“I need to talk to you,” he said.
“I’m still angry with you,” Ava said. She pushed the door against him, but not with much resolve.
“That’s obvious. I want to know if you’re aware that I have been suspended from the hospital.”
“Of course I know,” Ava said. “Everybody in the hospital knows, and no one can figure it out. You are a popular person. I give you that.”
“Can I come in for a moment?”
Ava reluctantly opened the door, leaving it ajar. It was apparent she expected it was to be a short visit. Both cats appeared and sniffed Noah’s leg.
Noah and Ava eyed each other. Finally, Noah spoke: “Knowing my commitment to surgery, I thought I would hear from you. I could have used some sympathy. I’m devastated, and I’m having trouble coping.”
“As I said, I’m still really, really mad at you.”
“But I apologized sincerely about violating your trust. I’m so sorry, Ava. I admitted my mistake of going on your computer. I thought you could forgive me and be supportive, considering how close we’ve become. If the tables were turned, I guarantee I’d be on your side.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Ava said.
“Why not? Why would I lie to you?”
“You betrayed me. Not only did you go into my computer because you had misgivings about my anesthesia training, you went to my boss, Dr. Kumar, questioning my competence in regard to the three deaths. And you did it behind my back. You know how I know? He told me. He has that much confidence in me. How dare you?”
Noah felt his mouth go dry as he realized she was partially right. He had betrayed her in both circumstances. “I felt it was my ethical responsibility as the super chief resident to voice my concerns to the proper person. You weren’t willing to talk to me about them. I’m not an anesthesiologist. In retrospect, it was a mistake to go to your chief. I should have gone to mine and let him talk to Dr. Kumar. I’m sorry for that, too.”
“It seems that your ethics function selectively,” Ava snapped. “The rumor is that you were suspended from the hospital for falsifying data on a thesis that helped get you into medical school.”
“How did you know that?”
“Dr. Mason told Janet Spaulding, which is a sure way to get it all around the OR.”
Noah knew there was no way Dr. Mason would have told the whole story. He worried how such rumors might affect the people on the Advisory Board.
“Dr. Kumar advised me to break off our relationship,” Ava said. “He strongly suggested I avoid fraternizing with you.”
For almost a full minute Noah and Ava stared at each other. Both were overwrought. Noah broke the silence: “So is this the end of our little romance?”
“I don’t know,” Ava said. “I’m trying to digest it all.”
“If it is the end of our relationship,” Noah said irritably, “there is one thing that I’d like to know. Were you the one who raised the Ph.D. thesis with Dr. Mason and got the damn thing from MIT?”
Ava threw her head back and laughed derisively. “Hell, no. I can’t stand the blowhard. There’s no way I would want to help him. Why would you even think such a thing?”
“Because you were the only person I’ve talked with about my thesis for years. And you are certainly the only person I’ve said anything to about ‘fudging.’ Dr. Mason wouldn’t have come up with the idea on his own.”
“It wasn’t me,” Ava snapped. “Maybe it was your old girlfriend who you ignored. Maybe she wanted to get back at you.”
“It wasn’t Leslie,” Noah snapped back.
“Then I don’t know who the hell it was,” Ava said. “Now I want to work out. So if you don’t mind, I’d like you to leave.”
His emotions in turmoil, Noah walked out of Ava’s house. When he’d entered, he’d felt perplexed, depressed, and anxious. Now he felt perplexed, depressed, and angry. Despite Ava’s protestations to the contrary, she had to be the one who brought the stupid thesis issue to Dr. Mason’s attention. Yet her suggestion about Leslie ate at him even though he was sure she could not be involved. She’d never acted angry when she left. If anyone had been angry, it had been Noah, but even he had been angry at himself not Leslie.
He pulled out his mobile phone as he headed up Revere Street toward his building and called her. He had no idea if she’d answer, but at least it was after 5:00, so he was reasonably confident he wouldn’t be disturbing her at work.
“What’s up?” Leslie responded after only two rings. “Are you okay?”
Noah assured her he was okay and explained that the reason for his call was just to ask her if, by any chance, she had ever said anything to anybody about his Ph.D. thesis, particularly recently.
“Absolutely not,” Leslie said. “To tell you the honest truth, I completely forgot the whole story about your thesis until you brought it up on Saturday. I’d never given it any significance that you’d had to estimate some figures to get it in on time since you made the effort to replace them with the real ones when they were available. Besides, I’d never say anything to anybody about your thesis. I don’t even remember the name.”
“Okay, good,” Noah said. “I just wanted to be sure.”
“I’ve been thinking about your situation ever since we hung up on Saturday,” Leslie said. “Are you interested in what I’ve been thinking?”
“I guess,” Noah said.
“The more I think about it, the more certain I am that your erstwhile friend Ava has to be responsible for raising the thesis issue.”
“I thought the same thing, since you and she were the only two people I’d ever confided in about it. Five minutes ago, I asked her point blank whether she’d done it, and she denied it.”
“So she finally contacted you?” Leslie said.
“No, I went to her house and rang the bell.” He was too embarrassed to mention the FedEx ruse.
“Was she at least friendly?”
“No. She said she was still angry at me.”
“Did you believe her denial?”
“To some degree,” Noah said. “She didn’t hesitate in the slightest. She even mocked me for suggesting such a thing.”
“Well, I certainly didn’t do it,” Leslie said. “And if she was the only other person who knew about this thesis issue, it would have had to have been her who spilled the beans. Yet it does seem out of keeping with how you described your relationship and certainly out of proportion to your going on her computer without permission.”
“I did something else that I didn’t tell you about,” Noah said. He went on to admit that he’d gone to her boss behind her back with minor but nagging concerns about her professional performance in a couple critical situations.
“Ouch,” Leslie said. “To my way of thinking, that could be interpreted as betrayal more than accessing her computer, especially if she is as dedicated to her work as you say. How did she find out you went to her chief? Do you know?”
“He told her.”
“Double ouch,” Leslie said. “Now all this is making more sense. If she did blow the horn on your thesis, it could be a kind of sick tit-for-tat by forcing the surgery department to question your ethical competence.”
“That’s gone through my mind,” Noah said.
“Is there a reason to question her competence?” Leslie asked.
“No,” Noah said, “not really. She’s a well-trained anesthesiologist who is religious about keeping up with her specialty. She’s done thousands of cases at the BMH over the last five years. I’ve been told she passed her written and oral anesthesia boards with flying colors, which is no mean accomplishment. And to be hired by the BMH, she had to be seriously vetted. There is no doubt about her general competence.”