4/25/16
It was Dr. Stone’s day off so he was able to stay with his son in the hospital examination room while they waited for the test results to come back from the lab. He did his best to remain calm so as not to alarm his son, but he was familiar with the symptoms and knew already the tests would show his son had cancer.
Dr. Stone was in his early sixties and was the chief transplant surgeon for Wotan General Hospital. He had served here for most of his career, and thus knew and was known by everyone of importance in the community. He lost his wife to cancer ten years ago, and so was willing to do whatever it might take to keep from losing his son as well.
Roland was in his mid thirties. He had not followed in his father’s medical footsteps. Instead he had pursued a musical passion and was the drummer for a small band which played in the local nightclubs and hotels.
Roland had come to his father a day prior since the pain in his abdomen which he’d tried to brush off for several weeks had suddenly become more acute. But it took only a brief look and a couple of quick questions for Dr. Stone to declare they needed tests and to call the hospital lab for their availability. So now they were waiting together, and Roland could read his father well enough to know it was serious.
A short time later Dr. Scott Smaland the hospital administrator came in and addressed Dr. Stone.
“Frank, I heard you were here with Roland so I came to express my concern. I want you to know that we’ll do everything we can to help.”
“Thanks, Scott. But we don’t have the tests back yet, so… Wait, how did you hear about it?”
“Ah. Well, the lab manager called me and thought that, given the results, perhaps I’d like to be the one to break the news. I’m afraid the tests were positive. It’s –”
“Yes, I know. Thank you. Do you have the results with you?”
Dr. Smaland tried to make small talk with Roland while Dr. Stone scrutinized the lab results and X-ray slides. After asking how the music business was going and if Roland had any marriage prospects yet, Dr. Smaland was relieved to see Dr. Stone was ready to talk.
“It appears it’s contained to the kidneys, so I’d like to remove them before it can metastasize. But that means we’ll need to put Roland at the top of the recipient list for the next kidneys that come in.”
“Ehh. We can do the removal as soon as you’d like. But as for replacement kidneys, I’m afraid it won’t be possible to move ahead of the patients already waiting. But Roland should be ok with dialysis until his turn comes up.”
“After all I’ve done for you and this hospital I can’t get even a small consideration?!”
“I see you’re upset at the moment, so we can talk about it later, hmm. Oh, bye Roland. Don’t worry about a thing.”
A few days later Dr. Stone was preparing Roland for surgery and giving some last minute instructions. Only they weren’t in the hospital operating room. Roland was sitting on a makeshift surgery table in the basement of his father’s house.
“Alright son, this’ll be over before you know it. I think you know Susan over there at the sink. She’ll be assisting me during the operation. And that’s Derek getting the anesthesia equipment set up. So we’re about ready to go.”
“But dad, I don’t understand why we’re not doing this in the hospital. What’s going on?”
“I can’t wait for Dr. Smaland’s schedule and risk losing you. This has to be done quickly to have the best chance of success. Susan and Derek are able to keep quiet about it. And we’ll get the equipment back before it’s missed. So we’ll be fine.”
“But how did you get the kidneys? Don’t they keep records on things like that? They’ll notice if a couple of them turn up missing.”
“Nobody will notice anything, because these didn’t come from the regular donor system.”
“Then where did they come from?”
“I have a friend in the hospital’s morgue.”
“What?!”
“Shh. It’s okay. They came from a motorcycle accident victim we couldn’t save. Now just lay back and when you wake up you’ll be well again.”
The operation went without complication. Dr. Stone’s extensive experience enabled him to complete the transplants rapidly. Thus Susan and Derek had been able to clean up and leave long before Roland reawakened. Dr. Stone smiled as he saw Roland’s eyes open and focus on him.
“Good morning. Glad to have you back. You’ll be pleased to know this first part went well. In a couple of weeks, we can plan the next step.”
“Huh? What do… wait. Say all that again.”
“The kidney transplant went pretty well. So that part’s good. We’ll have to start you on anti-rejection medication, and you’ll need to stay on that from now on. But that shouldn’t be too difficult for you.”
“If it went well, why am I still in pain? It seems even worse than before.”
“I had hoped to remove the diseased kidneys before the cancer had time to spread. Unfortunately, even though nothing was showing on the scans yet, once I had you open I could see that it’s already moved to the liver as well. So once you’ve healed up a bit, we’ll transplant that too. And with any luck, that’ll be the last of the cancer, and the end of the pain.”
“Okay. But can’t you give me something for it now?”
“I can give you a little morphine to help you rest. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
A week later Roland had recovered enough to pay a visit to one of his father’s friends. Willie Ingar had been the hospital’s morgue attendant for nearly twenty years. He enjoyed the solitude and the relatively slow pace compared to the excitement of the upper floors.
Willie began working right out of high school, starting as an orderly pushing supply carts, laundry carts and the occasional gurney. But after only a few months Dr. Stone had taken notice of him and began encouraging him to consider higher education. Before long Willie had been induced to enroll in the nursing program offered by the community college.
It was hard. Very hard. Especially as he had to continue working at the same time in order to support himself. But Dr. Stone’s frequent pep talks kept him at it for two full years. Unfortunately he couldn’t keep his grades high enough and he was dismissed from the program. After that Dr. Stone helped him get this current position and he’d been here ever since. Thus it was that when Dr. Stone came to him with a special request, Willie was only too glad to help.
Willie smiled brightly as Roland entered the room. He’d known Roland for as long as he’d known his father. Besides, it wasn’t often that he received visitors down here.
“Roland! Good to see ya, man.”
“Hey, Willie. Good to be here. In fact that’s why… Is it safe to talk?”
“Sure. Nobody’s gonna bother us. None of ’em even wanna come down here.”
“I just wanted to thank you for what you did, you know, to help me.”
“Oh, I was glad to be able to do it. I owe your father a lot. Besides, he made it easy.”
“How’s that?”
“He’s the one who found the donor with the right blood and tissue type. All I had to do was wait until the Coroner finished the autopsy. Then it was just grab the parts and close up the body. The best part is the family ordered a cremation. So as soon as he went to the funeral home, no more evidence.”
“Yeah. That’s pretty sweet, alright. Say, did my dad mention we also need a –”
“Yeah, he did. And we’ve already been watching for one. But so far the right person hasn’t died.”
“Bummer. Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean that how it sounded.”
“No problem, man. I get you.”
“But you have access to the hospital computer. Isn’t there anyone in this whole place that matches?”
“Not that’s anywhere near dying. The only one who could be a match was that girl. That guy’s sister.”
“Who? What guy’s sister?”
“The one who gave us your kidneys. While they were still trying to save him, his kid sister came in and donated blood. So she’s a match. But she’s not likely to give up her liver anytime soon.”
“Do you have her name?”
“What for?”
“Oh, just curious. Maybe I’ll need a blood donation someday and it seems I’m hard to match.”
“I dunno. This isn’t the same thing as before.”
“Nothing’s gonna happen. I just want to know.”
“Fine. But I’m not giving you anything else. Not unless it’s your father asking for it.”
“OK. Say, you don’t happen to have any pain meds down here, do you?”
“Nah. By the time someone gets here, they don’t need it anymore.”
“Never mind. I know a guy who does.”
About the same time that Roland and Willie were talking Dr. Stone received a message to report to Dr. Smaland’s office as soon as possible. Dr. Stone grimaced and wondered if some part of his exploits had been discovered. He braced himself and put on a flat demeanor.
“Hello, Scott. You wanted to see me?”
“Yes. Come in, Frank. Good to finally see you. Somehow we’ve managed to miss each other for almost two weeks now. Oh, have a seat. I wanted to tell you I haven’t forgotten about Roland. We appreciate you here and I want you to know I meant it when I said we’d do what we could.”
“Thank you.”
“Well, by pulling a few strings and calling in some favors I’ve managed to find a pair of kidneys for him. They should become available within a couple of days.”
“Oh. That’s great. Thank you, Scott. But I don’t need them any–, at this time. But can that source send us the liver instead?”
“What? But I thought…”
“It’s that since the last time we talked I’ve reviewed the test results more closely, and consulted with a few other doctors, and I think it would be better to replace the liver now, and then go from there.”
“I see. I suppose I could ask for the liver too. I’ll try. In the meantime tell Roland to stay available.”
Dr. Stone quickly left the administrator’s office and headed toward home. He needed to plan how to do the next operation in the hospital without the previous work being discovered. Perhaps he could get Susan and Derek to assist again. That way there wouldn’t be anyone new involved.
Dr. Stone was just fitting his key in the lock when his front door flew open. Roland reached out, grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside. Roland then poked his head out, glanced quickly up and down the street, then slammed and locked the front door again.
“Roland! What are you doing?”
“Nothing. Just checking. I gotta talk to you.”
“Stop! Look at me. Mm, hmm. Are you high?”
“No. Just a little something for the pain.”
“Roland, I’ve told you a hundred times about street drugs.”
“I know, but it was so bad I had to.”
“You should have come to me, and I’d have given you something safer.”
“We won’t have to deal with it much longer. Come to the basement. I have a surprise for you.”
Dr. Stone froze as he entered the downstairs room. A girl in her late teens was gagged and tied to a chair. Her eyes were filled with panic and her breath was gasping as she struggled against the bonds.
Dr. Stone’s voice was only a hoarse whisper. “What have you done?!”
“It’s our liver donor, dad.”
The conversation was cut short by the sound of sirens approaching.
“Damn it!” Roland shouted. “That lady saw me after all.”
Roland rushed upstairs. As soon as he was gone Dr. Stone crossed the room and untied the girl.
“It’s ok, I won’t hurt you. Hold still a minute. Now, stay close behind me and I’ll get you out of here.”
When Dr. Stone reached the foyer with the girl in tow he saw Roland peering between the front drapes. Roland spoke without turning. “It looks like there’s more than twenty of them out there.”
Dr. Stone reached the front door and unlocked it before Roland noticed what he was doing. So by the time Roland shouted “NO”, it was too late.
Two police led the girl to an ambulance, while two other pushed Dr. Stone against a police car and frisked him. Once he was straightened up again the police sergeant in charge was there facing him.
“It’s my son Roland. He didn’t know what he was doing. He’s on medication. But he’s not dangerous. He’s not armed. Please don’t hurt him!”
The police sergeant didn’t say anything. He just made a jerk with his head and the two officers led Dr. Stone to one of their cars and sat him in the back. Dr. Stone then watched as the drama played out.
The police shot a canister of tear gas through the front window of the house. But a minute later the cloud of smoke billowing out the broken window was joined by flames. Apparently the canister had caught in the draperies.
Dr. Stone called out, “Roland! Get out! Hurry!” But his cries were too muffled to be heard. He pulled on the door handle, but it wouldn’t open. He pressed his forehead against the glass hoping to see Roland exit the burning house.
Even with the car window fogged up from his breath he could see the entire first floor was almost fully engulfed in flames. The firemen were being held back by the police until they knew whether or not the kidnapper was still a threat to them.
At last the front door of the house opened and a figure wrapped in a heavy blanket emerged. He flipped the blanket off his head and shouted loudly. “You should have helped me!” Then to everyone’s surprise, most of all Dr. Stone, he turned and went back into the burning house.
The police sergeant signaled to the firemen and they rushed forward with their hoses to battle the blaze. But everyone already realized there was little chance of saving anyone now. Dr. Stone was soon released and disappeared into the crowd.
The investigation later showed that he hadn’t had any part in the kidnapping. He retired from the hospital and moved away without telling anyone where he’d be going. He wasn’t heard from again.
Some of the hospital staff say that late at night, when all the patients are asleep and the nurse station is quiet, if you listen closely you can sometimes hear a soft whispering going up and down the corridors. “Dr. Frank Stone, you’re needed for surgery please.”
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