Fatal Reaction by Belinda Frisch Read Free Book Online

steadiest hands Jared had ever seen. Ana Ashmore, a medic he’d worked with over the past couple of years, had the first.
    Wilson leaned into the counter, his round belly straining the elastic waist of the green scrubs not intended for someone so large. “Ambulance is on its way in. You ready?”
    Jared waved for Heather, one of the unit nurses, to take the papers. “Make sure you go over the instructions with the mom.” He scribbled out a prescription and handed it to her. “This is for his antibiotic.”
    Heather nodded, took the paperwork, and headed to the room where the boy with the ear infection had been for hours.
    Jared looked up at Wilson. “What do we know?”
    Wilson read a scrap of paper in his hands. “The patient’s name is Stephanie Martin. A neighbor found her unconscious on her kitchen floor.”
    “Symptoms?”
    “Fever, delirium, and in quite a bit of pain. Jim says she’s too dehydrated for him to get the IV in.” Wilson rolled his eyes. “He says that a lot.”
    Jared searched the patient’s name in the computer, and finding several Stephanie Martins, selected the most recent one. “Ana couldn’t get it?”
    Wilson smirked, his expression amused and all-knowing. “Jim didn’t mention her.”
    Jared tried to hide his disappointment as he scrolled through a list of reports. “Shit.” He pulled up Stephanie’s operative note dated four months earlier.
    Wilson chuckled at Jared’s unusual use of profanity. “Something the matter?”
    Jared nodded. “I knew I recognized the name. Stephanie Martin is Dorian’s transplant patient.”
    “That isn’t going to make Mitchell happy.”
    Stephanie Martin was the new transplant program’s second incident of bad publicity, and Jared wanted no part of it. “This is a malpractice suit waiting to happen.” He picked up the phone and dialed the operator.
    “Switchboard, how can I help you?”
    “This is Dr. Monroe in the Emergency Department. Can you get me Dr. Dorian Carmichael’s office, please?”
    Hold music played, and then the phone rang twice.
    “Oakland Street Obstetrics and Gynecology, this is Kristin.”
    “Good morning, Kristin. This is Dr. Jared Monroe at County Memorial. I have an emergency for Dr. Carmichael. Can you connect us?”
    “Just a minute, please.”
    Jared tapped his fingers on the counter, waiting impatiently for Dorian to pick up. If he could get away with not having his name anywhere on Stephanie’s file, he’d be thrilled. He had only ever been named in one malpractice suit, a case on which he had performed only a brief, initial assessment. The patient’s cardiologist was heavily investigated, and though everyone was eventually exonerated, they’d spent an awful lot of time together in meetings with legal. Jared couldn’t imagine spending that kind of time with Dorian. Aside from the fact that his transplant program ate a good portion of the funds Jared desperately needed for the ER, Dorian had had a thing for Colby for as long as she had worked there.
    “I’m sorry for the hold. This is Noreen. How can I help you?”
    “Noreen, I need to talk to Dorian.”
    “I’m sorry, but he’s in surgery today. I can get ahold of him—”
    “Is he operating at County?”
    “Yes, but—”
    “Thanks, I’ll find him.”
    The ambulance siren silenced as Jim, a seasoned EMS veteran and supervisor, backed into the receiving bay. The automatic doors slid open, and Jared headed over to meet him.
    Jim hopped down from the driver’s seat and rushed to open the back door. His eyes were glossed over, and he yawned.
    “Long night?” Jared looked around him, hoping to catch a glimpse of Ana and finding Ethan Kerr instead.
    Ethan, an EMT in his early twenties, with his precision haircut, chiseled facial features, and vivid blue eyes, stepped out of the ambulance as if walking out of a magazine.
    “Fever’s climbing,” Ethan said. “We couldn’t get a line, but she’s stable.”
    Wilson waited until they unloaded