Read Online Notorious D.O.C. (Hope Sze medical mystery) by Melissa Yi, Melissa Yuan-Innes - Free Book Online

somehow made her seem younger and
slightly unbalanced.
    "Mrs. Turrigan. Is there a history
of mental illness in your or your husband's family?"
    She shook her head. "No. Nothing
serious."
    "Anything un-serious?" She
looked blank, so I said, "Was anyone sad, or anxious? Did they see
anything or hear anything other people couldn't?"
    She paused to think before she waved her
hand. "Oh, one of my aunts. My father's sister. She was very religious.
She talked to Jesus. But wouldn't we all like to?" She forced a laugh.
"We consider her lucky. Blessed, you know."
    "And your husband's family?"
    "Not that he told me." She gave
a smile that was more like a flash of teeth. "We're separated."
    Parents breaking up. One more stressor
for Walter. "How did you think it was going for him at school?"
    "He's always been the top of his
class. He won lots of awards when he graduated, and he received a good
scholarship at McGill. I've never worried about my Walter and school." She
chuckled. "I don't understand what he talks about half the time. He's a
bright boy."
    "As far as you know, does he take
any drugs or alcohol?"
    She reared back in her seat. "No,
no! Our family is very strict about that. We've always told him to say no. And
he's been too busy. He raised money for children with AIDS when he was in
CÉGEP. He plays guitar in a band. And now, of course, with engineering, it can
be a bit much." She folded her hands in her lap. "Walter is fine,
just overtired."
    I felt bad for her. Robert and I
exchanged a look. I wasn't sure if I should try and break the bad news to her
or let the staff doctor earn his keep. "Mrs. Turrigan—"
    Her cheeks flamed. "No! I don't know
what I'm doing here. It's been a very long day. All I wanted was for his doctor
to give him a few pills to calm him down. She made me come to the emergency
room and now they're talking about making him stay here? It's ridiculous!"
    "Mrs. Turrigan, I know it's
hard." What could I say? She was in denial and I had no good idea how to
comfort her. "I am going to talk to the psychiatrist, but Walter is
probably going to have to...stay here." That was a good euphemism.
"We're going to have to work together to do what's best for Walter."
    She held herself rigid, but tears
sprouted in her eyes.
    Robert had been silent up 'til now. It
was my case and he was there to observe. But he reached forward and touched her
hand.
    She stiffened.
    We all held our breath.
    Then she blinked and tears fell from her
eyes, even as she kept perfectly still, her gaze fixed on the coat hook on the
back of the door. In that moment, she reminded me of her son.
    That made me think of Mrs. Lee. There's
more than one way to lose your kid.
    After admitting Walter, I felt exhausted.
Instead of grabbing a coffee, I hit the gym.
    St. Joe's has a little, staff-only gym
beside its cafeteria that costs ten dollars per month. Whenever I have a few
spare minutes, I put on my running shoes. Since it was just before the lunch
hour rush, I had the place nearly to myself. Now I just had to decide if I
could go over to Mrs. Lee's house or not.
    I sighed and lowered my stack of weights
using my quads.
    There are no fixed rules about
interacting with patients, but we went over some guidelines in med school.
    Don't hug. If they hug you, you can
accept it, but never initiate. It's better if you just pat them on the arm, at
most.
    Don't date.
    But then the question always came up,
what if you live in a small town where you're the only doctor and you don't
have anyone but patients to hang out with?
    So they made up some more rules:
    Psychiatrists, never. Never date.
Certainly don't screw. Nothing. Completely off-limits.
    Emerg, where's it's an in-and-out visit
and you'll never see them again, wait six months.
    Mrs. Lee couldn't wait six months.
    I filled up my water bottle at the
fountain while another guy blasted CNN and walked the treadmill. The door beeped,
signaling another gym rat's entrance.
    I sensed someone behind me and