Why Are My Patients Dying? Revised as Sudden Death (Doctor Tess #1) by Pat Wilpenter

Title: Why Are My Patients Dying?

Author: Pat Wilpenter

Published: April 2, 2014

Pages: 37

Publisher: Self

Genre: Short Story

Review: ebook free

Buy Links: Amazon, Amazon.uk 

EXPANDED AND RE-ISSUED AS "SUDDEN DEATH"
THE STORY STARTS...

This Tuesday night would be like no other for 29 year old Dr Tess Scott.

Tess was in charge of the Emergency Response ward on the ground floor of CityWest Hospital and at 2 in the morning she was taking a short coffee break.

So far, the caseload had been normal. “Well, as normal as it ever gets in ER,” she said to herself.

Her mid-shift pickmeup was coffee. Fair Trade coffee. Not so much for its flavor, but for the fact that the profits went to help poor families in the Third World.

This particular Tuesday night, her time-out was cut short when a nurse barged in to the break room without knocking. “We need you in ER, Tess. It’s pretty bad. Middle aged male, vomiting, seizures. And he’s incoherent.”

Tess took one last gulp of the hot brown brew then made her way quickly to the ER entry foyer where the ambulance crew were completing their delivery paper work. They had just wheeled in a middle aged man in work clothes. Tess immediately noticed an “other worldly” pallor to his skin... a hint of blue and gray. He was groaning and writhing in evident pain.

“The poor guy,” thought Tess. “If you weren’t strapped onto the gurney, mister, you’d have thrown yourself off it, onto the floor.” She often talked to herself when she was assessing patients.

Especially the ones who couldn’t answer for themselves. It helped Tess to humanize her patients. Maybe they couldn’t tell her what she wanted to know, but Tess could answer for them.

Sort of.

Well, this patient was barely coherent but she did manage to get his name.

Jorge.

Jorge what? - she didn’t know. The rest of whatever he was trying to say was slurred. Tess knew she’d get nothing more from him for the time being. They would have stabilize him first.

“Initial diagnosis? Let... me... see...,” mused Dr Tess.

She still wasn’t sure what the underlying cause might be. Actually Tess was stumped.

After watching Jorge a little longer, seeing him thrash around in obvious agony clutching at his stomach, Tess decided to run with abdominal cramps - at least for now.

Moments later, Jorge screamed in pain again but this time his big industrial hands clutched his head, one hand each side, and he squeezed his skull hard. She took note of the wedding band on his left hand.

“So Jorge X is a family man suffering from massive head and abdominal pains.”

And that was all she knew. None of her initial diagnostics had taken her any further. This was going to be a tough one!

“Nurse, as soon as the sedation has kicked in, we need to run full blood tests. We’ve got to know more.

So as much as the title really draws me in I didn't really enjoy it as much as I thought.

You can try this book out as the book is free on Amazon. 

I do feel as though the book was rushed. We have a Doctor Tess who has patients that come in all with the same symptoms over a period of time. Yet she is the only one connecting the dots? When she does connect the dots it seems that it is something bigger involved yet we are left wondering if anyone gets in trouble for being behind the dying and the sick people? 

Another thing is the scene with the bomb like did the police not talk with Doctor Tess? 

I think the author needed to add more to the story and get Tess to actually seem like a doctor. 

Pat Wilpenter is the author of the Doctor Tess series of clean medical thrillers and suspense stories. First came SUDDEN DEATH, a short story. Then YOUNG BLOOD, HONEYMOON ROADKILL and HONEYMOON HOSTAGES. Most recently, RESCUING BELLA.

They're all STANDALONE stories and can be read in any order but you'll enjoy them more if you read them in order.

A GOOD CLEAN READ: Pat is committed to providing readers with "a good clean read" avoiding sexually explicit scenes, graphic violence, profanity and vulgarity.

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