Clinical Trials and Death by Patti Larsen

Author:Patti Larsen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Patti Larsen Books

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Chapter Thirteen

It worked out for the best. The last thing I wanted was to have any kind of conversation with my husband at the moment, knowing it wouldn’t be productive and likely hurtful on both sides. That’s why when we were separated again for our next round of testing I took it as an omen I was meant to stew on my own and sort my head and heart out before I made an even bigger mess out of a disaster from an overreact. I was surprised, however, when an attractive woman in her mid-forties entered my room this time, stethoscope around her neck and tablet in her hand suggesting she wasn’t another accidental arrival.

“Where’s Dr. Mantegna?” Did that come out complaining and aggressive? Probably, and though she was a newcomer and I normally would have done my best to be friendly, I just didn’t have it in me at the moment. I felt myself tense as the woman, her tag identifying her as Claudia Rushmount, Nurse Practitioner, carried on with her kind smile but professional tone.

“He’s been asked to oversee the cancer trial,” she told me, “since he was one of the original researchers. He’ll be checking in with you, I assure you, but he asked me to guide you through these next steps in your testing. If you have any questions, he said he’d make himself available.”

Grumble, grump. “Okay,” I said, even though it really wasn’t. “What’s next?”

Wouldn’t you know? She carried on with her own private questions and examinations that felt far too much like a repeat of what I went through yesterday. At least this time I was a) talking to another woman and b) used to the invasion of privacy so that I could answer this time without all the stumbling and blushing. It also meant, as the more physical side of the exam took place, I was able to free my mind to go elsewhere.

Namely, to the conversation I’d overheard between Che and the cancer researcher and how Ian Linder was now likely spinning on his morgue slab knowing the doctor he’d tried to remove from the trial was now running it. But why had he tried to cut Che out of the project? Succeeded, even. Did that mean Che wasn’t qualified to run it? Or because Che knew Ian wasn’t playing straight? Didn’t matter, I suppose, and was out of my hands for the time being. Because now that Linder was dead it looked like the whole shebang was in Dr. Che Mantegna’s wheelhouse, capable or otherwise.

Why did I feel more confident in his management than the dead man’s, despite knowing Ian Linder wanted Che out of the way? Probably for that very reason. Had I jumped to a conclusion I shouldn’t have? It was like me, I admitted it to myself if never to anyone else (looking at you, Crew Turner). Still, this was Bernice’s health and I honestly thought Che was the better doctor. But was he the better researcher?

I needed more information, obviously.

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