Marker (34 page)

"No! He was in a normal room. I'm not sure why I'm asking. Maybe because drugs are handled differently in either the ICU or the PACU than they are on a regular hospital floor. Actually I'm trying to think of some sort of systems error, like they are all getting a drug that they are not supposed to get. It's just something else to consider."

"Thanks for the suggestion," Laurie said without a lot of conviction. "I'll keep it in mind."

"I also think you should continue to press toxicology. I still think that ultimately, it's going to be toxicology that solves this conundrum."

"That's easy to say, but I don't know what else I can do. Peter Letterman has really gone out of his way, trying to the point of thinking about minutiae. Yesterday, he was talking about checking into some kind of unbelievablely potent toxin from a South-American frog."

"Whoa! That's a bit far afield. That calls to mind the adage, 'When you hear hoof beats, think of horses, not zebras.' Something is interrupting these people's cardiac conduction system. I can't help but believe it's got to be a garden-variety arrhythmia drug. How they are getting it is another story."

"But that certainly would have shown up in toxicology."

"That's true," Jack agreed. "What about a contaminant in their IV fluid? Have they all had IVs running?"

Laurie thought for a minute. "Now that you mention it, they have. But it's not unusual, since most people who've had surgery keep an IV for at least twenty-four hours. As far as a contaminant in the IV fluid is concerned, it passed through my mind, but it is extremely unlikely. If a contaminant were involved, we'd have more cases than we have, and it certainly wouldn't favor the relatively young and healthy, nor just patients having had elective surgery."

"I don't think you should eliminate anything out of hand," Jack said. "Which reminds me of the question about electrolytes the fellow from Staten Island asked you yesterday after you made your presentation. You told him the levels all tested normal. Is that true?"

"Absolutely. I made it a point to ask Peter to check into that specifically, and he reported back that they were all normal."

"Well, it certainly sounds as if you are covering all the bases," Jack said. "I'll finish up with Mulhausen just to be sure there's no emboli or cardiac pathology." He repositioned the scalpel in his hand and bent over the corpse.

"I'm trying to think of all the possibilities," Laurie said. Then, after a moment's hesitation, she added, "Jack, could I speak to you for a moment on a personal note?"

"Oh, for Christ's sake!" Vinnie said suddenly. He'd been impatiently shifting his weight from one foot to the other during Laurie and Jack's extended conversation. "Can't we get this freaking autopsy done?"

Jack straightened back up and looked at Laurie. "What is it you want to talk about?"

Laurie glanced at Vinnie. She felt awkward in his presence, especially considering his impatience.

Jack noticed Laurie's reaction. "Don't mind Vinnie. With as much help as he is as an assistant, you can just pretend he's not here. I do it all the time."

"Very funny," Vinnie responded. "How come I'm not laughing?"

"Actually," Laurie said, "I don't want to talk with you now. What I'd like to do is arrange for us to get together. There are some important things I need to share with you."

Jack didn't answer right away but rather stared at Laurie through the plastic face masks. "Let me guess," he said finally. "You're getting married, and you want me to be a bridesmaid."

Vinnie laughed so hard it sounded as if he was choking.

"Hey, it wasn't that funny," Jack protested, although he was now laughing along with Vinnie.

"Jack," Laurie said, maintaining a calm voice with some difficulty. "I'm trying to be serious."

"I am, too," Jack managed. "And since you haven't denied the nuptials, I'll consider myself informed, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline the bridesmaid offer. Was there anything else?"

"Jack!" Laurie repeated. "I'm not getting married. I need to talk with you about something that involves you and me."

"Okay, fine! I'm all ears."

"I'm not about to talk to you here in the autopsy room."

Jack made a gesture around the room with all its gothic details. "What's wrong with this? I feel quite at home in here."

"Jack! Could you be serious for a moment? I said it was important."

"Okay, fine! What other venue do we have at our disposal that would better suit your needs? If you give me a half hour or so, I could meet you upstairs in the ID office, and we could chat over a nice cup of Vinnie's coffee. The only problem with that is that the other hoi polloi will just be arriving for their workday. Perhaps you'd prefer we rendezvous in our scenic second-floor lunchroom and have something delectable out of the vending machines. There, we could hobnob with the janitorial staff. What's your preference?"

Laurie eyed Jack as best she could through the plastic face shields. His reversion to angry sarcasm seriously eroded her earlier optimism about his receptivity, but she pressed on: "What I was hoping is that we could have dinner tonight, possibly at Elios, if we could somehow manage a reservation." Elios was a restaurant that had played a role in Laurie and Jack's long relationship.

For another extended moment, Jack stared back at Laurie. Although the day before he'd not given Lou's comments about Laurie much credence, he suddenly wondered if there had been a germ of truth to what he'd said. At the same time, Jack reminded himself that he was in no mood for further humiliation. "What's the matter with Romeo?

Is he sick tonight?"

Vinnie chuckled again and then tried to suppress it when Laurie glared at him.

"I don't know," Jack continued. "It's kind of short notice, considering I was supposed to go bowling tonight with seventeen nuns from out of town."

Vinnie lost control and left the table. He wandered over to the sink and busied himself.

"Could you please be serious for a moment?" Laurie repeated. "You're not making this easy."

"I'm not making it easy?" Jack questioned superciliously. "That's a switch. I tried for months to arrange spending an evening with you, but you were always heading off to some major cultural event."

"It's only been a month, and you asked me twice, and both nights I had plans. I need to talk with you, Jack. Will you see me tonight or not?"

"It sounds like you are really motivated about this rendezvous."

"I'm very motivated," Laurie agreed.

"Okay, tonight it is. What time?"

"Is Elios all right?"

Jack shrugged. "It's fine."

"Then I'll call to see if I can make a reservation, and I'll let you know. It might have to be on the early side, since it's Friday night."

"Okay," Jack said. "I'll wait to hear from you."

With a final nod, Laurie left the table, opened the door to the hallway, and walked back to the storeroom to get out of her protective suit. She was pleased that Jack had finally agreed to get together, but, as Calvin had suggested earlier, she felt browbeaten about getting Jack to commit to their meeting, and, sensing his anger, she was no longer particularly optimistic about how he was going to react to her news.

After getting into her street clothes and rescuing her coat from the ID room, Laurie took the elevator up to the fourth floor. Her idea was to pay Peter a quick visit to give him a morale boost for his efforts and to make sure he hadn't struck gold with either Sobczyk or Lewis. As preoccupied as she was with personal thoughts, she didn't even consider the possibility of having to confront her nemesis, the laboratory director, John DeVries. Unfortunately, he was in Peter's office, apparently in the process of dressing down Peter. He had his hands angrily thrust onto his hips, and Peter had a sheepish expression on his face. Laurie had unknowingly run headlong into the fray.

"Such timing!" John exclaimed. "If it isn't the seductress herself!"

"Excuse me?" Laurie questioned. With such a sexist comment, she could feel her own ire rising.

"Apparently, you have been able to seduce Peter into becoming your own laboratory slave," John snarled. "You and I have had this discussion before, Dr. Montgomery. With the pittance I'm allocated to run this lab, no one gets special service, which invariably makes everyone else wait that much longer. Do I make myself clear, or do you want me to write it out for you? Furthermore, you can be sure that Dr. Bingham and Dr.

Washington will be notified of this situation. Meanwhile, I want you out of here." To emphasize his point, John gestured toward the door.

For a moment, Laurie looked back and forth between John's gaunt face and Peter's.

The last thing she wanted to do was make things any worse for Peter, so she refrained from telling John what she thought of him. Instead, she turned around and walked out of the lab.

As Laurie climbed the stairs, she felt more depressed than she had earlier. She hated run-ins with people, particularly people she had to work with. They often lead to inappropriate emotional responses like the one she'd had earlier with Calvin, although on this occasion with John, anger was ascendant. Thinking of Calvin, she vaguely wondered what the fallout would be, since John invariably made good on his threats.

She thought the chances were good that she'd hear from the deputy chief, and what that would mean, she had no idea. She truly hoped she hadn't caused any long-term problem for Peter, since he had to deal with John on a daily basis.

Entering her office, Laurie closed the door behind her. She hung up her coat and noticed Riva's hanging on its hook, which meant Riva was down in either the ID office or the autopsy room. Laurie sat down and thought about the telephone call she had to make. She'd been dreading it since the pregnancy test had been positive. In her mind, it was as if the process of making the call would finally and ultimately confirm the reality of her being pregnant. She had been trying to deny it to some degree, because of how big a mistake it was. As much as she wanted to have children, this was not the time, and she questioned what had gone through her mind to allow her to take the risk. Even though it was only a few weeks ago, she truly couldn't remember.

Reaching for the phone, Laurie reluctantly placed the call to the Manhattan General Hospital. As the connection went through, she looked down at the material from the Queens cases, which she needed to add to her matrix, along with the case Jack was currently doing.

When the operator came on the line, Laurie asked to be connected with Dr. Laura Riley's office. As the extension began to ring, Laurie was thankful that Sue happened to fix her up with a GYN doctor who also did OB. In the current medical malpractice milieu, that certainly was not always the case.

When Dr. Riley's scheduling secretary answered, Laurie explained her situation. She found herself stumbling over her words when she revealed she was pregnant according to an OTC test kit.

"Well, in that case, we certainly cannot wait until September," the secretary said brightly. "Dr. Riley likes to see her obstetrics patients at eight to ten weeks after the last period. Where are you?"

"It's been about seven weeks," Laurie said.

"Then we should see you next week or the week after." There was a pause. Laurie realized that her hand holding the phone was trembling.

"How about next Friday?" the secretary said, coming back on the line. "That's a week from today, at one-thirty."

"That will be fine," Laurie said. "Thank you for squeezing me in."

"My pleasure. Now, can I have your name?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize I didn't give it to you. I'm Dr. Laurie Montgomery."

"Dr. Montgomery! I remember you. I spoke with you yesterday."

Laurie winced. Her secret was now quasi-public. Even though she had never met the secretary, the woman now knew a terribly private, intimate detail about her life that Laurie had not yet decided how she was going to handle. Difficult choices would have to be made.

"Congratulations!" the secretary continued. "Hold the line! I'm sure that Dr. Riley would want to say hello."

Without a chance to respond, Laurie found herself on hold, listening to music. For a brief moment, she thought about hanging up, but she decided she couldn't do it. To keep her mind in check, she looked down at the stack of death certificates and investigative reports from Queens. Anxious for a diversion, she picked up the first and began reading. The patient's name was Kristin Svensen, age twenty-three, who had been admitted to St. Francis Hospital for a hemorrhoidectomy. Laurie shook her head at the dimensions of the tragedy. It made her problems seem small compared to the death of a healthy young woman in a hospital after having her hemorrhoids removed.

"Dr. Montgomery! I just heard the good news. Congratulations."

"You can call me Laurie."

"Fair enough, and you can call me Laura."

"I'm not sure congratulations are in order. To be perfectly frank, this is an unexpected and rather an inconvenient surprise for me, so I'm not sure how I feel about it."

"I see," said Laura, reigning in her exuberance. Then, with sensitivity born of experience, she added, "We still have to make sure you and the conceptus are as healthy as possible. Have there been any problems?"

"A bit of morning sickness, but it's been very transient." Laurie found herself uncomfortable talking about the pregnancy and wanted to get off the line.

"Let us know if it gets any worse. There are lots of suggestions for dealing with it in the thousands of pregnancy books available. As for books, my advice is to stay away from the most conservative ones, because they'll drive you crazy, thinking you can't do anything, like take a hot bath. With that said, we'll see you next Friday."

Laurie thanked her and hung up the phone. It was a relief to get the call behind her.

Picking up the computer printouts of the cases from Queens, she tapped them against the surface of her desk to align them. The motion caused an almost subliminal unpleasant sensation in the same location where she'd had the pain while down in the locker room. She wondered if she should have at least mentioned the feeling and pain to Laura Riley. She thought she should have, but wasn't about to call her back. Instead, she'd bring it up during her appointment, unless it became frequent or intense enough to warrant a call. She also wondered if she should have mentioned about being positive for the BRCA1 marker, but as with the discomfort, she decided it would be perfectly appropriate to discuss it on her first visit.