Hospital Privileges

Even though it was cold, the sleeping bags were warm, their stomachs full, and they were quite tired after a full day spent hiking. They were asleep in an instant, and slept so soundly that they never heard the avalanche come crashing down the canyon just before daybreak…………. As Sleauton slipped the note under the door, he was terrified and didn’t even look up at the maid when she said, “Hello.” He knew very little about Viktor, except that he was very, very dangerous. Sleauton’s boss always seemed to give Sleauton the most difficult jobs, meanwhile effectively shielding himself from harm’s way. As a result, Sleauton was little more than a gopher and a “yes man” for his employer. He hated his job and what he did, but he was in so deep now that there was no way to back out. As a result, he spent a lot of time justifying why he did what he did. For instance, the pay was good, with plenty of incentives. He had the material things that life could offer, but at the same time his soul was unfulfilled and his heart was sad. He was anchored firmly to his job, with no foreseeable way out. His boss had an image to keep, and thus Sleauton did all the “dirty work.” ………………………………………………………………………………………….. Richard and Thomas heard the blasts, too, but it was already too late. Richard looked up and saw an enormous wall of snow barreling down the canyon heading straight for them. “Thomas! Run to the side quickly,” said Richard in a panicked tone. Richard began running along with Thomas toward the side. Thomas was faster, younger, and stronger. “Go ahead, I’ll catch up,” said Richard, knowing he would never catch up and having an eerie sense of impending doom………………………………………………………………………. “Can I climb the middle?” Courtney finally asked. “I have my crampons, rope, and anchors with me.” “Sure,” said Keith. “As long as Sherman from the ski patrol goes along with you. Your mother would murder me if anything happened to you.” “Don’t worry,” Courtney surprised herself by cracking wise. Perhaps simply to keep from crying. “I’ll take good care of Sherman and make sure he doesn’t get hurt. Is that what you meant?” she answered sassily. She figured she could easily out climb Sherman. He was a large and strong ski patroller, but she knew that he was still no match for her on an ice climb. She somehow always made everything that she did into a competition. She needed to be first and best, no matter what. “Why did he have to go anyway?” she thought. He would just slow her down. As she saw the stern, disappointed look on Keith’s face, however, she blurted out, “Just kidding. I’ll follow Sherman.” She then faintly whispered “yes, sir” so that only Sherman could hear it. He just frowned at her as she pretended not to notice. …………………………………………………... “I did think of one thing,” Anne said. “Thomas has been coming to this same meeting for the past ten years without fail. He loved the meeting, had fun with the other doctors, and always attended the avalanche safety course. He was so predictable that if someone were trying to murder him, his schedule would have been easy to predict, even months in advance. I can’t think of any enemies that he had. I know he wasn’t really popular with the doctors in Ruidoso that had built the surgical center, but certainly they did not murder him. Doctors just wouldn’t do that.” “Why wasn’t he popular with that group of doctors?” Scotty asked. This comment intrigued him. He knew very little about how doctors worked. Aside from the quirkiness of the coroners he’d worked with in the past and his own family physician, in fact, he knew little about doctors in general. He didn’t think he was alone . . . “Oh,” said Anne with a quick laugh that sounded somewhat forced, “I should have explained. He refused to buy shares in the surgical center and only took a handful of his cases there. Most of his cases went to the local hospital.”…………………………………………. “I thought tonight we would meet face to face to discuss the details,” said Viktor with a smile as cold as ice, surely knowing the effect his surprise appearance would have on the underling. “Have a seat and relax. You are not the first one who’s seen me. I feel I can trust you. Once I’ve worked with people for a while, I feel face-to-face meetings are acceptable. You sounded overly concerned on the telephone earlier today, Marek. I’m having a beer, would you like one?” “Served in chilled mugs, just like Chili’s Restaurant, eh? I’m learning all these American customs.” Viktor walked into the kitchen, calm and relaxed. He knew that many people had seen his face. What he didn’t tell Marek was that all of them were dead……………………. With this in mind, Mark further analyzed his situation. He knew the area well, as he had hiked and climbed here numerous times in the past. As he looked down, there were plenty of branches to climb down and the side of the ravine was well vegetated so he would have no difficulty climbing down to the river where there would be a nice walking path that would take him through the canyon in the direction of Provo. He climbed out of the tree and amazingly everything seemed to be working, with only a few bruises making him feel tender and sore. He felt lucky to be alive. This was one time, he realized, when it was good not to wear a seat belt. He was also glad he had procrastinated so long in fixing the driver’s door lock mechanism that had been broken for at least a month. Paula had been having fits about it, telling him that he might fall out of his truck some day on the highway. Well, here he was, not on the highway, but in a tree!