Read Online Mutation by Robin Cook - Free Book Online Page A

socialized.
         "He was such a special child," Horace said. "So exceptional, so intelligent . . ." He shook his head. Colette hid her face in her hands. Her shoulders began to quiver. Horace sat back down and put an arm around his wife.
         "What's the name of the doctor taking care of Mark?" Victor asked.
         "Nakano," Horace answered. "Dr. Nakano."
         Victor excused himself, left his coat with the Murrays, and departed the waiting room with its anxious parents. He walked toward Pediatric Surgical Intensive Care, which was at the end of the corridor, behind a pair of electronic doors. As Victor stepped on the rubberized area in front of the doors, they automatically opened.
         The room inside was familiar to Victor from his days as a resident. There was the usual profusion of electronic gear and scurrying nurses. The constant hiss of the respirators and bleeps of the cardiac monitors gave the room an aura of tension. Life here was in the balance.
         Since Victor acted at ease in the environment, no one questioned his presence, despite the fact that he was not wearing an ID. Victor went to the desk and asked if Dr. Nakano was available.
         "He was just here," a pert young woman replied. She half stood and leaned over the counter to see if she could spot him. Then she sat down and picked up the phone. A moment later the page system added Dr. Nakano's name to the incessant list that issued from speakers in the ceiling.
         Walking about the room, Victor tried to locate Mark, but too many of the kids were on respirators that distorted their faces. He returned to the desk just as the ward clerk was hanging up the phone. Seeing Victor, she told him that Dr. Nakano was on his way back to the unit.
         Five minutes later, Victor was introduced to the handsome, deeply tanned Japanese-American. Victor explained that he was a physician and friend of the Murray family, and that he hoped to get some idea of what was happening to Mark.
         "It's not good," Dr. Nakano said candidly. "The child is dying. It's not often we can say that, but in this case the problem is unresponsive to any treatment."
         "Do you have any idea of what's going on?" Victor asked.
         "We know what's happening," Dr. Nakano said, "what we don't know is what's causing it. Come on, I'll show you."
         With the hurried step of a busy doctor, Dr. Nakano took off toward the rear of the ICU. He stopped outside a cubicle separated from the main portion of the ICU.
         "The child's on precautions," Dr. Nakano explained. "There's been no evidence of infection, but we thought just in case . . ." He handed Victor a gown, hat, and mask. Both men donned the protective gear and entered the small room.
         Mark Murray was in the center of a large crib with high side rails. His head was swathed in a gauze bandage. Dr. Nakano explained that they'd tried a decompression and a shunt, hoping that might help, but it hadn't.
         "Take a look," Dr. Nakano said, handing Victor an ophthalmoscope. Leaning over the stricken two-year-old, Victor lifted Mark's eyelid and peered through the dilated, fixed pupil. Despite his inexperience with the instrument, he saw the pathology immediately. The optic nerve was bulging forward as if being pushed from behind.
         Victor straightened up.
         "Pretty impressive, no?" Dr. Nakano said. He took the scope from Victor and peered himself. He was quiet for a moment, then straightened up. "The disappointing thing is that it is getting progressively worse. The kid's brain is still swelling. I'm surprised it's not coming out his ears. Nothing has helped; not the decompression, not the shunt, not massive steroids, not mannitol. I'm afraid we've just about given up."
         Victor had noticed there was no nurse in attendance. "Any hemorrhage or signs of trauma?" he asked.
         "Nope," Dr. Nakano said simply. "Other than the swelling, the