Lynes, William, MD

Luger Rounds Lynes, William, MD

Luger rounds; the expression implies ending the life of a patient whose illness requires an overwhelming effort to maintain, while being too sick to survive. Is it an ominous coincidence when Dr. Phillip Thomas moves from the chief residency to being a patient in the ICU? Here he is left trapped, dying and alone in a tortuous world. Earlier he had confronted the possible assassin, but is soon deathly ill, comatose; a luger rounds candidate. Thomas realizes that he is the target of a hospital serial murder as he drifts into nightmarish dreams, while the silent assassin skulks in the darkness. An excerpt from "Luger Rounds": "My mind returns to the cramped ICU room; aware of my condition, and continuous pain. The morphine has cleared, the dream state resolved, but my misery goes on. I then sense an evil presence, and fear overwhelms every aching fiber of my dying body. An ominous air fills my darkened room. I am overwhelmed by dread. A tormentor sits; an assassin silent, starring, and waiting. I feel eyes on me; penetrating and bulging like a vulture's, their proprietor seeing me as easy prey. I hear the assassin's breathing, slow and ominous. In the menacing quiet evil eyes pierce me again. The tormentor is staring and willing me to crash; an assassin with a white coat covering a wicked heart". The reader will be captivated by this tale of medical suspense. Told from the view point of the coma patient; medical intrigue and the reality of the critical care environment are captured in the life and death hospital setting.