A Degree in Murder

Chapter Six: A Curious Case

"It has been my pleasure, Dr Smith. I am certainly looking forward to it and I'll send the articles by the end of the day. Have a good day," said Eleanor, ending the video call.

Hell yeah, she thought to herself while doing a mini fist pump.

Eleanor had spent the previous hour discussing the possibility of conducting research with the esteemed Dr Ulysses Smith. She read a few papers prior to their discussion in an effort to develop ideas. He had reached out to her shortly after reading her research article in the MedGlobal journal but nothing concrete was said at the time. Eleanor was equally a fan of his and followed his career closely. Great minds think alike and while she would not openly admit it, she considered herself one of the great minds of her time.

Eleanor slumped back in her seat, staring at the ceiling with nothing particular on her mind. This was a rarity for her, one that she endeavoured to enjoy. Six minutes later her peace was shattered by the ringing of her office phone. She glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was Ryan. After the second ring, Eleanor casually picked up the phone.

"Dr Gallagher is here to see you. Shall I send him in?"

"Yes please," she responded.

When Liam walked through the door twelve seconds later, he found Eleanor staring at the ceiling. He sat across her, clasped his hands together and waited for her to acknowledge his presence. When he saw that she made no effort to stop her musings, Liam said, "Everything alright, Marianne?"

Eleanor snapped out of her trance-like state, blinking rapidly several times before focusing her attention on Liam. "Have you ever had one of those moments when your mind goes completely blank? Like a fog has been lifted?"

"So you were meditating?" replied Liam, "I never figured you for the type."

"What can I say? I'm full of surprises but that's beside the point. I wasn't meditating and my mind just shutdown. It was completely different from anything I've experienced before and I wanted to go back to it but alas," said Eleanor solemnly.

"You're sounding like a crazy person," replied Liam, stifling a laugh.

"There's a thin line between genius and insanity. What's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you about a patient of mine," replied Liam, sitting up straighter.

"Okay but I think your colleagues in the paediatrics department are better equipped than I to assist."

"Actually it is an OPTC related problem. Before you turn me away, please hear me out. There's a six year old girl who was born with a congenital heart disease, namely Tetralogy of Fallot. We had planned for a surgical repair of the defect but our investigations revealed that a heart transplant would be more successful. Unfortunately her parents did not have the money at the time so we've been monitoring her health and treating any symptoms that arise."

"Damn. I can't begin to imagine what that little girl has been going through," said Eleanor ruefully. "But how do I feature in all of this?"

"Well they have the money now and they want to do the surgery," he said hastily. "She's already on the transplant list and it would be great if you could push for her to have it as soon as possible."

The look of desperation on Liam's face told Eleanor all she needed to know. She knew the feeling all too well. Meeting someone whose story touches your heart, someone who did not deserve the raw deal they were dealt. If you had a heart, it lit a fire in you in a way that very few things could. To say no to him now would be tantamount to betrayal, not only to her friend and colleague but the little girl too.

"Fine, I'll do my best. A meeting with the other members of the OPTC should be coming up soon. Besides, a heart would have to be available for the surgery to happen."

"I know but I'm sure one will turn up. I can feel it," said Liam, leaning back in his chair.

"Moving on to less serious matters, are we still on for lunch today?"

"Yup and this time, I hope you've made up your mind on where you'd like to eat," said Liam sternly.

Eleanor rolled her eyes before saying, "I'm thinking Mexican or Thai food today and before you ask, I did my research and a restaurant opened up not too far from here."

"Well I'll be damned. I hope this isn't a onetime thing," said Liam incredulously.

"You can be a real ass sometimes," said Eleanor, bursting into laughter.