ADRENALINE: New 2013 edition Read Online Free Page A

and women in medicine. It killed him to take Kim in as a partner last year. He believes only men have the necessary devotion to make reliable partners. Haven’t you ever heard him rattle off one of his favorite sayings? ‘Men don’t get pregnant’ or ‘Women are ruled by their emotions.’”
    “Yeah, I guess I have.”
    “There’s two other things that really stick in his craw. You know that Kim will call off when one of her kids is sick. Marshall can’t stand that. As far as he’s concerned, dedication to Keystone is Job One; kids and family take a backseat—way back.” Doug finished his slice and washed it down with more coffee. The cold coffee almost made him gag, but he forced it down, figuring he needed the caffeine to make it through the meeting.
    “What else?” Mike asked. “You said two things.”
    “Well—and this is probably the main reason he hates her—her husband’s a fricking doctor. He’s an internist with Lombard Associates, the busiest practice in Central Pennsylvania.”
    “I know that. Why is that such a problem?” Mike made little popping sounds with his empty Coke can as he repeatedly dented it.
    “Marshall likes his docs to be sole breadwinners with families. The reason is simple. These suckers are much more likely to be loyal to him because they’re dependent on him for their livelihood.”
    “Oh, you mean like me?” Mike asked and smiled ruefully. His hands became still for a moment.
    “Yeah, just like you. And me. You’re not going to gripe about working seventy hours a week. You need the money. So do I. Kim
does
gripe about the hours.”
    “OK, I get it,” Mike said quickly. “Maybe we should change the subject before he gets here.”
    “Fine, but you asked me.” Doug didn’t add that Marshall also liked his doctors in debt and encouraged this with low interest corporate loans. Doug knew Mike had recently made use of this and bought a huge new house and was in big-time debt.
    Bryan Marshall moved to the lectern, glanced at his watch, and gruffly called the meeting to order at precisely 7:00 p.m. Even though he had been in the states for thirty years, he still retained traces of his South African acquired British accent. Doug couldsee he was in a foul mood. Where was Kim? he thought anxiously. He glanced around the table at the other members of their group.
    Marshall cleared his throat, and Doug refocused on him. He was a large man, just shy of sixty, with a generous potbelly somehow supported by thin spindly legs. He had a thick mane of white hair that was disheveled at the moment thanks to the surgical cap he had worn all day. His massive head rested uncomfortably on his shoulders with only a hint of neck showing, as if the weight of his head compressed his neck. His coarse facial features appeared slightly swollen and inflamed due to the deep ruddiness of his complexion. Tortuous blood vessels snaked across his temples and neck adding to the impression that his head contained too much pressure.
    Doug watched him scan the room and saw his scowl deepen. He was clearly annoyed, and this amused Doug. After spending twenty-eight years as chief of the department, Doug knew that Bryan Marshall was unaccustomed to being delayed by anyone.
    “Well, it seems Dr. Burrows hasn’t seen fit to arrive yet,” Marshall said. He practically spat out the word “doctor.” Doug knew Marshall was capable of thickening his accent at will, a technique he often employed to telegraph his authority and command respect. Tonight, it sounded like he had just stepped off the boat from Johannesburg. “No matter. We have a lot to cover and I’d like to commence.”
    Doug turned to Mike and rolled his eyes in anticipation of yet another long meeting. There had been too many in the past month.
    “As you know,” said Marshall, “Mercy is engaged in merger negotiations with Osteo and General.” Doug knew Lancaster Osteopathic Hospital and Lancaster General Hospital were Mercy’s chief