Patient One (31 page)

“That’s really not necessary, ma’am.”

“Ah, but it is,” the Vice President insisted. “And you couldn’t very well refuse such an invitation, could you?”

“No, ma’am,” David answered. “But there’s someone else you should also invite.”

“Who?”

“The nurse who kept the President alive all by herself while I was stuck in that crawlspace. Without her, the President would have never made it.”

“Her name?”

“Carolyn Ross.”

“She’ll be on that list.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” David said. “I’ll look forward to the visit.”

“As shall we,” the Vice President said. “And again, Dr. Ballineau, thank you for saving the President’s life. The nation owes you a deep debt of gratitude.”

The phone line went dead.

So I’m going back to Washington once more,
David thought.
But not to Walter Reed, and not to Arlington. I’ve been there too many times already. Let those memories stay where they lie.

Handing the cell phone back to Geary, he suddenly remembered another name that had to be added to the invitation list. He smiled to himself as a picture of Kit came into his mind. She’d be sound asleep now, hugging her favorite teddy bear and thankfully unaware of how close she had come to losing her father. “Would you tell them I’ll be bringing my eleven-year-old daughter with me to the White House?”

Geary nodded. “I’ll pass it along.”

“Thanks,” David said. “And thanks for taking out that terrorist who almost blew my head off.”

Geary shrugged. “He was in the way.”

The men exchanged brief grins as another team of Secret Service agents rushed onto the Pavilion and secured every room and exit.

David walked on, his pace quickening. He wanted to see how the President was doing. And he wanted to take Carolyn out to breakfast. With a lot of coffee, and a lot of conversation. After what they’d been through with Patient One, she undoubtedly had plenty of things she wanted to ask him, and he had plenty of things he wanted to tell her.

THE END

About the Author

Leonard Goldberg is the internationally bestselling author of the Joanna Blalock series of medical thrillers. His novels, acclaimed by critics as well as fellow authors, have been translated into a dozen languages and have sold more than a million copies worldwide. Leonard Goldberg is himself a consulting physician affiliated with the UCLA Medical Center, where he holds an appointment as Clinical Professor of Medicine. A highly sought-after expert witness in medical malpractice trials, he is board certified in internal medicine, hematology, and rheumatology, and has published over a hundred scientific studies in peer-reviewed journals.

Leonard Goldberg’s writing career began with a clinical interest in blood disorders. While involved in a research project at UCLA, he encountered a most unusual blood type. The patient’s red blood cells were O-Rh null, indicating they were totally deficient in A, B, and Rh factors and could be administered to virtually anyone without fear of a transfusion reaction. In essence, the patient was the proverbial “universal” blood donor. This finding spurred the idea for a story in which an individual was born without a tissue type, making that person’s organs transplantable into anyone without worry of rejection. His first novel,
Transplant
, revolved around a young woman who is discovered to be a universal organ donor and is hounded by a wealthy, powerful man in desperate need of a new kidney. The book quickly went through multiple printings and was optioned by a major Hollywood studio.

On the strength of the critical and popular reception of
Transplant
, Leonard Goldberg was off to the races as an author of medical thrillers. He began writing a series of new books, with a continuing main character named Joanna Blalock. The Joanna Blalock series features a forensic pathologist at a prestigious university medical center who has a Holmesian knack for solving murders. These books include
Deadly Medicine
,
A Deadly Practice
,
Deadly Care
,
Deadly Harvest
,
Deadly Exposure
,
Lethal Measures
,
Fatal Care
,
Brainwaves
, and
Fever Cell
.

Leonard Goldberg’s novels have been selections of the Book of the Month Club, French and Czech book clubs, and The Mystery Guild. They have been featured as
People
magazine’s “Page-Turner of the Week,” as well as at the International Book Fair in Budapest. The series has been optioned on several occasions for development as a motion picture or television project.

Please visit his website, at www.leonardgoldberg.com.

Critics across the country have praised his novels as:

• “Fascinating … devilish” (
People
magazine)

• “Cool cuttings by a sure hand … scalpel-edged” (
Kirkus
)

• “Imaginative, murderous … captures the top shelf in the mystery world” (
Kansas City Star
)

• “Compelling and suspenseful” (Associated Press)

• “Diabolical” (
Virginian Pilot
)

• “A medical thriller — with uniquely ghastly murders” (
Los Angeles Times Book Review
)

• “Bone-chilling and provocative” (
Tulsa World
)

• “Fascinating and fast-moving” (
Booklist
)

• “Rushes along at a brisk clip” (
Chicago Tribune
)

• “A page-turner with medical realism and characters who command our sympathies” (
Charleston Post and Courier
)

• “Outstanding specimens of suspense” (
Knoxville News-Sentinel
)

• “The stuff of nightmares” (
Library Journal
)

His best-selling novels have also been praised by fellow writers as:

• “Loaded with suspense and believable characters” (T. Jefferson Parker)

• “Medical suspense at its best” (Michael Palmer)

Dr. Goldberg is a native of Charleston (with the accent to prove it) and a longtime California resident. He currently divides his time between Los Angeles and an island off the coast of South Carolina.

Author photo by Dennis Trantham.