Deadly Errors Read Online Free PDF Page A

cranked slowly closed. Both eyes felt ready to pop from his skull.
    Again he tried rolling onto his stomach, but Jorgenson kept trying to turn him onto his back. The really bad thing was the headache was much more intense lying down on the floor—worse than during past two days as it grew to the point he couldn’t sleep flat without it becoming intolerable. So each night he had waited until his parents went to bed before sneaking downstairs to sleep upright in Pop’s La-Z-Boy recliner.
    Out of the mental haze he heard, “Frank, call Larry’s mother. The number’s on the Rolodex on my desk.”
    Larry struggled to push up, to tell him no. She’d only take him home and that would ruin everything. Doctor Fraser at Voc Rehab had warned him …
M AYNARD M EDICAL C ENTER
    “D OCTOR MATHEWS.”
    Tyler turned from the patient he was examining. “Yes, Teresa?”
    “Phone call for you. I’ll put it through to your office.”
    He cast the clinic nurse a questioning look. The only reason to interrupt him during a patient visit would be a call from another doctor. In such cases she always mentioned the physician’s name.
    She nodded toward the hall, suggesting she’d provide an explanation out there. He told the patient he would be right back and exited the room. Before he could ask, she said, “It’s your ex-wife.”
    “Nancy?” His heart accelerated. How long since she walked out on him? Ten months, ten days , he knew. Was this it? Had she unleashed her pit bull lawyer? His stomach knotted.
    “Is there another one I don’t know about?” When he didn’t respond immediately, she added softly, “Yes, Nancy. That’s why I thought you might want to take it.” Her eyes twinkled against her flawless brown Filipino skin.
    A strange brew of hope and dread infused his chest, causing him to freeze.
    She shot him a questioning look. “Is there a problem? I thought you’d be overjoyed, the way you still mope around here, pining away about her.”
    “I mope and pine?” trying to make it light.
    She gave him a playful slap on the arm. “You’re changing the subject. Is there a problem?”
    He started walking. “Are you always this nosey?”
    Teresa laughed.
    Sitting in his small office, hand wavering over the phone, he thought, This can only be bad news. It’s finally over . He palm-wiped his face, sucked a deep breath, and picked up the phone. “Hello, Nancy?”
    “Hi, Tyler.” Her voice sounded upbeat and friendly. A good sign?
    “What’s up?” trying to sound casual, trying to mask the dread in his voice. He visualized the day he’d met her at UCLA—a molecular biology grad student hunched over a microscope. At the time he was a chronically fatigued first year neurosurgical resident.
    “I’m in Seattle now, working at the Fred Hutch.” She laughed. “Mom’s ecstatic, says that by leaving the academic womb, I’m finally acting like a grown up and putting my degree to good use.”
    Tyler rubbed his temple. “This a consulting thing or what?”
    She exhaled audibly. “No. It’s permanent. I mean, like any grant it’s for as long as the money holds out. Oh heck, I’m not very good at this, at making myself vulnerable, but … I was wondering … if we, you know, you and me … if we might still have … damn it, Tyler, let me just say it. I miss you. I have since the day I left you. Do you think we might try … I mean, are you seeing someone?”
    “Hold on a second.” A sudden dizziness forced him to lean back in the chair next to his desk, the small office cramped with filing cabinet, book cases, one wall choked with framed diplomas, and both his California and Washington state licenses.
    He rubbed his lips and tried to calm his voice before uttering another word. “No. I’m not seeing anyone.”
    “Then can we meet for dinner, say next week?”
    Tyler’s heart leapt with joy. Then his beeper started ringing. “Hold on a second.” He recognized the phone number for the Emergency Department. The