Internal Medicine: A Doctor's Stories (30 page)

But in the years since, I’ve come to understand what he tried to tell us, why he chose to tell us in the way he did. It was part of that expiation, which was also why he didn’t care if we thought him foolish. I understand this now, almost as well as I know how tedious you find me, now that I’m the one telling pointless stories. I don’t mind. There are many mistakes we are doomed to repeat, again and again and again. This is only one of them.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Terrence Holt teaches and practices medicine at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

S
OME OF THE STORIES
in this volume have appeared previously, in slightly different form. “A Sign of Weakness” and “The Perfect Code” in
Granta
, “Giving Bad News” (as “Bad News”) in the
Boston Review
and (in abbreviated form as “Giving Bad News”) in a literary supplement to the
Telegraph of India
, and “Orphan” in the
Boston Review
.

A
LSO BY
T
ERRENCE
H
OLT

In the Valley of Kings: Stories

Copyright © 2014 by Terrence Holt

All rights reserved

First Edition

The characters and institutions in these stories are fictional. Any resemblance

between them and any actual individual, living or dead, is coincidence.

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The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Holt, Terry.

Internal medicine : a doctor’s stories / Terrence Holt.

     pages cm

ISBN 978-0-87140-875-4 (hardcover)

1. Holt, Terry. 2. Medicine—Anecdotes. 3. Internal medicine—Anecdotes.

4. Physicians—United States—Biography. I. Title.

R705.H65 2014

616—dc23

 
2014020125

ISBN 978-0-87140-880-8 (e-book)

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