SWEET ANTICIPATION Read Free Page B

two didn’t hit it off well at all, but he’s really a nice guy, very popular here at the medical center and well respected in his field. But even though he is a very good doctor, he rarely takes care of patients anymore. For the last few years he has been concentrating more on research than a medical practice. The administration here believes in his abilities and dedication, as well as the importance of his field of interest, so much that they have kept him on the staff anyway. He draws a healthy salary, but research is expensive and he had to get a federal grant to fund his experimentation with fertility problems.”
     
    “Why would he store his own sperm?”
     
    “I’m not sure exactly what project he is working on right now. He didn’t tell me why he had his own specimen in storage, and I wouldn’t presume to ask. But I’m sure that he must have had a very good reason. He did explain why he was using our storage facilities, though, instead of the ones in his lab. Usually he keeps all his experiments in his own storage unit, but something had gone wrong with the thermostat and he was afraid there would be a fluctuation in temperature that would ruin his experiment.
     
    “As usual, he had been working late into the night, so when he moved his specimen to the lab’s main unit, there was no one else in the department. Since he planned on getting his storage unit fixed first thing the next day and transferring his experiments back, he didn’t even mention the specimen to anyone until he found that his unit couldn’t be fixed. Without even thinking about there being no label on the vial, he left it in our unit until he could get enough money to replace his.”
     
    “But it’s been six months,” Lauren protested, unable to accept defeat without checking out all the possible flaws. “Why did it take him so long to find out his specimen was missing?”
     
    “As I said, I’m not familiar with his experiments, but he mentioned something about planning further testing after it had been in cold storage for a period of six months. Apparently when he went to retrieve his vial, he discovered it was no longer there and raised quite a ruckus.”
     
    “Surely the nurse would have realized her mistake sooner than this. It sounds to me like a case of total negligence.”
     
    Dr. Reese removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, then forced his gaze to meet Lauren’s. He had worked at this medical center, which was a combination of research facilities, private practices and a hospital in one large unit, for many years. He was so much older than most of his associates that he had begun to feel a sort of parental pride toward them. He noted their many achievements and their dedication and knew that when he finally retired, he would be leaving this facility in capable hands.
     
    Of course, this was not the first time someone on the staff had made an error in judgment and he was certain it wouldn’t be the last. Whenever the human element was involved, there was always a margin for error. Knowing that didn’t make it any less upsetting to admit to a patient that someone had made a mistake. But in this instance, he felt that he had no other choice.
     
    “I realize that there’s absolutely no acceptable excuse for what happened, but it was just one of those odd occurrences that sometimes slip through even the most perfect system. The nurse was a fairly new employee in the lab and not experienced enough to know how to handle unusual procedures. Of course, she should have double-checked with someone else in the department before she reattached the label and brought me that vial. She should have examined each and every vial in the freezer to make certain there were no other discrepancies, but as I said before, she had no idea that Jordan’s experiments were in there, too. Still, she made a serious error and I can assure you that disciplinary actions have been taken against