Read Fertility: A Novel for Free Online Page A

cheeks flushed. “You have to understand how bad things were. I don’t want to get him in trouble.”
    “It’s best if you just tell me how things went. I understand it was an extremely stressful situation, Tracy,” Sarah assured her.
    “He said something like, ‘Don’t be an asshole. I am trying to save your baby’s life — and unless you’d like to take over for me, I suggest you get the hell out of here and let me work.’ Just like that. Then the mother shook her head like she couldn’t believe what was happening. She was crying and she told her husband something.”
    “Could you hear what she said?”
    The LPN tried to recall the scene. “I think she said something like the doctor was their only hope. Yeah, that’s what she said. ‘He’s our only hope.’ The father looked like he was about to go nuts, but the mother took his hand and led him out of the room. It was somehow one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen, and believe me, I’ve seen plenty of sad things working here.”
    “And what happened next inside the baby’s room?”
    “Everyone was so busy working on the baby, I figured I’d just do what made sense. I was going to get clean linens for the crib when Dr. Smith told me to get the pharmacy on the room phone and tell them we had an emergency, which I did. Then he said to put the phone to his ear. I did that, too. He told the pharmacy what he needed for the baby — stat — and that he was sending someone to personally get the meds. When he was done I took the phone from his ear. Then he told me to run down and get protamine sulfate.”
    “Do you remember the dose?”
    “Oh, yeah. When Dr. Smith was still on the phone he said something like, ‘This time, try not to send me a thousand times what I’m prescribing.’ He told me to make sure I was getting 100 mg of protamine sulfate. He was very clear about that.”
    Sarah felt like she was hitting pay dirt. It was clear that Dr. Smith was certain the error originated in the pharmacy. Now Sarah had to nail down how the pharmacy’s highly touted computerized medication system allowed these errors to occur — and with such calamitous results for two-week-old Ariel Arkin.

 
     
    CHAPTER SEVEN
     
     
    The interview with Tracy Petersen, LPN, was done by eleven o’clock. Sarah and Doris had time enough before Jeannie Lopez, the charge nurse, arrived to use the bathroom and get a cup of coffee. Coffee was Sarah’s energy drink and comfort food. It also gave her something to do with her hands. Some people smoked cigarettes to keep their hands busy; Sarah generally had a cup or mug of coffee in hers. An admitted addict, she indulged with abandon.
    Jeannie Lopez added little new information. She, too, heaped praise on Joyce Hilker, calling her one of the finest nurses she’d ever worked with, and describing her as smart and dedicated. She said Hilker was great with the patients and the families, too. Lopez’s own interaction with the Arkin case began when the massive bleeding was discovered. She confirmed the steps that were taken to staunch the bleeding. When asked how she thought the overdose had occurred, she pointed the finger of responsibility at the pharmacy. She said she had no explanation, however, for how Hilker had missed the discrepancy between the labels on the heparin vial.
    Dr. Esther Cho, the attending physician for the baby, was scheduled next, but she was late. Sarah used the time to begin writing up her preliminary findings. About twenty minutes later, a tall, slender woman in her late thirties appeared at the door.
    “I was called to an interview. Is this the right place?”
    “Dr. Cho?” Sarah inquired.
    “Yes.”
    “Please come in,” Sarah said as she showed her to a seat.
    “Can we make this quick?” the doctor asked. “I have some very sick patients waiting for me on the floor.”
    Sarah skipped her usual introduction, started the digital recorder and nodded to Doris. “Certainly. I think we can get right