“There are a couple of other problems,” Josh said with no preamble, not even identifying himself. Names were not needed, as they knew each other’s voice, as the “project” required frequent contact, and they talked rather than e-mailed or texted to eliminate any potential paper trail. “The anesthesiologist, Sandra Wykoff, has become a true threat.”
“We are already aware,” Fyodor said. “She just visited us here in the service center to ask probing questions. It has already been decided, and an appropriate call has already been made. The problem will be solved tonight.”
Josh was taken aback that they were a step ahead but pleased. “I commend your efficiency.”
“We have only the best and most experienced personnel,” Fyodor said with pride.
“I guess commendation is in order for the solution to the previous Hurley threat.”
“Thank you. There were no problems.”
“One other thing while I have you on the phone. There is another minor problem that might be best handled by your experienced personnel. I’m sorry that all this is happening at the same time.”
“We are here to deal with problems. No need for an apology. What minor problem are you referring to?”
“There are now a couple of medical students, a male and a female, who are close friends. They have made a nuisance of themselves talking with Sandra Wykoff about the Vandermeer case. The motivation is because of a misplaced interest in the issue of hospital-acquired morbidity. This has to stop! I’ll try to address it through the dean of the school, but I thought you should be aware. Maybe a warning to one of them might be in order, although I will leave that up to you. I’ll send down the names and the particulars.”
“We will be looking for it. In the meantime, rest assured that the anesthesiologist will be taken care of. As for the students, we’ll have someone talk convincingly to the female. In Russia we found that was the best course of action with couples.”
“I’ll trust your judgment,” Josh said simply before disconnecting the line. He was pleased and relieved to have the issue about the rogue anesthesiologist already behind him. It was easy to delegate when one had the right people. With the most important part of this new problem already solved, he placed a call to the dean of the medical school, Dr. Janet English, about the rogue students. This conversation was even shorter and to the point. “Talk to them as soon as you can,” Josh said at the end. His mind was already back to anticipating the imminent conference call from Geneva.
“I will contact them immediately,” Dr. English said. “Consider it done.”
26.
Tuesday, April 7, 3:21 P.M.
The text tone wasn’t loud, but in the total silence of her room, it startled Lynn. At the moment it sounded she was in deep concentration, and had been for several hours. She had started out scanning the articles she had printed from the Internet and then had moved on to studying the printouts of the anesthesia records for Carl, Scarlett, and Ashanti. After finding something rather startling on the printouts, she had gone back to the images themselves on her computer screen, because it afforded magnification. What she had discovered and corroborated was that all three records had the little frame offset that had bothered Dr. Wykoff in Carl’s case, and, more surprising still, the frame offset had occurred at the exact same time: precisely fifty-two minutes into each operation!
As far as Lynn was concerned, she couldn’t imagine that the timing, being so exact, could be by chance. It was too Newtonian in a quantum world. Turning her attention back to the printouts, which she had placed side-by-side, she discovered something else that she had not noticed earlier when comparing the cases. This new finding was another similarity, but one that she might not have appreciated had she not been looking at all three cases together, and it was equally as startling and disturbing as the corresponding time of the frame offsets. Again, she didn’t know the significance, but was certain it too had to be important, and she couldn’t wait to tell Michael and get his take on both. It was at the moment of the second discovery that the text tone had sounded.
After recovering from the initial shock of the tone, Lynn snatched up her smartphone. With her heart thumping in her chest from being startled, she looked at the screen. What she expected to see was a text from Michael, maybe telling her she better get her ass over to the clinic. On any given day, he was the one who most often texted her. But the message wasn’t from Michael. Instead it was from Dr. Janet English, the medical school dean! With trepidation, Lynn read the text. It wasn’t long.
Miss Lynn Peirce, I want to see you in my office at 5:00 p.m., immediately after ophthalmology clinic. Respectfully yours, Dr. Janet English, Dean, Mason-Dixon School of Medicine.
Slowly Lynn put the phone back down. A feeling of dread crept over her. She leaned forward and read the text again. Her heart rate, which had begun to slow from the initial start, now speeded up again. The question was, why would the dean of the school want to see her? Her initial thought was that it might be about her missing a few ophthalmology and dermatology lectures, but then she realized it couldn’t be something so benign. The message said she should come after the ophthalmology clinic, meaning the dean thought that Lynn was there, as she was supposed to be.
Lynn had never actually met the dean of the school face-to-face, despite her having been at the school for almost four years. She had seen her only from a distance at various medical school functions, as she had on her first day, when Lynn was a freshman and Dr. English gave the welcoming address at what was touted as the “white coat” ceremony. The dean was not known to be a particularly sociable individual. It was common knowledge that she preferred her admin functions and research interests over direct student contact, which she delegated to the dean of students.
Rather quickly Lynn began to worry that Rhodes and/or Wykoff had gone ahead and checked whether she and Michael were authorized to look at Carl’s chart in the neuro ICU. If the dean had been informed, she would be livid and was now summoning them to accuse them of a major HIPAA violation. Lynn could hear Michael’s reminding her it was a class 5 felony. Would the school prosecute them? Lynn had no idea. In a way she doubted it, as it would be a first offense, but who was to know. And if they did prosecute them, would it be the end of their careers in medicine? Lynn had no idea about that, either, but recognized there was a chance. She shuddered, having a major guilt trip about involving Michael.
Thinking of him, she wondered if he had gotten a similar text. Quickly she texted him and posed the question. She knew he was most likely in the ophthalmology clinic but guessed that he could probably manage to text her back. She was right. His text popped up on her screen within minutes:
Michaeclass="underline" That’s affirmative. What’s the deal?
Lynn quickly texted back.
Lynn: Wish I knew. Afraid Rhodes and Wykoff might have blown our cover re/Carl’s chart.
Michaeclass="underline" Possible but doubt it. More likely pissed we spoke with Wykoff.
Lynn: hope ur right. I’ll meet you in clinic just before 5. We can go together.
Michaeclass="underline" ur on, girl 
!
Replacing her phone on her desk, Lynn was amazed Michael was taking this text from the dean in stride enough to use an emoticon. Under the circumstances, it seemed inappropriate and out of character. He had never used an emoticon before in any text he had sent her. Yet it did make her feel better. It certainly suggested he was relaxed about the dean’s demand that they appear in her office, and if that were the case, maybe she should be, too.