“I’ll give you a hand,” Dr. Arthur offered. “Let’s give you a little taste of Valium and ketamine right now.” He went to fetch a syringe from the cabinet. “This biopsy stuff is a piece of cake,” he called over his shoulder.

Marissa nodded without enthusiasm. She had already tired of the pastry metaphor. The fact was that she was nervous, and despite having felt a bit better when Dr. Arthur first appeared, now she felt decidedly worse. His offhand manner of referring to more extensive procedures had not left her feeling reassured. Again, her intuition began sending out alarms of imminent disaster. Marissa had to fight against the irrational urge to flee. “I’m a doctor,” she silently repeated to herself over and over again. “I shouldn’t be feeling like this.”

The door to the hall burst open. In swept Dr. Ronald Carpenter dressed in surgical scrubs which included a hat and a mask. With him was a woman also in scrub clothes although her mask was draped down over her chest.

Marissa recognized Dr. Carpenter immediately despite the mask. His bright, crystal-blue eyes and tanned skin were unmistakable. “This is only a biopsy?” Marissa questioned nervously. Dr. Carpenter was dressed for major surgery.

“Miss Blumenthal is nervous about having a hysterectomy,” Dr. Arthur explained, snapping the side of a needle to release the air bubbles. He returned to Marissa’s side.

“Hysterectomy?” Dr. Carpenter asked with obvious confusion. “What are you talking about?”

Dr. Arthur raised his eyebrows. “I think our patient here has been doing a little reading.” He picked up the IV tubing and injected the contents of the syringe. Then opened the IV to flow rapidly for a moment.

Dr. Carpenter stepped over to Marissa and put his hand on her shoulder. He looked into her dark brown eyes. “We’re only doing a simple biopsy. There’s been no talk of a hysterectomy. If you are wondering about my clothes, I’ve just come from surgery. The mask is because I have a cold and don’t want to spread it to any of my patients.”

Marissa looked up into Dr. Carpenter’s bright blue eyes. She was about to reply when the blue brought back a memory that she’d been long suppressing: the terror of being attacked in a hotel room in San Francisco a few years earlier and the horror of having to stab a man repeatedly to save her own life. At that moment the episode came back to her with such startling clarity, she could actually feel the man’s hands around her throat. Marissa started to choke. The room began to spin and she heard a buzzing noise that gradually got louder.