A week after the start of school, the Department announced that there would be a Get-Together at noon on Wednesday in the Conference Room so that everyone could meet the new Anatomy graduate students and the Research Assistants that were working in the various faculty research labs.
“I guess that means that Dr. Roberts is back from his trip,” Kate said as we both read the announcement on the Department bulletin board in the hall outside the Anatomy Office. “At least, for a little while.”
“Does he go out of town a lot?” I asked her.
“All the time. In fact, he’s hardly ever here – which is alright with all of us.”
“Where does he go?”
“He’s a member of the Meetings Committee of the International Anatomical Association, the IAA, and they’re always going somewhere in the world, supposedly looking for just the right places to hold future annual IAA conferences. I think it’s just an excuse for a bunch of good ole’ boys to take fancy vacations on someone else’s dime. The thing is, he gets paid by the IAA to go to all of those great places, even while he’s still getting his big salary to head this Anatomy Department.”
“Isn’t that called double-dipping?” I asked incredulously. “Does the Medical College know about that? That doesn’t seem right.”
“I don’t know how he gets away with it, but he’s been doing it for a long time. Everyone’s afraid of him, so I guess nobody wants to say anything about it. Between you and me, he needs to spend more time running this Department and less time running around to exotic places. There’s a lot of things that need taking care of right here.”
Before I could ask her what she meant, Mrs. Sanders called to me from her office.
“Dr. Whitley, could I speak with you for a minute?”
“I’ll see you later, Kate,” I said as I turned and entered Mrs. Sanders’ office.
“Dr. Roberts would like to meet with you. Can you meet with him this afternoon at two o’clock?” she asked in her usual business-only manner.
“Sure. Can you tell me what it’s about?”
“He’ll tell you when you meet with him,” she replied. “Don’t be late.”
My mind went over everything I had done since coming to the Medical College, trying to figure out what I had done wrong that warranted my being summoned to Dr. Roberts’ office. Since I hadn’t laid eyes on him since the faculty meeting, someone must have told him something about me. But what? Think! I nearly drove myself crazy between worrying and looking at the clock.
###
At five minutes before two o’clock, I stepped into Mrs. Sanders’ office and announced almost in a whisper, “I have an appointment with Dr. Roberts at two o’clock.”
She glanced up at me from her computer, picked up the phone, pushed a button, and said, “Dr. Whitley is here.” She listened for a couple of seconds, hung up, looked at me, and said, “You can go in.”
Now I knew how Dorothy felt when she entered the inner sanctum of the Wizard of Oz. My heart was racing and my knees were wobbly as I entered Dr. Roberts’ office as quietly as I could. He was sitting behind his desk writing, and he looked up slowly.
“You wanted to see me?” I asked timidly.
“Yes. Have a seat. I understand that Kyle gave you a tour of the morgue.”
I noticed that his Southern drawl had gotten considerably more pronounced, and the smile on his face reminded me of the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood.
“Yes, sir.”
“What do you think?”
“Very interesting. That’s the first time I’ve seen a morgue, or where the cadavers are prepared.”
“Well, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. If you want to have a career as an anatomist, you need to be familiar with the whole body donation process, from the donation itself, up to and including the actual embalming of the cadavers. So, I’ve arranged for Kyle to take you through the whole process and show you exactly what he does.”
His smile had gotten a bit more toothy, and he seemed very pleased with himself.
“Kyle explained to me a little bit about how he prepares the cadavers when he showed me the morgue,” I said. “I don’t want to take him away from his duties. I know how busy he is with the courses.”
“I’ve already spoken with Kyle, and he will arrange his schedule to accommodate you,” he said. His smile had mysteriously disappeared.
I should have been more observant of his demeanor, but instead, I was thinking that the last thing I needed right now was something else on my plate. So I foolishly plunged forward.
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m not sure I can take the time away from teaching to do anything else right now,” I said. “I can do it in the spring when Gross Anatomy is over.”
He glared at me for what seemed like an eternity. Both the smile and the Southern gentleman accent were gone when he said, “Make time.”
A cold chill ran down my spine, and the hairs on my arms stood up. “Yes, sir,” I said in a whisper.
Without another word, he turned toward his computer and began typing.