“Ah, Dean Bourse, it’s simply not possible for me to do my job if I am to be hounded by a medical student who thinks she should be running my department. She goes onto the floor and sees patients with no authorization, which I am sure could open us up to all manner of liability issues. She repeatedly questions my medical ability and second-guesses decisions that were made, and now she’s come up with an outlandish suggestion that we might have completely missed another organism which was responsible for Rothman’s and Yamamoto’s untimely deaths. First it was the choice of antibiotic, now it’s a second pathogen. This is outrageous and it has to stop.”

Pia looked at Springer, and she was unable to conceal the contempt she was feeling. He had run off like a coward and got the dean to come tell her off. She glanced at Bourse, who was standing arms akimbo, a hard expression on her face. She was angry and dumbfounded.

“I would like Dr. Springer to understand that I’m not trying to do his job,” Pia said in her defense. “I’m just trying to answer some questions that I would have thought were important ones. My sense here is that something is wrong.”

Neither Springer nor Bourse could believe the gall of the young woman. The question in both of their minds: Who the hell does she think she is? Springer found his voice first.

“Do you see what I’m talking about? This woman is off the wall. I’m going to talk with Groekest about the advisability of rescinding the position she was offered here as a resident/Ph.D. candidate. This is absurd.”

At the mention of the chief of the internal medicine department, Helen Bourse signaled with a snap of her head that Pia should leave Springer’s office. Pia was happy to oblige. Bourse then nodded to Springer to indicate that she had the situation under control. “I’ll get back to you. Sorry about this.” Bourse then followed Pia out of the office and into the hallway. Pia might be temporarily unbalanced, but Springer was a bully, and he’d made his point. Before Pia had a chance to say anything, Bourse lit into her.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? When we spoke this morning, and I gave you time to get your head together, I don’t believe I said you should go see Dr. Springer and belabor the head of Infectious Diseases about his patients or his diagnosis. Where is your social sense? Good grief, woman! It’s common knowledge that Springer is not a fan of medical students in general, but this episode has pushed him over the edge. I have never heard him as exasperated as he was when he called.”

Pia started to speak, but Bourse wasn’t done with her.