Richard Mabry - Diagnosis Death

Здесь есть возможность читать онлайн «Richard Mabry - Diagnosis Death» весь текст электронной книги совершенно бесплатно (целиком полную версию без сокращений). В некоторых случаях можно слушать аудио, скачать через торрент в формате fb2 и присутствует краткое содержание. Жанр: Триллер, на английском языке. Описание произведения, (предисловие) а так же отзывы посетителей доступны на портале библиотеки ЛибКат.

Diagnosis Death: краткое содержание, описание и аннотация

Предлагаем к чтению аннотацию, описание, краткое содержание или предисловие (зависит от того, что написал сам автор книги «Diagnosis Death»). Если вы не нашли необходимую информацию о книге — напишите в комментариях, мы постараемся отыскать её.

Diagnosis Death — читать онлайн бесплатно полную книгу (весь текст) целиком

Ниже представлен текст книги, разбитый по страницам. Система сохранения места последней прочитанной страницы, позволяет с удобством читать онлайн бесплатно книгу «Diagnosis Death», без необходимости каждый раз заново искать на чём Вы остановились. Поставьте закладку, и сможете в любой момент перейти на страницу, на которой закончили чтение.

Тёмная тема
Сбросить

Интервал:

Закладка:

Сделать

Then Will looked into Elena's eyes. If, as some poet said, the eyes are the windows of the soul, this woman's deep brown eyes clearly showed that her soul was troubled. Maybe it was the aftermath of her husband's death, maybe something else. Will hoped they'd know the answer to that question before the day was out.

Will realized Cathy was saying something to him. "Excuse me?"

"I said, 'Elena, this is my husband, Will Kennedy.' You know, I hope you pay better attention when you're in the courtroom."

"Sorry. My mind was a million miles away." He extended his hand. "Elena, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise." Elena's grip was firm, but he noticed that when he withdrew his own hand it was moist. Well, he couldn't blame her for being nervous. If she only knew how nervous Cathy was as well.

Cathy reached for her purse and keys. "I'm going to show Elena my office and the hospital. We'll probably break for lunch about twelve. Want to join us at RJ's?"

Will turned to Elena. "Okay with you? You won't think we're ganging up on you?"

"Not at all," Elena said. "Cathy, I'd like to freshen up before we leave, if you don't mind."

"Of course. Just down that hall."

As soon as the door closed, Cathy turned to Will and raised her eyebrows. "Well?"

As he advised his witnesses to do, Will hesitated before he answered. "She's nervous, but that could be the pressure of a job interview on top of what she's already been through. Let's see what we find out after we get to know her better."

Since she started medical school, Elena always had a stack of blank three-by-five cards with her. She might use them in class to jot down particularly salient points, later tucking each in her textbook at the appropriate page, handy for last-minute exam cramming. On clinical rounds, she'd pull out one of the cards and make notes about each patient, often flipping through them later in the day to be sure she hadn't missed something. The cards proved invaluable when she presented cases to an attending physician. Notes on three-by-five cards became so ingrained in her life that her pocket or purse generally held cards with grocery lists or reminders to pick up cleaning or have her car serviced.

Today she had to stop herself several times from reaching into her purse for a blank card. Somehow, it seemed almost disrespectful to make notes during her meeting with Cathy. If Elena's observations jibed with Cathy's assessment that the facilities at the hospital were excellent, she accepted that fact and moved on, knowing she could always ask specific questions later. If Cathy told her that night call in her practice wasn't as bad as being on call at Parkland, Elena heaved a sigh of relief, realizing that only time would prove or disprove that assessment. And when Cathy mentioned a salary arrangement that included a generous base salary and benefits, Elena gratefully filed the number away in her head, not on a card.

As they spent time together, Elena warmed to her host. Some of the glow Cathy exuded might be attributable to her pregnancy, but she also had about her a sense of security that Elena envied. Maybe this would be a good match. If only Cathy felt the same.

They wound up their tour in the front foyer of Summers County General Hospital. Cathy extended a hand and turned a half-circle like Vanna White showing a prize. "Well, that's our hospital. What do you think?"

"Frankly, it's more than I expected," Elena said. "You have a very nice facility."

"Here's someone you need to meet." Cathy pointed to a man walking down the hall toward them. A blue dress shirt with a blue and gold tie peeked out from under a spotless white lab coat with creases so sharp they could cut cheese. He was about four inches shorter than Elena's five feet ten inches, but carried himself with the bearing of someone used to being in charge.

The man halted two steps from them, and Elena half-expected him to click his heels as he drew himself up to his full height and nodded once. "Dr. Sewell, good to see you."

"Nathan, this is Dr. Elena Gardner. Elena, Nathan Godwin, our administrator."

Godwin favored Elena with a curt nod. "Doctor, pleasure to meet you. Are you interested in our hospital?"

Before Elena could speak, Cathy said, "That's what we're about to discuss, Nathan. I'm sure you have things to do, so we won't keep you from your rounds."

"Nice meeting you," Elena mumbled.

When Godwin was around the corner, Cathy said, "Self-important little man, but he keeps the place running well."

"He scares me a little."

"Never mind. You won't have a lot to do with him. Now how about some lunch? Since I'm eating for two, it's all I can do to keep my hands off every bit of food I see."

"Cathy, to be in your third trimester, you don't look like you've been overeating."

"That's all right. I don't want the town gossips saying, 'Isn't it too bad she never lost all that pregnancy weight?' Our city is big enough to offer everything you might want, but at heart it's still a small town, and news travels fast around here."

Elena suppressed a shudder. She'd hoped to leave her past behind with the move, to start fresh. But if anyone in Dainger started asking questions about Mark's death… No, she wouldn't let that happen.

When they arrived, Will was already inside the restaurant, seated at a table in the back corner. Cathy dropped her purse into the chair opposite him and said, "I'm going to freshen up."

Elena took an empty chair between Cathy's spot and Will. He smiled and said, "So did Cathy convince you that our fair city isn't exactly a medical backwater?"

"Frankly, when she first mentioned Summers County General Hospital, I had a mental picture of a little facility with no specialty care, antiquated equipment, and a scraper outside the front door to clean the barnyard residue off the boots of the patients and doctors alike."

"I'm sure Cathy showed you otherwise."

After the waiter took their drink orders, Will chatted amiably and Elena began to relax. Maybe she wasn't going to get the third degree from Cathy's lawyer husband.

Cathy returned, and Will rose to pull out her chair. Elena recalled when Mark used to do that for her, and as she often did when something brought to mind her loss, she felt herself die a little. She turned away and dabbed at the corner of her eyes with her napkin.

"Did I miss anything?" Cathy eased into her chair and set her purse near her feet.

Will shook his head. "I was giving Elena the third degree, but you got here before I could get out the rubber hose."

Cathy picked up a menu. "Well, there'll be none of that now. Let's have a relaxing lunch."

During the meal, the two women shared anecdotes and discovered mutual acquaintances. Will chimed in from time to time with comments and stories of his own. Both women declined dessert. Will asked for coffee, and Elena decided to join him.

The waitress left the bill, and Cathy slipped a credit card into the folder. She waved off Elena's attempt to cover her own lunch. "This is definitely a professional expense. I hope we can come to an arrangement. If we can, the cost of a chef's salad and iced tea is a pretty small price to pay for finding someone to watch over my practice while I'm on maternity leave."

Elena felt her lunch creeping back up into her throat. She'd hoped for something permanent, a move to somewhere she could put down roots. Now she wasn't sure. "So you're looking for someone on a temporary basis? A locum tenens arrangement?"

"Not necessarily." Cathy looked around. "Wouldn't you be more comfortable talking about this in my office?"

Elena wasn't sure she could wait one more minute to hear Cathy's offer- if there was to be one. "I'm fine doing it right here if that's okay."

"Sure." Cathy looked around the nearly empty room. "RJ's a friend of ours, and we eat here a lot, so they shouldn't mind if we keep this table a bit longer." She beckoned to the waitress. "Peggy, we're going to discuss a little business. Would you top off everyone's beverages, and then ask Darlene not to seat anyone near us?"

Читать дальше
Тёмная тема
Сбросить

Интервал:

Закладка:

Сделать

Похожие книги на «Diagnosis Death»

Представляем Вашему вниманию похожие книги на «Diagnosis Death» списком для выбора. Мы отобрали схожую по названию и смыслу литературу в надежде предоставить читателям больше вариантов отыскать новые, интересные, ещё непрочитанные произведения.


Richard Beard - Lazarus Is Dead
Richard Beard
Richard Montanari - Play dead
Richard Montanari
libcat.ru: книга без обложки
Richard Stevenson
Arthur Hailey - The Final Diagnosis
Arthur Hailey
Richard Mabry - Lethal Remedy
Richard Mabry
Richard Mabry - Medical Error
Richard Mabry
Richard Mabry - Code Blue
Richard Mabry
James White - Final Diagnosis
James White
Richard Stevenson - Death Vows
Richard Stevenson
Diagnosis and Fault-tolerant Control Volume 2
Неизвестный Автор
Richard Kadrey - Hollywood Dead
Richard Kadrey
Отзывы о книге «Diagnosis Death»

Обсуждение, отзывы о книге «Diagnosis Death» и просто собственные мнения читателей. Оставьте ваши комментарии, напишите, что Вы думаете о произведении, его смысле или главных героях. Укажите что конкретно понравилось, а что нет, и почему Вы так считаете.

x