Private Practices Read Online Free PDF

kinds of side effects are you getting?”
    Sidney answered slowly, sipping wine. “Mild nausea. Edema in some women.”
    â€œI understood,” Mulenberg said between bites, “that the animal tests weren’t altogether successful.”
    â€œThere were problems. But they overdosed. They often do with animals.”
    â€œNothing new in that,” Mulenberg commented. “Still, are you sure you’re really ready to start large-scale domestic testing? I understand you’ve applied to the Deutsch Foundation to start testing here in the States this summer.”
    â€œOf course we’re ready.” Impatiently, Sidney directed Claudia to fill his glass and swallowed the golden liquid down thirstily. “I wouldn’t have asked for the grant otherwise. And it’s none too soon. We’ve got a world teetering on the edge of self-destruction through overpopulation. How long can we afford to wait without finding a solution?”
    â€œBullshit. We’ve already got some good solutions.”
    â€œBut none as effective and easy to use as this one.”
    Mulenberg squinted at Sidney. “You really believe in it, don’t you? You’re a man with a mission.”
    â€œFor God’s sake, Harry,” Sidney exploded. “Just because you ended up a clinician, you don’t have to go around trying to keep me one!”
    Claudia said, “Please, Sidney,” her pale porcelain skin turning an infinitesimal shade lighter.
    â€œStay out of it,” Sidney warned her. “This is between me and Harry. He keeps needling me.”
    â€œSidney feels you haven’t exactly supported him in this endeavor,” Claudia interposed, still trying to make peace.
    â€œI don’t need an interpreter!” Sidney shouted.
    Mulenberg set down his utensils noisily. “There’s no talking to you anymore, Sid. You’re so bent on the Nobel Prize you won’t even answer questions.”
    â€œI don’t have to listen to this!” Sidney pushed his chair away from the table and stalked into the kitchen.
    â€œI’m sorry,” Claudia apologized to Mulenberg and, rising, hastily followed Sidney.
    â€œHe’s impossible,” Mulenberg growled to Ben as soon as Claudia was gone. “Always was, but he’s getting worse.”
    Ben kept a loyal silence, staring down into his wineglass.
    Mulenberg shook his head and drew a packet of cigars out of his pocket. “Want one?” Ben nodded, and the two of them smoked, not talking, but noisily filling the silence by puffing on their cigars. After a while, Ben felt himself growing sleepy again. The stuffy air was oppressive and he had to force himself to stay awake by trying to concentrate on the sounds of his brother and sister-in-law in the kitchen, their voices raised but the words indistinct, muffled by the closed swinging door and the noise of water running hard and plates clinking. And then suddenly, just as Mulenberg emitted a perfect smoke ring, Ben thought he heard a cry from the kitchen, a high-pitched catlike sound of pain.
    He sat forward. Mulenberg too must have heard the sound for he seemed to start to rise from his chair and only then remember his stroke-wounded leg and sink back, scowling. Then the water stopped running and Ben relaxed, convinced that what they had heard was the mechanical shriek of a faucet turned too far.
    Sidney and Claudia came in only moments afterward, Sidney with a coffee pot, Claudia carrying a fluted white bowl of chocolate soufflé. “Anyone for dessert?” she said brightly. Ben said, “Great idea,” and Mulenberg too nodded enthusiastically, trying to rescue the evening. Claudia came around the table and set the bowl down between her place and Ben’s and he saw a small red patch of skin just above her wrist on the inside of her arm. She saw him looking and pulled her hand away.
    â€œBurn?” he asked.
    â€œI had the hot