My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Author:Jodi Picoult
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3, pdf
Tags: Sagas, General, Medical, Fiction
ISBN: 9781416549178
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2009-07-15T18:10:15.428000+00:00

FRIDAY

Doubt thou that the stars are fire;

Doubt thou that the sun doth move;

Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt that I love.

—WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, Hamlet

CAMPBELL

THE MINUTE I WALK INTO THE HOSPITAL with Judge at my side, I know I'm in trouble. A security officer—think Hitler in drag with a very bad perm—crosses her arms and blocks my entry at the elevator bank. “No dogs,” she orders.

“This is a service dog.”

“You're not blind.”

“I have an irregular heartbeat and he's CPR certified.”

I head up to the office of Dr. Peter Bergen, a psychiatrist who happens to be the chairman of the medical ethics board at Providence Hospital. I'm here by default: I can't seem to find my client, who may or may not still be pursuing her lawsuit. Frankly, after the hearing yesterday I was pissed off—I wanted her to come to me. When she didn't, I went so far as to sit on her doorstep last night for an hour, but no one showed up at her home; this morning, assuming Anna was with her sister, I came to the hospital—only to be told I couldn't go in to see Kate. I can't find Julia, either, although I fully expected to see her still waiting yesterday on the other side of the door when Judge and I left after the incident at the courthouse. I asked her sister for a cell number, at least, but something tells me that 401-GO2-HELL is out of service.

So, because I have nothing better to do, I'm going to work on my case on the off chance that it still exists.

Bergen's secretary looks like the kind of woman whose bra size ranks higher than her IQ. “Ooh, a puppy!” she squeals. She reaches out to pat Judge.

“Please. Don't.” I start to come up with one of my ready replies, but why waste it on her? Then I head for the door in the back.

There I find a small, squat man with a stars-and-stripes bandanna over his graying curls, wearing yoga gear and doing Tai Chi. “Busy,” Bergen grunts.

“Something we have in common, Doctor. I'm Campbell Alexander, the attorney who asked for the charts on the Fitzgerald girl.”

Arms extended forward, the psychiatrist exhales. “I sent them over.”

“You sent Kate Fitzgerald's records. I need Anna Fitzgerald's.”

“You know,” he replies, “now is not a very good time for me …”

“Don't let me interrupt your workout.” I sit down, and Judge lies at my feet. “As I was saying—Anna Fitzgerald? Do you have any notes from the ethics committee about her?”

“The ethics committee has never convened on Anna Fitzgerald's behalf. It's her sister who's the patient.”

I watch him arch his back, then hunch forward. “Do you have any idea how many times Anna's been both an outpatient and an inpatient in this hospital?”

“No,” Bergen says.

“I'm counting eight.”

“But those procedures wouldn't necessarily come before the ethics committee. When the physicians agree with what the patients want, and vice versa, there's no conflict. No reason for us to even hear about it.

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