Critical

"If you'd read further, you'd see that's not the case."

"What do you mean?" Jack asked. He felt himself getting irritated about the surgery issue all over again. Laurie could be like a dog with a bone, which he found frustrating at times, although he knew people often accused him of having the same trait.

"The patient had had his surgery eleven hours earlier at Angels Orthopedic Hospital, not University Hospital. The reason he ended up at the University Hospital was to treat his septic shock and fulminant staphylococcal pneumonia."

"Really?" Jack's eyes went back to the PA's note. Although he trusted that Laurie would never make such a thing up he had to read it himself.

"This has to worry you," Laurie said. "The fact that they had to transfer a critically ill patient at all doesn't speak very highly for the Angels Orthopedic Hospital. What kind of hospital outsources its dirty laundry? The patient apparently died in the ambulance. That's crazy!"

"New treatments for septic shock require specialized perso

"Was the infectious agent unequivocally proved to be staph aureus?" Jack asked. He tried to remember what other known diseases caused such a rapidly fulminant course.

"Not by culture but by a monoclonal-based automate diagnostic system. Both the incision site and the lungs tested positive for methicillin-resistant staph, and interestingly enough, it was a strain associated with what they call 'community-acquired staph,' not the kind of antibiotic-resistant staph that has been plaguing hospitals over the last ten or fifteen years."

"Which means the patient probably brought the bug in with him rather than acquired it in the hospital."

"Could be," Laurie agreed. "But there's no way to know. Doesn't this bother you at all? I mean, the victim was roughly your age, had suffered the same injury, and was going to have the same operation at the same hospital. It would sure make me think twice. That's all I can say."

"To be honest, a postoperative infection had been one of my concerns," Jack said. "Maybe even the biggest, which is why I asked Dr. Anderson about his record and why I have been using antibacterial soap ever since the accident. I'm going to be damn sure I'll not be bringing any bacterial hitchhikers into the hospital if I can help it."

Jack flicked the back of Vi

"Quit it!" Vi

"The supersleuth wants the super mortuary tech down in the pit," Jack said to the back of Vi

Laurie asked Riva if she could do David Jeffries's autopsy.

"Of course," Riva said. "But it's going to be a busy day. You'll have to take at least one more. Do you have a preference?"

"Sure," Laurie said absently. She was back to rereading David Jeffries's history.

"Come on, Vi

"I'm here!" a voice called out. "The day can now officially begin."

All eyes turned to the door leading out to the main part of the ID room. Even Vi

"You're in a good mood, sport," Jack said. "What's the occasion? How come you're here so early?"

"I couldn't sleep. I met a woman last night at my health club who's an impressive businesswoman. I had the feeling she's a CEO or something. I woke up this morning early, trying to figure out how to get her to go out with me."

"Ask her," Laurie suggested.

"Oh, sure, in case I hadn't thought of that."

"And she said no?"

"Sort of," Chet said.

"Well, ask her again," Laurie said. "And be direct. Sometimes you men can be rather vague to protect your fragile egos." Chet saluted, as if Laurie were his superior officer.

"Come on! You lazy good-for-nothing," Jack said after returning to where Vi

The battle for the newspaper over, Jack gave Vi

"Have you seen Detective Soldano?" Jack asked.

"He was here earlier but left to go down to the morgue," Sergeant Murphy said.

"Did he ask you about the unidentified floater that came in last night?"

"He did, and I told him the only missing-person report filed overnight was for a woman."

Jack thanked the sergeant and managed to catch up to Vi

As Jack quickly changed into scrubs, Lou couldn't help but notice the swelling and discoloration of Jack's injured knee.

"That doesn't look so good," Lou commented. "Are you sure you should be doing these posts?"

"Actually it's gotten better," Jack said. "I just have to baby it until Thursday, when it's scheduled to be repaired. That's what the crutches are for. I could do without them, but using them is a constant reminder."

"You're having it operated on so soon?" Lou questioned. "My ex-brother-in-law had an ACL tear, and he had to wait six months before having it fixed."

"The sooner I have it, the better, as far as I am concerned," Jack said as he climbed into a Tyvek coverall. "The quicker I get back to my bike and, hopefully, my b-ball, the saner I'll be. The competition and the physical exercise keep my demons at bay."