aspatients and onlookers gathered around to watch but Keith noticed that almost allof the hospital employees seemed to just go on as if nothing strange was takingplace. It was almost as if they were in a robotic state."I can't believe that I'm being thrown out of my place of employment because theperson I am on my way to file a complaint against wants me out of the building sothat I can't file the complaint. Do I not have any rights here?

The head of security approached the scene. His name was Mr. Kenneth Waide.Mr. Waide was an intimidating and large black gentleman who stood about 6 foot4 inches tall and weighed around 285 pounds. He always had an over-confidentsmile on his face no matter what the situation. He instructed the two securitypersonnel to place handcuffs on Keith and escort him across the street awayfrom the hospital. Keith had never personally met Mr. Waide or dealt with himbefore.

Keith didn't know what to do at that point and just gave up as his fellowcoworker's reluctantly watched and whispered as they led Keith down the longhallway. One of the security guards could not even look Keith in the eye. Just a

few weeks before, the new guard had gone to Keith and asked Keith for advicewith a personal problem he was having with his wife at home. Keith was knownfor handing out materials and personal development tapes to help people withvarious challenges in their lives. The two guards walked Keith across the streetwhere he just sat down and wondered how he was going to explain this to hiswife Lisa.

Chapter Three


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Keith walked to a nearby service station and called his older brother Jake tocome pick him up. Jake was the CEO of a large insurance company in Gumtree.Keith had two older brothers and one sister. Alan was the oldest. Jake, however,was the backbone of the family and someone Keith could always turn to in timesof crises. Alan was a party animal and more into doing his own thing, which

made him less attainable in times of trouble.

It took Jake more than an hour to get to the cafe across the street from thehospital. When he arrived, Jake asked, "What happened and why are you sittingon the street corner"? "I think I'm being fired because I saw something I wasn'tsupposed to see Jake." What did you see? Well, I saw some body parts in anold refrigerator while working in the morgue last night and asked a Dr. what theydid with them. His brother looked at him like he had lost his mind. Why wouldyou do something like that and why would you question somebody there aboutit?

Keith seemed to be in a state of shock as Jake asked, how did you end upgetting sent home? Keith replied I was called into the director's office after Iclocked in today and interrogated like some kind ofcriminal! What do you meanyou were interrogated, asked Jake.

Well, there were these guys in business suits standing in the directors officewhen they called me over the hospital intercom. When I entered the room, theyall began to play a game of good guy, bad guy like we used to see on those oldcop shows mama watched when we were kids. So, what happened nextasked Jake.

Well, when I refused to sign some false statements they had typed up and toldthe director of Environmental services that I was going to file a complaint, I was

pretty much attacked by security guards on my way to human resources andthrown out of the hospital!

Keith started thinking back and going over every day of the past week leading upto this day in his mind. He tried to determine what was really happening. Keiththought for a little while as Jake drove through town towards the exit to theInterstate. Suddenly, Keith remembered the day a man was throwing a fit downon the ground floor outside the emergency room across from Radiology.

Cindy Jones, a radiologist technician, was trying to calm the man down. Theman's brother had died in the ER and he was there to pick up his brother's

wedding band, watch and other personal items. Cindy told the gentleman that themen from the funeral home had his brothers things.

Keith began to describe the scene he had witnessed take place earlier in theweek just outside the ER. Jake, I heard this guy ranting and raving about how hehad been to the funeral home already and they told him that the hospital had hisbrothers personal items. Then, I heard him say that his brother had alreadybeen cremated and he seemed really upset! Jake seemed curious but well


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reserved and told Keith it all sounded crazy.

"That's it Jake, the man's head I found in the refrigerator! He was the mansbrother! I saw them in the ER and even spoke to the man! Oh my God, he wassupposed to be cremated! Something's going on in that hospital Jake and I meansomething bad!

Then, Keith asked Jake Do you think I should go see an attorney? I don't knowif you should do it right now Keith, Jake replied, but you need to go home andreally think all this through and if I were you, I would just call the hospitaltomorrow and ask someone in human resources what your job status is.

I guess your right Jake, Keith said as he stared out the window in a daze.I need to let Lisa know what's going on and you can bet that she is not going tobe happy."Good luck Keith Jake said as he pulled up into the entrance of Keiths driveway.

Chapter Four

So caught up in the moment with describing the details to Jake, Keith failed to even

notice that Lisas car was not in the driveway. Keith was actually relieved to find thatLisa was not home as he walked in the front door and made his way to his office. Keith

quickly located his daily journal. Keith had always kept records of everything that

occurred each day of his life as well as the daily happenings of his family.

Keith first began keeping a journal at the age of 13. No matter what took place each day,

Keith would always find time to write it down. He had always felt that every day lived

was worth recording. As he opened his journal and began to read the pages he hadrecorded in the passing days, thoughts and questions began to dance through his mind.

What was this all about? Who were the men in suits questioning me? How did the

Director find the time to prepare all that paper work for me to sign in just one day andwhy?

Being handcuffed and thrown against the wall like a rag doll in front of his co-workersreally bothered Keith. He began to go over every detail from the time he entered the

hospital that day until the moment he was escorted across the street by security. Then,

Keith recalled a comment made by the director of Environmental Services about the body

parts he had asked a physician about the night before. Keith felt in his heart what was

happening had something to do with the body parts he discovered based on the way many

of the employees began to treat him.

Keith picked up a pen and began to document every detail he could recall about that weekinto the pages of his journal. Suddenly, the telephone rang. Keith looked over at the caller

ID and saw that the call was coming from his brother Jakes cell phone. Hey Keith, I

was just talking to a guy I work with and he said his sister has worked at the hospital forover 15 years. I bet she has a good idea about how they operate down there.


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Keith replied, Yeah, she probably does. I appreciate you callingJake. No problem

Keith, I will see if I can get her number or at least what department she works in for you.

You never know, maybe she will know something or somebody who can help. Sounds

good, replied Keith. Take care, Jake, bye.

Copyright 2002 Kevin CurtisAll Rights Reserved

missing pieces by kevin curtis

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