Pleased with his meeting with the pathologist, Hollis returned to his office. He was just beginning to review the information he had requested on the national supply of Vitracide when his assistant buzzed him on the intercom.
“Dr. Sinclair. I have a call from a Dr. Cole in Indiana. I forwarded the call to the crisis center but they suggested you take it. The doctor said it was very important.”
Sinclair stole a peek at his watch. He only had a minute or two before he was to attend a phone conference with six physicians across the country—all of whom strongly supported his viral theory.
“Put him through,” Sinclair told her.
“Dr. Sinclair. My name is Cole. I’m an emergency physician in Bedford, Indiana.”
Neither the name of the hospital, nor the physician was familiar to Sinclair. He rolled his eyes. He was tired of answering inane questions from every hick physician in the country taking care of a pregnant woman.
“How can I help you?” he asked.
“I recently transferred a patient by the name of Recino to Illinois Memorial. This patient’s of particular interest because she’s the only documented case of GNS within a two hundred mile radius of Bedford. In spite of taking a detailed medical history, I just discovered that Ms. Recino omitted an important piece of information.”
“Really?” Sinclair said, wondering when Cole would get to the point.
“It seems Maggie and her mother spent the early part of her pregnancy in Fort Lauderdale. She received her initial prenatal care from a Dr. Charles Lipshank. I thought you might want to speak with him and get her obstetrical records.”
“That’s an excellent suggestion Dr. Cole,” he answered, half-listening as he picked up a letter on his desk. He had already decided that Dr. Cole’s information had no practical value. “Of course. I’ll make sure we thoroughly review Dr. Lipshank’s records.”
“I’ve already called Illinois Memorial about the matter. They said they would enter the revised information into the National GNS Data Record.”
“We certainly appreciate you calling,” Sinclair said while reading the first paragraph of the letter. “We’ll be in touch with you if the information leads us somewhere. Thank you, again.” With several other issues crowding his mind, Sinclair called his assistant. “I’m ready to join the conference call now.” By the time his call ended thirty minutes later, his conversation with Dr. Cole of Bedford, Indiana, was a faint memory at best.