“You think it involved him in some way?” Lou asked.
“I don’t know what to think,” Laurie admitted. “I’m just worried. I’m afraid something terrible is about to happen.”
“All right, calm down,” Lou advised. “Leave it up to me. I’ll think of something.”
“Promise?” Laurie asked.
“Have I ever let you down?” Lou questioned.
Jack rubbed his eyes forcibly, then blinked them open. He glanced around at the profusion of unfinished autopsy cases that littered his desk. He knew there was no chance he’d be able to concentrate enough to work on them.
Then his eyes focused on two unfamiliar envelopes. One was a large manila envelope, the other was business size. Jack opened the manila one first. It contained the copy of a hospital chart. There was also a note from Bart Arnold saying that he’d taken it upon himself to get a copy of Kevin Carpenter’s chart to add to the others Jack had requested.
Jack was pleased and impressed. Such initiative was commendable and spoke well for the entire PA investigative team Jack opened the chart and glanced through it. Kevin had been admitted for an ACL repair of the right knee, which had gone smoothly Monday morning.
Jack stopped reading and thought about the fact that Kevin had been immediately postoperative when he’d come down with his symptoms.
Putting Kevin’s chart aside, he picked up Susanne Hard’s and confirmed that she, too, had been immediately post-op, having had a cesarean section. Looking at Pacini’s, he confirmed the same.
Jack wondered if having had surgery had anything to do with their having contracted their respective illnesses. It didn’t seem probable, since neither Nodelman nor Lagenthorpe had undergone surgery. Even so, Jack thought he’d keep the operative connection in mind.
Going back to Kevin’s chart, Jack learned that the flu symptoms started abruptly at six P.M. and progressed steadily and relentlessly until a little after nine. At that time they were considered worrisome enough to warrant transferring the patient to the intensive-care unit. In the unit he developed the respiratory distress syndrome that ultimately led to his death.
Jack closed the chart and put it on the stack with the others. Opening the smaller envelope—addressed simply to “Dr. Stapleton”—Jack found a computer printout and a Post-it note from Kathy McBane. The note simply thanked him again for his attention to the affairs of the General. In a short postscript Kathy added that she hoped the enclosed printout would help him.
Jack opened the printout. It was a copy of everything that had been sent from central supply to a patient by the name of Broderick Humphrey. The man’s diagnosis wasn’t mentioned, but his age was: forty-eight. The list was just as long as the lists he had for the infectious disease index cases. Like the other lists, it appeared to be random. It was not in alphabetical order, nor were similar products or equipment lumped together. Jack guessed the list was generated in the sequence the items were ordered. That idea was bolstered by the fact that all five lists started out identically, presumably because as each patient was admitted, he required standard, routine equipment.
The random nature of the lists made them hard to compare. Jack’s interest was finding any ways that the control list differed from the others. After spending fifteen wasted minutes going back and forth among the lists, Jack decided to use the computer. The first thing he did was create separate files for each patient. Into each file he copied each list. Since he was hardly the world’s best typist, this activity took him a considerable amount of time.
Several hours drifted by. In the middle of the transcription process Laurie again knocked on his door to say good night and to see if she could do anything for him. Jack was preoccupied, but he assured her that he was fine.
When all the data were entered, Jack asked the computer to list the ways the infectious cases differed from the control case. What he got was disheartening: another long list! Looking at it, he realized the problem.
In contrast to the control case, all five infectious cases had had sojourns in the intensive-care unit. In addition, all five infectious cases had died and the control hadn’t.