?It happened during my first residency. The center was delighted to have me. I did the work of two, never complained, was almost always correct in my diagnoses and prescriptions. I did a thirty-six-hour stretch in an ER, went out, got high as an orbital shuttle, was crawling into bed to lose myself in the sensation of floating all night, when the ‘com buzzed.

?A pressure unit had blown on the center’s fuel station. Everyone they could get hold of was called in to help. Thirty seriously injured but only a few had to be sent to intensive care. The rest just needed quick but rote attention. Nothing complicated. Nothing a halfway competent intern couldn’t have managed. I figured I’d take care of it myself and then hiphead it back home before anyone noticed that I was awfully bright and cheery for someone who’d just been yanked out of the sack at three in the morning.?He paused a moment to gather his thoughts.

?Eleven of the thirty died when I prescribed the wrong dosage of painkiller. Such a small thing. Such a simple thing. Any fool could’ve handled it. Any fool. That’s Midaphine for you. Hardly ever affects your judgment. Only once in a while.?

?I’m sorry,?she said softly.

?Don’t be.?His expression was unforgiving. ?No one else was. I got seven years in prison, lifetime probation, and 129

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my license permanently reduced to a 3-C, with severe restrictions on what and where I could practice. While in prison I kicked my wonderful habit. Didn’t matter. Too many relatives around who remembered their dead. I never had a chance of getting the restrictions revised. I embarrassed my profession, and the examiners delighted in making an example of me. After that you can imagine how many outfits were eager to employ someone with my professional qualifications. So here I am.?

?I’m still sorry.?

?For me? Or about what happened? If it’s the latter, so am I. About the prison sentence and subsequent restrictions, no. I deserved it. I deserved everything that’s happened to me. I wiped out eleven lives. Casually, with a dumb smile on my face. I’m sure that the people I killed had promising careers as well. I destroyed eleven families. And while I can’t ever forget, I’ve learned to live with it. That’s one positive thing about being assigned to a place like this. It helps you learn how to live with things that you’ve done.?

?Did you serve time here??

?Yes, and I got to know this motley crew quite well. So when they stayed, I stayed. Nobody else would employ me.?He moved to give her the injection. ?So, will you trust me with an injector??