EBOOK
About
Innocent people undergoing elective orthopedic surgery at a university hospital in San Francisco are suffering infections at an alarming rate. A tourist visiting the city from Alabama sustains a routine hip fracture and dies on the operating room table before the incision is made.
Dr. Keith Grant is the chief resident in orthopedics at the hospital. He was called to treat one of the infections and to help with the tourist's hip fracture surgery. The experiences of these human tragedies profoundly affect Keith.
Keith lives in a low-rent apartment with a parakeet named Baby, rides a motorcycle, and is totally in love with a tiny Filipino pediatric nurse named Mary.
When Keith is asked to investigate the complications, he and Mary become a team of detectives. They share the mystery with Keith's best friend, Matt, a pathology resident and his partner, Duane, who is a San Francisco homicide detective.
When the data prove to be too baffling, Keith and Mary call in Dr. Raymond Stuart. Dr. Stuart is a senior member of the faculty, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon who Mary knows and respects for his diagnostic skills. Dr. Stuart lost an eye in a horrible automobile accident and no longer performs surgery. Stuart lives alone near the beach, a sad and serious man with old wounds that have not healed. Dr. Stuart agrees to help work on the problems of the complications and becomes the leader of the investigating team.
A proposal has been made to the hospital board to create a multi-million-dollar orthopedic institute. The board has decided to commission a full audit of the hospital's finances before they make their decision about funding the project. The hospital administrator, Helen Crawford, is opposed to the project and very opposed to the idea of an audit.
Other people die. The hospital Chief Financial Officer dies in Keith's arms when he is shot by a sniper outside the gym where they work out. The wife of a hospital board member is poisoned when someone puts cyanide in her cream sherry. Duane, the SFPD detective, friend of Keith's and partner to Matt, is assigned to the cases.
An irascible, foul-mouthed lawyer who is a member of the hospital board undergoes knee replacement surgery at which Keith is the assistant. After surgery, someone injects insulin into the lawyer's IV in an attempt to kill him. Keith happens to be present, makes the diagnosis, and saves the man's life.
Mary and Dr. Stuart struggle to save the life of a child who has been infected during an orthopedic operation. Despite their efforts, the child dies. Mary is seriously affected by the death of the child. The experience brings her closer to Keith and to Dr. Stuart.
Dr. Stuart discovers that the bacterium that killed the baby is identical to the one that has infected the orthopedic patients undergoing routine surgery.
Dr. Stuart and his team are faced with sick and injured victims who have all been infected with the super-bug MRSA, all of which came from a single source. Stuart knows that foul play is at work, and that the killer is someone in the hospital. However, the motive and identity of the perpetrator remain elusive.
In the course of his investigation into the shooting death of the hospital CFO, Duane uncovers some papers he cannot understand. He shares the papers with Keith and Mary. Mary realizes that some of the notes relate to Five South, a nursing unit in the hospital that has been closed and unoccupied for years. Keith volunteers to share the papers with the lawyer and board member whose life he saved.
Dr. Stuart suspects that the hospital infections, including the death of the child, the shooting death of the CFO, the poisoning of the board member's wife, and the attempt to kill the lawyer are all related. The team discovers that the MRSA bacteria were stolen from the hospital laboratory shortly before the complications started. The bacteria have been injected into the surgical instrument packs during the night
Dr. Keith Grant is the chief resident in orthopedics at the hospital. He was called to treat one of the infections and to help with the tourist's hip fracture surgery. The experiences of these human tragedies profoundly affect Keith.
Keith lives in a low-rent apartment with a parakeet named Baby, rides a motorcycle, and is totally in love with a tiny Filipino pediatric nurse named Mary.
When Keith is asked to investigate the complications, he and Mary become a team of detectives. They share the mystery with Keith's best friend, Matt, a pathology resident and his partner, Duane, who is a San Francisco homicide detective.
When the data prove to be too baffling, Keith and Mary call in Dr. Raymond Stuart. Dr. Stuart is a senior member of the faculty, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon who Mary knows and respects for his diagnostic skills. Dr. Stuart lost an eye in a horrible automobile accident and no longer performs surgery. Stuart lives alone near the beach, a sad and serious man with old wounds that have not healed. Dr. Stuart agrees to help work on the problems of the complications and becomes the leader of the investigating team.
A proposal has been made to the hospital board to create a multi-million-dollar orthopedic institute. The board has decided to commission a full audit of the hospital's finances before they make their decision about funding the project. The hospital administrator, Helen Crawford, is opposed to the project and very opposed to the idea of an audit.
Other people die. The hospital Chief Financial Officer dies in Keith's arms when he is shot by a sniper outside the gym where they work out. The wife of a hospital board member is poisoned when someone puts cyanide in her cream sherry. Duane, the SFPD detective, friend of Keith's and partner to Matt, is assigned to the cases.
An irascible, foul-mouthed lawyer who is a member of the hospital board undergoes knee replacement surgery at which Keith is the assistant. After surgery, someone injects insulin into the lawyer's IV in an attempt to kill him. Keith happens to be present, makes the diagnosis, and saves the man's life.
Mary and Dr. Stuart struggle to save the life of a child who has been infected during an orthopedic operation. Despite their efforts, the child dies. Mary is seriously affected by the death of the child. The experience brings her closer to Keith and to Dr. Stuart.
Dr. Stuart discovers that the bacterium that killed the baby is identical to the one that has infected the orthopedic patients undergoing routine surgery.
Dr. Stuart and his team are faced with sick and injured victims who have all been infected with the super-bug MRSA, all of which came from a single source. Stuart knows that foul play is at work, and that the killer is someone in the hospital. However, the motive and identity of the perpetrator remain elusive.
In the course of his investigation into the shooting death of the hospital CFO, Duane uncovers some papers he cannot understand. He shares the papers with Keith and Mary. Mary realizes that some of the notes relate to Five South, a nursing unit in the hospital that has been closed and unoccupied for years. Keith volunteers to share the papers with the lawyer and board member whose life he saved.
Dr. Stuart suspects that the hospital infections, including the death of the child, the shooting death of the CFO, the poisoning of the board member's wife, and the attempt to kill the lawyer are all related. The team discovers that the MRSA bacteria were stolen from the hospital laboratory shortly before the complications started. The bacteria have been injected into the surgical instrument packs during the night