Critical Judgment (1996) Read Online Free PDF

said. “Which doctor was it who said I seemed tense and short with people?”
    Oleander debated responding.
    “To tell you the truth,” he said finally, “I think Dr. Alvarez said something to me in passing. Given that it was him, I probably shouldn’t have even bothered mentioning it. Alvarez is an excellent physician, but if you’ll excuse me for saying so, he’s not much of a team player. He seems to have an opinion about pretty nearly everything and everybody. And he isn’t the least bit shy about spreading it around. Sort of like fertilizer.”
    Oleander enjoyed a laugh at his own humor. Abby smiled politely.
    Lew Alvarez. She supposed she should have known. Alvarez was clearly the top dog in the ER—at least until her arrival on the scene. But he was almost too self-assured. That and his irrefutable good looks had been something of a turnoff to her. It was hard to imagine his perceiving her as a threat, but she knew that was the sort of thing one never could tell about a person.
    “Thank you for telling me,” she said. “I’ll see what I can do about changing his opinion of me.”
    “Suit yourself. Personally, though, I don’t think Lew Alvarez’s opinions matter all that much.”
    Abby wondered why the medical chief was so skeptical of Lew Alvarez despite the nurses’ high regard for him. But this wasn’t the time to get into it. She thanked him for his candor and left the office.
    Heading back to the emergency room, she admittedto herself, perhaps for the first time, that of all those on the medical or ER staff, it was Alvarez she had most wanted to impress.
    So far it appeared she hadn’t done a very good job of it.

C HAPTER T HREE
    B efore returning to the ER Abby stopped by the ICU. Bill Tracy was extubated and propped up at a forty-five-degree angle, taking sips of water through a straw. His wife hovered over him from one side of the bed, his daughter, Donna, from the other. All things considered, Abby thought, he was looking damn good.
    She stayed by the nurses’ station long enough to take in the scene, then left without going into the room. Mindful of the situation with Gordon Clarke, she was purposely shying away from contact with Tracy and his family. Besides, she realized how easily things could have gone the other way. This was a time for reflection and gratitude, not celebration—and certainly not smugness.
    It was almost five-thirty when she reentered the ER. Two and a half hours until her relief showed up. Ironically, it would be Lew Alvarez. She’d have a chance to practice her new, nonthreatening manner.
    There were now four patients to be seen—one in the waiting room, one in X ray, and two on stretchers. None of them seemed too complicated at first glance, but she could recall dozens of examples, secondhand and personal, of the folly of relying on your first glance. She rubbed at the gritty fatigue in her eyes and wished shewas home. She wanted to call and check in with Josh, but it was doubtful he would be back from work yet. The ER was just a patient or two from becoming backed up, and the nurses had already begun ordering tests on the two who had been there longest. Abby decided to make sure things were going in the right direction before she called home.
    The evening charge nurse, Bud Perlow, met her at the chart rack. He was an imposing six foot four, but Abby had seen him use his puttylike face to put kids at ease. At five eight she had to step back several paces to make eye contact with him comfortably. She encouraged all the nurses to call her by her first name, but Perlow was one of the few who insisted on Doctor.
    “Dr. Dolan, rescue is on its way in with Old Man Ives,” he said. “He’s been beaten up. Primarily facial lacerations.”
    “I don’t know any Old Man Ives.”
    “Oh, sorry. I forgot you’re new. Just about everyone in Patience knows him. He’s a hermit. Very weird—retarded, I’ve heard. Lives in the woods. Someone told me he actually lives in