The Wisdom of Evil Read Online Free
Author: Scarlet Black
really didn’t matter.
Dr. Malcolm had been listening intently . Glory thought he was a sympathetic listener, that he understood what they going through, until he spoke in a quick, briskly officious tone.
“ Hmm. This case is certainly somewhat of a mystery. Our team would like to do an autopsy on the patient to see what caused such a massive stroke. Also, are you aware if the patient is an organ donor?” He said all this without as much as a pause in speech.
Glory almost fell off of her chair. She was shocked, but underlying that emotion was pure and simple anger. She looked at him in an entirely different light now, no longer as a kindly old gentleman, but as some sort of ghoulish fiend. The slightly built Dr. Khan was the only one of the three who did not meet her gaze directly. Michael and Ted were stunned into silence.
“You want to do an autopsy? She’s alive! What the hell is wrong with you people? I just found out not ten minutes ago that this is a serious condition and you’re…talking about autopsies and organ donation? And by the way, she is our mother and her name is Mary . How can you be such a cold hearted bastard and call yourself a doctor? Jesus, maybe we should move her out of this place,” Glory said, anger mingling with the heavy sadness she felt.
“M a’am, I’m sorry, I do not mean any harm or cruelty toward your family. Perhaps I spoke a bit harshly and, for that, I apologize. That said. We have the best doctors in the world working with stroke victims here. Even so, the reality is she will never recover from this. There’s no brain activity whatsoever. We only ask about the autopsy because…well, this is a teaching hospital and our findings may help others in the future. Come; let me show you what I’m talking about.”
Room two-fifteen no longer looked like a hospital room, but a frightening box full of strange wires and alien equipment making sinister sounds, a box they were all trapped in.
Dr. Khan opened each one of their mother’s eyes and shone a flashlight in them. There was no dilation, no response at all.
While they watched, her left arm twitched and, again, the blip of the monitors gave them an inch of hope.
“That ’s only an involuntary movement as Dr. Pierce explained earlier. I’m sorry to have to bring the point home. She’s completely brain dead. Her heart is still beating and the machines are breathing for her, but she will never come out of this coma. Never. Look, I know this is hard for you, but you need to think about turning the machines off and…letting her go.”
“We can’t do that! We won’t do that!” Ted shouted. “How can we even consider this? Her heartbeat is strong. I refuse to sign anything, no pull the plug, no autopsy, and whatever other fuckin’ paperwork you educated idiots want us to sign!” Tears were gathered at the bottom lids of his eyes. His face was red with frustration, raging at the unfairness of it, his mind struggling to deny what he knew to be true. He looked to Glory. “What do you think we should do?” he asked.
Standing next to her husband, the tears flowed freely but quietly down her cheeks. Making no effort to wipe them away, she leaned up against Michael for support. Her whole body was shaking; her legs felt as if they would give way at any moment.
She felt cold, numb. As the eldest child, she was deemed the heart and soul of this family by everyone. Why she had such a place in this family, she didn’t know. After all, she kept others at a distance, but they seemed not to notice or care.
Even Michael often de ferred to her when it came to matters of the heart, apparently seeing something in her that she was unable to perceive in herself.
C hapter 3
Michael was a tough guy, yet he always melted in his wife’s presence. He was a good man; a kind man, and to Glory, he was the most loving man she’d ever known. Somehow, she hadn’t repeated the familiar pattern, ending up with a man like her father,
Dr. Malcolm had been listening intently . Glory thought he was a sympathetic listener, that he understood what they going through, until he spoke in a quick, briskly officious tone.
“ Hmm. This case is certainly somewhat of a mystery. Our team would like to do an autopsy on the patient to see what caused such a massive stroke. Also, are you aware if the patient is an organ donor?” He said all this without as much as a pause in speech.
Glory almost fell off of her chair. She was shocked, but underlying that emotion was pure and simple anger. She looked at him in an entirely different light now, no longer as a kindly old gentleman, but as some sort of ghoulish fiend. The slightly built Dr. Khan was the only one of the three who did not meet her gaze directly. Michael and Ted were stunned into silence.
“You want to do an autopsy? She’s alive! What the hell is wrong with you people? I just found out not ten minutes ago that this is a serious condition and you’re…talking about autopsies and organ donation? And by the way, she is our mother and her name is Mary . How can you be such a cold hearted bastard and call yourself a doctor? Jesus, maybe we should move her out of this place,” Glory said, anger mingling with the heavy sadness she felt.
“M a’am, I’m sorry, I do not mean any harm or cruelty toward your family. Perhaps I spoke a bit harshly and, for that, I apologize. That said. We have the best doctors in the world working with stroke victims here. Even so, the reality is she will never recover from this. There’s no brain activity whatsoever. We only ask about the autopsy because…well, this is a teaching hospital and our findings may help others in the future. Come; let me show you what I’m talking about.”
Room two-fifteen no longer looked like a hospital room, but a frightening box full of strange wires and alien equipment making sinister sounds, a box they were all trapped in.
Dr. Khan opened each one of their mother’s eyes and shone a flashlight in them. There was no dilation, no response at all.
While they watched, her left arm twitched and, again, the blip of the monitors gave them an inch of hope.
“That ’s only an involuntary movement as Dr. Pierce explained earlier. I’m sorry to have to bring the point home. She’s completely brain dead. Her heart is still beating and the machines are breathing for her, but she will never come out of this coma. Never. Look, I know this is hard for you, but you need to think about turning the machines off and…letting her go.”
“We can’t do that! We won’t do that!” Ted shouted. “How can we even consider this? Her heartbeat is strong. I refuse to sign anything, no pull the plug, no autopsy, and whatever other fuckin’ paperwork you educated idiots want us to sign!” Tears were gathered at the bottom lids of his eyes. His face was red with frustration, raging at the unfairness of it, his mind struggling to deny what he knew to be true. He looked to Glory. “What do you think we should do?” he asked.
Standing next to her husband, the tears flowed freely but quietly down her cheeks. Making no effort to wipe them away, she leaned up against Michael for support. Her whole body was shaking; her legs felt as if they would give way at any moment.
She felt cold, numb. As the eldest child, she was deemed the heart and soul of this family by everyone. Why she had such a place in this family, she didn’t know. After all, she kept others at a distance, but they seemed not to notice or care.
Even Michael often de ferred to her when it came to matters of the heart, apparently seeing something in her that she was unable to perceive in herself.
C hapter 3
Michael was a tough guy, yet he always melted in his wife’s presence. He was a good man; a kind man, and to Glory, he was the most loving man she’d ever known. Somehow, she hadn’t repeated the familiar pattern, ending up with a man like her father,
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