An Affair of the Heart Read Online Free PDF Page A

his wife as you suspect, then it’s just a simple mistake
that, in the circumstances, Mr Williams is not likely to pursue. He
would be more likely to sue if he had faced the trauma of his
wife’s death only to find her alive and well. He’d have been
outraged. But for that to happen, someone else would have had to
have been driving his wife’s car. So if that was the case, it would
have been an acceptable mistake to have made. That’s why the police
brought him in here in the first place, isn’t it? Either way, the
panics over.”
    It was then
that Dr Clarkson dropped the bombshell. “Yes, that’s all perfectly
reasonable, Mr Stanley,” he said, glancing briefly at WPC Foster.
“Until you find out that Miss Sorenson was carrying an organ donor
card.”
    There was a
long pause which was only broken when Stanley said, “Oh, shit.”
    “What was
removed and where did it go?” Barrett quickly demanded.
    “Just her
heart, one eye, and both kidneys,” Dr Clarkson replied. “The
heart’s already gone to Wythenshawe, but we put a hold on any
further transfers as soon as we learned of the mix up. Everything
we took out except the heart is still here in cold storage, but
they won’t last much longer. We’ve also subsequently received calls
for the other remaining organs as well.”
    Eric Barrett
went over to the nearest telephone. “Nothing else is to be removed
from that body,” he said over his shoulder. “In fact, I think we
should put everything back. Even if we do lose the organs. We have
to be sure.” He picked up the phone and rang the Cardio-Thoracic
Unit at Wythenshawe.
    WPC Foster
didn’t listen to his conversation. She was far more concerned with
something else. “Did you say her eyes?” she asked Dr Clarkson, with
a certain amount of unease in her voice.
    “Yes, one eye
and both kidneys,” he replied. “The other eye was too badly damaged
in the accident. But, as I said, they’re all still here, so it is
possible to put them back in before Mr Williams gets to see
her.”
    WPC Foster was
horrified by the casual tone in his voice. He didn’t seem to care
about the effect all this was likely to have on Alex Williams. She
had seen the way he had reacted and how he had looked when he had
learned of his wife’s death. He had been absolutely devastated. And
now all she could think of were those dazzling blue eyes in the
painting she had seen at the house earlier that evening. How would
Alex Williams react when he found out what they had done to his
wife? What would he do?
    Barrett came
off the phone. “The recipient’s heart is already out,” he said.
“It’s too late to stop the transplant from going ahead now, not
without putting the recipient at too much risk. Especially as we
aren’t yet sure that a mistake has been made in the first
place.”
    “I think we’re
pretty sure,” Dr Clarkson said.
    “We need to
have the other body identified as soon as possible,” Barrett said
to Dr Clarkson. “Get those organs replaced and have the husband in
there as soon as you can.” Dr Clarkson nodded and walked quickly
away. Barrett now turned to Stanley.
    “John, how
badly exposed do you think we are?” he asked the legal advisor.
    John Stanley
took a deep breath. He looked far more worried than he had done
before. “If it is his wife,” he said carefully. “And we’ve removed
organs without his permission, and she didn’t leave any written
authorisation either, then we really are going to be in deep
trouble.”
    “Do you think
he will sue?” Barrett asked.
    WPC Foster
answered his question before Stanley could reply.
    “He’ll
sue.”
     
     

Chapter
Ten
Waiting
     
    Dr Jones sat
with Gina Carter in the waiting room. They were alone in the
silence and the stillness. They sat opposite one another, their
half finished coffee cups sitting on the table between them. Other
empty cups were also scattered about on the table. Some of them
were overturned.
    Dr Jones knew
that this was always