Death Rounds (29 page)

I noticed Cam’s face immediately crease into a frown at the mention of the other cases at UH.

Rossit seemed caught by surprise. “Oh,” he said, “of course, if you—”

“Good! Now here’s what I think,” Williams cut in. “The first three cases seem related to University Hospital. Even Dr. Popovitch’s infection may have been contracted there as he’s been doing an audit on the premises since last week. Perhaps there’s a source in the place that’s been overlooked.”

The effect of this comment on Cam was electric. “Wait a minute,” he protested, his eyes growing dark with fury again. “I’ve personally supervised two extensive screenings of every water delivery outlet in that hospital. You can’t just fly in here and smear—”

“Hey, Dr. Mackie, I’m sure there’s no
Legionella
organisms where you’ve looked. It’s where you haven’t looked that I’m worried about.”

“What do you mean?” demanded Cam.

“I’ve had a report that some of your staff at UH go into the abandoned asylum. Maybe for a smoke, maybe for legitimate purposes—I don’t know the reasons why. The point is, I’m sure there are reservoirs of stagnant water throughout that place. If your people are entering those premises on a regular basis, that could be your source.”

From the astonished look on Cam’s face, I could tell the idea had never crossed his mind. “Well, I’ll be damned,” he muttered.

“What do you think, Dr. Rossit?” asked Williams, turning to address the chairperson.

“Me? I think it’s a very perceptive observation and the place should be screened from top to bottom immediately.” From the gleam in his eye I suspected he thought trouble for Cam at UH was good for him and St. Paul’s.

Even Hurst chimed in. “I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Williams’s and Dr. Rossit’s endorsement of the search.”

“Dr. Levitz, what’s your opinion?” inquired Williams. “After all, it is your call.”

His deferral to her authority was astute. It put her back in charge, and her smile indicated she seemed to appreciate the gesture. “Of course it has to be done,” she replied. “We should make it a priority recommendation.”

“Very clever,” I muttered to Williams out of the corner of my mouth. “All of it’s very clever.”

Rossit adjourned the meeting, Doris scribbled something on a pad, and Cam eyed me angrily before following everyone else out of the room. While I didn’t have a clue why he remained so hostile, his reaction to Williams’s suggestion was in obvious contrast to Rossit’s and Hurst’s enthusiasm for the idea. Obviously for those two, a search of the Phantom’s domain held no fear.

After the meeting I refused to talk to anyone, even Williams, and instead retreated to my office for refuge. I didn’t lock the door, but I sure as hell wasn’t encouraging any visitors. I had too much work to do twisting paper clips into pretzels.

I knew I wouldn’t be fired from my position as chief today. I wasn’t even named in Levitz’s final pronouncement, nor would I or the patient be identified in her published report. That’s not how these things were done. But Hurst had the verdict he needed. In spite of the confidentiality of Death Rounds, whispered conversations afterward
would
name me and help shape the hospital’s own collective judgment on the part I’d played in Sanders’s death. Time, along with the inevitable gossip surrounding the
MMB
article, would do the rest. When my annual review for reappointment by the board came around in a few months. Hurst could simply refer to “that unfortunate business in ER,” and everyone would know what he meant. He could then add something about St. Paul’s not being able to afford a hint of scandal or incompetence involving the chief of emergency if its ascendancy over UH was to be assured at this critical juncture in the amalgamation process.

I shuddered, recalling other power struggles in which I’d witnessed the careers of colleagues summarily derailed by similar asides.

My torn cuff caught my eye, reminding me I hadn’t showered or changed yet. Glancing at my watch I was surprised to see it was only 8:25. Death Rounds had lasted a little over an hour. The ordeal had felt like an entire day’s work.

In the end I hadn’t any idea how to counter Hurst’s probable strategy to get rid of me. Nor had I any clearer grasp of whether it was part of a larger conspiracy by him and Rossit to cover up their involvement in the killings. I had to admit, though, that their relaxed demeanor in front of Sanders’s remains and their eager acceptance of a search of the asylum weighed against the idea. In fact, their behavior was so contrary to what I would have expected, it crossed my mind that perhaps the two of them were simply playing their usual dirty hospital politics after all. Rossit wanted the chair. Hurst wanted rid of me, and they made a deal to help each other get what they wanted. That was simple enough to withstand even Janet’s skepticism. But I still couldn’t entirely put the darker possibility out of my mind.

As for Cam’s behavior, I again refused to let my speculation about him go any further until I talked to Janet. Her perspective would keep me from straying into nightmare scenarios. Thinking of her, I immediately remembered she didn’t know about Michael yet. I knew no matter what I said she’d be horrified and would once again blame herself for instigating a hunt for the Phantom without having anticipated the possibility of a backlash. Michael’s grave condition only confirmed that this maniac, despite some twisted mission to avenge cruelty, would kill any innocent who threatened him with exposure.

I called locating at UH and, while waiting on the phone for Janet to answer her page, toyed with the idea of delaying telling her that I’d gone back to the archives. I knew she’d be furious with me for going in there alone, especially after she learned what happened to Michael. But I quickly realized I had to warn her about Cam’s reaction to that visit. He might assume that she’d put me up to it and tear a strip off her the same way he had torn one off me.

I decided definitely not to tell her about following someone into the asylum. For that bonehead play, she’d kill me herself.

The receiver clicked in my ear. “One moment please, Dr. Garnet,” said the operator. “I’ll connect you with the nurses’ station in the case room.”

After more waiting and more clicks, a woman’s voice answered, “Case room.”

“Hi, it’s Dr. Garnet. I’m looking for Janet. Is she busy?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Dr. Garnet, but she’s down in emergency. I’ll transfer you—”

“No, don’t bother. Just tell her to call me as soon as she’s free.” I wasn’t going to break my news to her while she was in the middle of some case.

“No, Dr. Garnet, you don’t understand. She’s in emergency as a patient. She signed herself in this morning because she woke up with a cough and a bit of fever. We were a bit surprised because she didn’t sound too bad when she called in to transfer her cases—”

Whatever else the woman said, it was to air. I didn’t even hang up the receiver before I darted out the door.

Chapter 15

The emergency department at UH was one of the areas the hospital had renovated recently. Countertops and work spaces were pleasing curves, the color scheme blended soft pinks with pale greens trimmed by gray, and plants were everywhere. The effect no doubt made the people working there feel better, but it didn’t do a thing for my fear. Nor did the sight of everyone wearing surgical masks make it easy to stay rational.

Still breathless after running in from the parking lot, I said to the clerk at the receiving desk, “My wife, Dr. Janet Graceton, is here. Can you tell me which bed she’s in?”

“Oh yes, Dr. Garnet, she’s already been transferred to ICU, but if you wish to speak with the doctor who saw her—”

“No thanks,” I uttered, spinning around and heading toward the elevators. Here, as in my own hospital, ICU was on the fourth floor. But when I got into the main corridor leading to the elevators, I saw a crowd of people already waiting in front of the large brass doors. I took the stairs instead.

I kept telling myself that Janet had to be okay, that if she’d contracted
Legionella
it was in the early stages yet, that we’d be starting the treatment early the way we had with Stewart. But what if she also had the other, the staph? “Please, no, not that. Not that!” I pleaded to myself as I pounded up the stairs.

Behind me I heard the door that I’d just gone through fly against me wall with a bang. “Dr. Garnet!” came an echoing shout accompanied by the sound of whoever it was running up the steps after me.

I leaned over the railing and saw it was someone in isolation garb. The instant he looked up I recognized him from his close-cropped blond hair, even with his surgical mask on. Already in a state of near panic over Janet I groaned out loud at the prospect of another encounter with Harold Miller. “Look, Mr. Miller, this isn’t really the time to talk to me. My wife’s just been—”

“I know, Dr. Garnet,” he interjected, jogging the rest of the way up to where I was standing. “When I heard she was in, I did the sputum cultures on her myself. I’ve been helping out with the screening program here, so I was around—”

“You’ve seen her? How is she?” I almost grabbed his shoulders. He was a head below me, standing one step down.

“That’s what I wanted to tell you, not to worry. She looked how my mother must have been that first visit, you know, not too sick.”

I felt a jolt of anger. If he was going to start putting me on the defensive about his mother again, I was past being empathetic about it. I turned away and continued on up the stairs, hoping he wouldn’t follow.

But follow he did, and his insistence on talking as he kept pace behind me set my nerves on edge. “I wanted to tell you. Doctor Garnet,” he went on, “that I don’t think anything could have saved my mother, even if she had been diagnosed properly at the very beginning, given what the second organism turned out to be.”

I couldn’t quite make out if he was blaming me or forgiving me, or even if I’d heard him right, but I remained focused solely on getting to Janet. “Mr. Miller, please, not now,” I told him as nicely as I could, speaking to him over my shoulder without slowing down. We were passing the second-floor landing.

“I’m just trying to apologize, Dr. Garnet, for accusing you the way I did!” he practically shouted from a few steps behind.

There was something desperate in his voice that stopped me. When I turned to face him, I found the pain in his eyes above the edge of his mask hard to look at, and I immediately regretted my initial abruptness. “Mr. Miller,” I stammered, “please excuse me for snapping at you, but we both have great personal problems at the moment and—”

“That’s why I wanted to tell you now. Dr. Garnet, so you wouldn’t have to worry about me and be wondering what I was going to do. You’ve got enough pressure on you, given the scare of the outbreak and now with Dr. Graceton’s falling ill. I want you to know I realize you were up against an unstoppable organism that had never been encountered before. I even understand better now about your missing the
Legionella
prodrome.”

Some of his words sounded a little rehearsed, as if he’d written certain phrases out and then memorized them to use on me. But however clumsily he was going about it, he seemed determined to put me at ease—a gesture that was as surprising as it was magnanimous—even if it was not something I had time for at the moment.

I forced myself to stand there and listen, despite my wanting to get to Janet. After all, I reminded myself, although I hadn’t seen a notice, it was likely he’d only just buried his mother on the weekend. Janet herself would blast me if I showed the smallest sign of cutting short any effort on his part to make peace. She had predicted that he would soften and that his hostility would subside while I’d remained skeptical. I certainly never expected an apology. I didn’t deserve one.

He seemed to relax as it became evident he wouldn’t have to chase me anymore. His choice of words became less stiff. “Dr. Mackie explained to me that sending my mother home had been an error in judgment, not outright negligence on your part, and that I shouldn’t try to damage you in court.” He stopped for breath. “Everything I’ve learned about you since tells me you’re a first-rate doctor. That’s all I wanted to say. I know you want to see Dr. Graceton, and I won’t hold you up a second longer. She’s also tops in my book. If there’s any need of more laboratory work for her, it would be an honor if you’d let me handle it personally. When it comes to testing procedures, I’m known for not hurting patients. That’s one of the reasons I was named chief technician. Dr. Mackie’s a real stickler about us not hurting patients.”

Without another word he turned, descended the stairs, and went out the ground floor door.

I should have been relieved, but I felt guiltier than ever. The whole time he was talking, beyond the sound of his insistent way of speaking, I kept being reminded of his mother’s voice. At first I wasn’t sure what it was they had in common—a pattern of inflection, certain rhythms of speech, shared phrasings—but I found it annoyed me. Then I had it. There was a certain tone that the two of them shared. In him it was only a hint, a vocal ghost of what had been a blatant trait in his mother. I probably would never have picked it out in his speech at all if I hadn’t met Phyllis Sanders first. But what I’d heard an echo of was her whining, the note of discontent that ran through everything she said, her means of announcing her disappointment in life, her way of implying the question
Are you going to disappoint me too?

Disgusted with myself, I resumed my climb to the third floor. In the face of a difficult and generous deed by her son and in the light of what that same resentment of mine might have cost his mother, I still had enough spite in me to dislike even a reminder of her voice.

As I ran the rest of the way to ICU, I had a fleeting thought about Cam’s speaking to Miller on my behalf. Maybe, after having gone to the trouble of defending me, he felt betrayed by my breaking into his files, and that was why he was so angry this morning. But my preoccupation with Janet quickly shoved aside any further questions about his strange behavior.