Omega Dog Read Online Free PDF Page A

too late.
    On the other hand, Beth reflected, she’d also diagnosed a pulmonary embolism with atypical symptoms that would have killed the patient if it had been left for an hour longer. She’d seen somebody who was choking with edema from heart failure improve dramatically over twenty-four hours, thanks to her. And her quick action had stopped an anaphylactic reaction to penicillin from becoming fatal.
    So there were rewards. Big ones.
    It was just sometimes hard to keep your mind on them, in among all the chaos and the trauma and the disappointments.
    As luck would have it, an urgent case of septicemia came up to the ward fifteen minutes before the end of Beth’s shift. Resigned to leaving late – it wasn’t, after all, as if this hadn’t happened before – Beth pushed up her sleeves and set to work. But seconds later Rick bustled in, all boyish enthusiasm.
    ‘Beth, I hate to say it, but you look as old as my grandma.’
    She swatted his arm, but her heart wasn’t in it. Besides, he was probably right.
    ‘What we got?’ Rick asked.
    Rick was a fellow resident, slated to start his shift after hers. He was early, as usual. Beth began to summarize the case but Rick cut her off by holding up his hand.
    ‘Whoah. Back up a little. You just said the same thing, twice.’
    ‘Did I?’ Beth was confused.
    ‘Yeah. You need some sleep. Get outta here. I’m on it.’
    Beth swept a hand through her hair, overcome with gratitude. ‘Rick, thanks a bunch. I owe you.’
    ‘Damn right.’ He grinned, waved her away, and set to work on the patient.
    Beth stumbled to the locker room, shucked off her white coat, property of the hospital, and fired it at the laundry basket. Then she remembered her stethoscope, cell phone and pager were in the pockets, dragged the coat out again and retrieved the items. She got her purse and jacket from the locker, glanced at herself in the mirror inside the door – God, she looked a fright, with bags under her eyes like suitcases – and took off.
    At the elevators, waiting, she glanced at the clock on the wall. Four PM. Visiting hours were still in effect.
    She needed to get some sleep more than anything, but... a few minutes wouldn’t kill her.
    Instead of going down to the first floor, Beth rode the elevator up to the sixth. She stepped out and turned left, toward the oncology ward.
    The ward sister greeted her with a smile.
    ‘Hi, Sister,’ said Beth. ‘I’m Dr Colby, med resident?’
    ‘Hello, doc. Who’re you here to see?’
    ‘I’m off duty,’ said Beth. ‘But a friend of mine is a patient on the ward. I’d like to see her, if I may.’
    ‘Sure,’ said the nurse. ‘What’s your friend’s name?’
    ‘Luisa Perez.’
    The sister’s eyes widened. Her hand came up to her mouth.
    ‘What is it?’ said Beth, alarmed.
    ‘Dr Colby, I’m so sorry. Nobody told you?’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Ms Perez died this afternoon.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Cardiac arrest. It was very unexpected. The crash team did all they could,’ said the nurse.
    Beth felt the floor tilting beneath her feet. The sister grabbed her arm to steady her.
    ‘Dr Colby, are you all right? Come and sit down.’ She led Beth to a swivel chair at the nurses’ station. Shocked, Beth allowed herself to be seated. Her thoughts were racing even as a cold numbness spread through her.
    Luisa was dead?
    But that couldn’t be. Beth had spoken to her just last night.
    Luisa Perez was an old college friend of Beth’s. She’d been studying law while Beth had been premed, and they’d met at a campus party and become close friends. Like Beth, Luisa had stayed in New York after graduation, and was working her way up to partner in a small but up-and-coming law firm in Nassau Street. They spoke on the phone at least once a week, met once or twice a month to go out shopping, had even double-dated a few times.
    Four months ago, Luisa had called Beth in tears, asking her to come round. Rushing over to Luisa’s Brooklyn apartment, Beth