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“Good morning.” I kissed him on the cheek. “Dad’s got coffee going.”
“Great,” he grunted.
All three of us sat in front of the monitor. My leg shook under the table.
“Why don’t you refresh it again?” Ramiro asked.
“She’s done that already,” Sara clipped, and Ramiro shot her a stink-eye.
I tried again anyway. The loading icon spun for a few beats longer than last time, and there it was—the article.
“Yes!” Dad yelled with a level of excitement I’d only seen from him during soccer games.
No. Something was wrong. I’d let Hector submit the final draft after his final approval, and surely he had made a mistake.
“What is this?” Sara asked.
There, on the screen before us, the article read:Changes inChemoradiation Treatment Protocols for Cervical Cancer in Women Under Thirty.And listed as Primary Investigator:Hector Medina, M.D.
I scanned the list of contributors next. Listed were the physicians from the other hospitals, including Pike View and Heartland Metro. Listed in alphabetical order toward the end of the list:Carolina Ramirez, M.D.
It was a mistake. It had to be. Hector wouldn’t do this intentionally.
“That piece of shit,” Sara said through gritted teeth.
“What’s going on?” Dad asked.
“He took credit for the trial,” Sara said.
“What?” Dad asked.
“He listed himself as the primary investigator, and Carolina only as a contributor. He is saying it was all his idea,” Sara explained to Dad.
“I’m going to kill that piece of shit,” Ramiro hissed.
“No. No one is doing anything. I’m sure it was a mistake, and it can be fixed. We should be able to send a correction request to the journal.”
“You are defending him?” Ramiro asked. He looked like I had slapped him.
“I don’t believe he would do this,” I said, pointing at the laptop.
“I hope you’re right,” said Ramiro. “But I don’t think you are.” He left after that, likely too angry to look at me again.
Take deep breaths, Carolina.“Okay. Here’s what we are going to do. We are not going to panic. Dad, stay put. Please don’t say anything about this toanyoneuntil I find out what’s going on. Sara, drive me to the hospital?”
My friend nodded. She didn’t ask why she needed to drive. I was starting to panic despite having only seconds ago advised my family against doing exactly that. If this was on purpose, then I would be furious. My head swam, and there was no way I was going to be able to keep my attention on the road.
We both ran upstairs to change. I grabbed my dirty clothes from the day before, not caring one bit about the state of my appearance.
I found Hector’s office empty—as in, he wasn’t there, and neither were any of his few personal belongings. The solitary framed photograph of him and his mother was gone, and there wasn’t another trace of him. Panic began to swell in my chest.
Next, I tried Chief Stuart’s office. His secretary didn’t let me inside his office. He was in a meeting, or so she led me to believe.
“That’s fine. I’ll wait.” I sat in a chair in front of her desk, but after twenty minutes, I had to stand. I paced the small hallway in front of his office.
“What time is the meeting supposed to be over?”
She shrugged. “Could run long.”
