Robin Cook - Contagion

Jack got to his feet. The lab techs slunk back. The atmosphere was suddenly tense. The lab director was clearly irate.

“Are you here in an official capacity?” Martin demanded. “If so, I’d like to know why you didn’t have the common courtesy to come to my office instead of sneaking in here? We have a crisis unfolding in this hospital, and this lab is in the middle of it. I am not about to brook interference from anyone.”

“Whoa!” Jack said. “Calm down.” He hadn’t expected this blowup, especially from Martin, who had been so hospitable the day before.

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” Martin snapped. “What the devil are you doing here, anyway?”

“I’m just doing my job, investigating the deaths of Katherine Mueller and Susanne Hard,” Jack said. “I hardly think I’m interfering. In fact I thought I was being rather discreet.”

“Is there something in particular you are looking for in my lab?” Martin demanded.

“I was just going over a gram stain with your capable staff,” Jack said.

“Your official mandate is to determine the cause and the manner of death,” Dr. Zimmerman said, pushing her way in front of Martin. “You’ve done that.”

“Not quite,” Jack corrected. “We haven’t made a diagnosis on Susanne Hard.” He returned the infection-control officer’s beady stare. Since she wasn’t wearing the mask she’d had on the day before, Jack was able to appreciate how stern her thin-lipped face was.

“You haven’t made a specific diagnosis in the Hard case,” Dr. Zimmerman corrected, “but you have made a diagnosis of a fatal infectious disease. Under the circumstances I think that is adequate.”

“Adequate has never been my goal in medicine,” Jack said.

“Nor mine,” Dr. Zimmerman shot back. “Nor is it for the Centers for Disease Control or the City Board of Health, who are actively investigating this unfortunate incident. Frankly your presence here is disruptive.”

“Are you sure they don’t need a little help?” Jack asked. He couldn’t hold back the sarcasm.

“I’d say your presence is more than disruptive,” Kelley said. “In fact, you’ve been downright slanderous. You could very well be hearing from our lawyers.”

“Whoa!” Jack said again, lifting his hands as if to fend off a bodily attack. “Disruptive I can at least comprehend. Slanderous is ridiculous.”

“Not from my point of view,” Kelley said. “The supervisor in central supply said you told her Katherine Mueller had contracted her illness on the job.”

“And that has not been established,” Dr. Zimmerman added.

“Uttering such an unsubstantiated statement is defamatory to this institution and injurious to its reputation,” Kelley snapped.

“And could have a negative impact on its stock value,” Jack said.

“And that too,” Kelley agreed.

“The trouble is I didn’t say Mueller had contracted her illness on the job,” Jack said. “I said she could have done so. There’s a big difference.”

“Mrs. Zarelli told us you told her it was a fact,” Kelley said.

“I told her ‘those were the facts’ referring to the possibility,” Jack said. “But look, we’re quibbling. The real fact is that you people are overly defensive. It makes me wonder about your nosocomial infection history. What’s the story there?”

Kelley turned purple. Given the man’s intimidating size advantage, Jack took a protective step backward.

“Our nosocomial infection experience is none of your business,” Kelley sputtered.

“That’s something I’m beginning to question,” Jack said. “But I’ll save looking into it for another time. It’s been nice seeing you all again. Bye.”

Jack broke off from the group and strode away. He heard sudden movement behind him and cringed, half expecting a beaker or some other handy piece of laboratory paraphernalia to sail past his ear. But he reached the door to the hallway without incident. Descending a floor, he unlocked his bike and headed south.

Jack weaved in and out of the traffic, marveling at his latest brush with AmeriCare. Most confusing was the sensitivity of the people involved. Even Martin, who’d been friendly the day before, now acted as if Jack were the enemy. What could they all be hiding? And why hide it from Jack?

Jack didn’t know who at the hospital had alerted the administration of his presence, but he had a good idea who would be informing Bingham that he’d been there. Jack entertained no illusions about Kelley complaining about him again.

Jack wasn’t disappointed. As soon as he came in the receiving bay, the security man stopped him.

“I was told to tell you to go directly to the chief’s office,” the man said. “Dr. Washington himself gave me the message.”

As Jack locked his bike, he tried to think of what he was going to say to Bingham. Nothing came to mind.

While ascending in the elevator, Jack decided he’d switch to offense since he couldn’t think of any defense. He was still formulating an idea when he presented himself in front of Mrs. Sanford’s desk.

“You’re to go right in,” Mrs. Sanford said. As usual she didn’t look up from her work.

Jack stepped around her desk and entered Bingham’s office. Immediately he saw that Bingham wasn’t alone. Calvin’s huge hulk was hovering near the glass-fronted bookcase.

“Chief, we have a problem,” Jack said earnestly. He moved over to Bingham’s desk and gave it a tap with his fist for emphasis. “We don’t have a diagnosis on the Hard case, and we got to give it to them ASAP. If we don’t we’re going to look bad, especially the way the press is all stirred up about the plague. I even went all the way over to the General to take a look at the gram stain. Unfortunately, it didn’t help.”

Bingham regarded Jack curiously with his rheumy eyes. He’d been about to lambaste Jack; now he demurred. Instead of speaking he removed his wire-rimmed spectacles and absently cleaned them while he considered Jack’s words. He glanced over at Calvin. Calvin responded by stepping up to the desk. He wasn’t fooled by Jack’s ruse.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Calvin demanded.

“Susanne Hard,” Jack said. “You remember. The case you and I have the ten-dollar double-or-nothing bet on.”

“A bet!” Bingham questioned. “Is there gambling going on in this office?”

“Not really, Chief,” Calvin said. “It was just a way of making a point. It’s not routine.”

“I should hope not,” Bingham snapped. “I don’t want any wagering around here, especially not in regard to diagnoses. That’s not the kind of thing I’d like to see in the press. Our critics would have a field day.”

“Getting back to Susanne Hard,” Jack said. “I’m at a loss as to how to proceed. I’d hoped that by talking directly to the hospital lab people I might have made some headway, but it didn’t work. What do you think I should do now?” Jack wanted the conversation to move away from the gambling issue. It might divert Bingham, but Jack knew he’d have hell to pay with Calvin later on.

“I’m a little confused,” Bingham said. “Just yesterday I specifically told you to stay around here and get your backload of cases signed out. I especially told you to stay the hell away from the Manhattan General Hospital.”

“That was if I were going there for personal reasons,” Jack said. “I wasn’t. This was all business.”

“Then how the hell did you manage to get the administrator all bent out of shape again?” Bingham demanded. “He called the damn mayor’s office for the second day in a row. The mayor wants to know if you have some sort of mental problem or whether I have a mental problem for hiring you.”