Page 37 of Puck Me

The receptionist nods politely. “Of course. Do you have an appointment?”

“No, but I need to see him now. It’s an emergency.”

Doctors understand emergencies, at least. “Of course. I’ll take you to him at once.”

Dr. Kline is in his office. The receptionist ushers me inside.

“Hi, Dr. Kline. I’m Dr. Storm Harris. I’m here to speak to you about your clinical trial.”

“Nice to meet you, Dr. Harris. I’ve heard about your work and read some of your papers. Most impressive.”

“Thanks. I’m actually here about one of your papers, the clinical trial you’re running. I need you to accept one of my patients—an ex-patient, really—into the trial.”

“Ah, you’re talking about Chester Russo?”

“That’s right.”

“I’m sorry, Dr. Harris, but the trial is full. It’s not that Chester couldn’t benefit from the treatment, but there are better candidates, and I had to put them ahead of him.”

“I don’t think you understand. I am not asking.”

Dr. Kline frowns at me, folding his arms. “I don’t appreciate what you’re implying.”

“Let me speak plainly, then. Your sister is currently a patient in our psychiatric ward. Kleptomania, I believe. Youwilllet Chester into the trial. If you don’t, I’m going to tell her work all about her little problem. They will know why all that valuable equipment went missing. She’ll be shunned by the entire community. Her career will be over.”

“Are youblackmailing me?”

“Call it what you want. Either Chester gets into the trial, or your sister’s career is over, not to mention the potential legal ramifications for what she has done.”

It makes me feel dirty, saying things like this, much less intending to follow through on them, but what choice do I have? Chester needs to get into this trial. I have to use every resource at my disposal to get him in, even if those resources aren’t entirely legal.

“What makes you think I won’t go straight to the police?”

“I think you care about your sister more than you care about getting the absolute optimum results for your trial. But hey, it’s your choice. However, you need to make it now, and if you decide to let Chester in, I will hold you to that decision.”

“By my sister’s head, which you have on the chopping block.”

“Exactly,” I say, hating myself.

“Fine,” Dr. Kline snaps. “Chester is in the trial. Just leave my sister alone.”

“As long as he remains in the trial, I won’t have any reason to release the information I have.”

“You’re a real piece of shit, you know that? People said good things about you. I guess they were wrong.”

I want to defend myself, but honestly, what defense is there? He’s right. What kind of person threatens to ruin someone’s life to get what they want? It doesn’t matter that what I want is to help Chester. I’m still way out of line on this.

Even knowing that, however, isn’t enough to stop me, not when I consider the idea of going back to Chester empty handed. He needs this. I promised him I would make it right.

“I expect Chester to receive an email saying that circumstances have changed and he’s in the trial.”

“I’ll send it now,” Dr. Kline growls. “Now get the hell out of my office. I don’t ever want to see you again. Stay away from me—and my sister.”

“As long as you hold up your end of the bargain, I’ll hold up mine.”

I leave before he can change his mind.

When I get to the car, I realize I’m shaking. The magnitude of what I’ve just done leaves me breathless. Not only could I lose my license, but I could go to jail for this.

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