The Midwife Murders Read Online Free PDF

impressive—computers, a lead detective, a few assistant detectives, a big group. NYPD is taking this very seriously.”
    “Great, so am I,” I say. “In fact, I think I’ll pay a visit later to this in-house police unit.”
    “They don’t know what they’re in for,” Sarkar says with a smile.
    I begin to walk away and he calls after me, “Lucy. Speaking of paying a visit, is it okay if I pop by your office later? I have a little favor to ask.”
    “Pop away, Rudi. I’m around all day,” I say. “Unless Dr. Katz fires me before then.”
    “I hope not, Lucy,” he says. “We need you around here.”

CHAPTER 10
    MOST PEOPLE HAVE A good idea of what midwives do. We help deliver babies. But that is only a very small part of the story. Sure, maybe it’s the most dramatic part, maybe even the most important part, but about 20 percent of our time is spent helping bring babies into the world. And we don’t spend the rest of the time waiting around for our moms to go into labor.
    So what else do we do? We help women in many other ways, at every stage of their lives. Lots of women find us for prenatal care, but others come for urinary-tract infections, Pap smears, breast exams, IUD fittings—any traditional gynecological procedures. Some pregnant women come to discuss drug abuse, alcohol abuse, physical abuse. In our hospital, we get plenty of those. It’s challenging, but in a weird way it’s rewarding. A lot of women, especially the young ones and the ones with addiction problems, are scared about taking theirbaby home. So we talk, and we’re never in a hurry. I’ll listen to them until they’re talked out.
    I’ve dealt with abused women, and I’ve dealt with couples who come to every appointment together. I’ve helped poor women find the right social services, and I’ve worked with two famous actresses, two famous authors, and a circus performer who makes her living as a bareback rider. (In her sixth month of pregnancy, she switched to being a clown.)
    Today I’ve got a classy Upper East Side gal, as if where you’re from makes anything different in giving birth. This woman, one of my overeducated pregnant patients, is here to discuss the torment of a cyst on her ovary. I know that an ovarian cyst during pregnancy is one of life’s extraordinary tortures. I am truly sympathetic. But there’s not a lot I can do to help. Telling her to feast on binge-worthy TV episodes doesn’t seem like much of a help. I can almost actually feel the woman’s pain.
    Sheila Gross talks with tears in her eyes. That’s how much it hurts. “It’s like I swallowed a razor blade. It’s got to be more than a cyst, Lucy. I know it is. I think it’s probably kidney cancer. I was on the internet …”
    Ah. The magical phrases:
I was on the internet
and
I was on WebMD
and
My cousin told
her
gynecologist about it
.
    I hold Sheila’s hand. “Listen. I told you before, and I’ll tell you again. It’s a cyst. We have the x-rays to prove it. Yes, it’s just about the most painful thing that can happen during a pregnancy, except for the birth itself. But there’s not a damn thing we can do about it. You could take Tylenol, but that won’t help a whole lot. And it’s actually better that you don’t. Now, eventually—”
    Sheila interrupts. “It’s kidney cancer. I don’t want to sound like a crazy lady, but I’m really sure.”
    “No. It’s not kidney cancer.”
    “I’m sure that it’s kidney cancer. The pain in the back, right where the kidneys are …”
    Okay. It’s time to play tough. “Stop it. It is not kidney cancer. It’s a cyst. It’s excruciating. All I can give you for it is my sympathy. And my sympathy is real.”
    Five minutes later, Sheila says that she understands, but I know she doesn’t believe me. Or at the very least she thinks I’ve misdiagnosed her. I have to face it. Sheila’s going to spend the rest of her life believing that she had kidney cancer and that it miraculously