Watching Martin at the phone, she admitted one other point about their affair. He had given her the strength to finally end another relationship, which had been totally destructive. While Denise was still a medical student she had met and had been dazzled by a neurology resident who had skillfully manipulated her feelings. Because of the impersonal isolation of school, Denise was susceptible to the idea of commitment. There had never been any doubt in her mind that she would be able to mix a home and a career with someone who was intimately aware of the demands of medicine. Richard Druker, her lover, was astute enough to recognize her feelings and to convince her that he felt the same way. But he didn’t. He led her on for years, avoiding any real commitment, but cleverly fostering her dependency. The result was that she could not break away from him, even after she recognized what he was and suffered the humiliation of several of his affairs. She kept returning like an old dog for more abuse, vainly hoping that he’d mend his ways and become the person he said he was. Hope became desperation as she began to question her own femininity rather than his immaturity. She had not been able to let go until she met Martin Philips.
Now as Martin walked back to their table, Denise felt a rush of affection, and gratitude. At the same time she recognized he was a man, and she was afraid of assuming a commitment he did not feel.
“This is not my day,” said Martin, sitting down across from her. “That was Dr. Reynolds. Marino is not being autopsied.”
“I thought she’d have to be,” said Denise, surprised and trying to switch her mind back to medicine.
“True. It was a medical examiner’s case, but in deference to Mannerheim, the examiner released the body to our Path department. The Path department approached the family for permission, and the family refused. Apparently they were pretty hysterical.”
“That’s understandable,” said Sanger.
“I suppose,” said Philips, dejectedly. “Damn… Damn!”
“Why not pull some X rays of patients with known multiple sclerosis and see if you can find similar changes.”
“Yeah,” said Philips with a sigh.
“You could think a little about the patient rather than your own disappointment.”
Martin stared at Denise for several minutes, making her feel that she had overstepped an unspoken boundary. She hadn’t meant to be moralizing. Then his face changed and he smiled broadly.
“You’re right!” he said. “In fact you just gave me a fabulous idea.”
Directly across from the emergency room desk was a gray door with a sign that read EMERGENCY ROOM STAFF. It was the lounge for the interns and residents, although it was rarely used for relaxation. In the back was a lavatory with showers for the men: the women doctors had to go upstairs to the Nurses’ lounge. Along the side there were three small rooms with two cots each, but they weren’t used much except for short naps. There was never time.
Dr. Wayne Thomas had taken the one comfortable chair in the lounge: an old leather monster with some of its stuffing extruding through an open seam like a dehisced wound.
“I think Lynn Anne Lucas is sick,” he was saying with conviction.
Around him, either leaning against the desk or seated in one of the wooden chairs, were Dr. Huggens, Dr. Carolo Langone, Resident in Internal Medicine; Dr. Ralph Lowry, Resident in Neurosurgery; Dr. David Harper, Resident in Gynecology; and Dr. Scan Farnsworth, Resident in Ophthalmology. Separated from the group were two other doctors reading EKG’s at a counter.
“I think you must be horny,” said Dr. Lowry with a cynical smile. “She’s the best-looking chick we’ve seen all day and you’re trying to find some excuse to admit her on your service.”
Everyone laughed but Dr. Thomas. He didn’t move except for his eyes, which turned to Dr. Langone.
“Ralph has a point,” admitted Langone. “She’s afebrile, normal vital signs, normal blood work, normal urine, and normal cerebral spinal fluid.”
“And normal skull X ray,” added Dr. Lowry.
“Well,” said Dr. Harper, getting up from his chair. “Whatever it is, it ain’t GYN. She’s had a couple of abnormal Pap smears, but that’s being followed in the clinic. So I’m going to leave you to solve this problem without me. To tell you the truth, I think she’s being hysterical.”