abortions-'
'I took the oath of Geneva,' Lawrence said. 'It had nothing about abor-'
'-but think of the publicity crisis you'd have if Renata died because I was barred from helping her,' she continued with-out interruption. 'Bad for funding.'
'Why does it always come down to money and publicity with you?' he asked.
'Because that's what it comes down to with you.'
'Until the outcome of the inquest,' Johnson interjected, 'showing cause for suspension under such circumstances would be diffic-'
'Shut up,' Lawrence snapped.
'See you in court,' Johnson said with a grin.
After a pause, Lawrence spoke in a quiet, steady tone. 'All right. Dr. Fletcher, you may remain on staff under strict su-pervision and with the stipulation that you desist from any fur-ther medical experimentation. Agreed?'
Fletcher nodded eagerly. 'I agree. As long as neither I nor Nurse Dyer are required to perform or assist in any abortions.'
'Oh, you can rest assured on that point.'
'Then,' Johnson said, 'in the interest of avoiding any unto-ward publicity until the grand jury convenes, how about show-ing us the back door?'
X
Valerie switched on the bedroom TV with the remote. The lunchtime news appeared with an image of anchorwoman Sally Lin, who spoke while a piece of artwork hovered over her left shoulder, depicting a fetus and the words Abortion Scandal? at an angle in red.
'-still unclear,' the anchor said. 'The doctor, Evelyn Fletcher, is head of the medical center's fertility program. She also apparently ran the center's family-planning clinic and performed abortions, thus giving her access to live fetuses. Hospital officials have no comment as yet, but sources reveal that the purportedly clandestine experiment came to light when the baby, delivered by alleged surrogate mother Karen Chandler of Torrance, fell ill and required blood from the al-leged real mother, Valerie Dalton of Palos Verdes Estates.'
Valerie felt as if a charging bull had gored her. Her stomach tightened, her breath caught in her chest, her heart pounded as if she were being truncheoned every half second. The anchorwoman continued, unaware of the effect she was hav-ing on a member of her audience.
'There is no word on how many operations of this nature may allegedly have been performed, but we'll keep you in-formed on this bizarre story as it unfolds.'
The scene switched to the other anchor, Jerry Thompson, a middle-aged man with grey at the temples. 'Now you said `sur-rogate,' Sally, but this was actually a mother who wanted to have a child, correct?'
'That's right, Jerry. This seems to be different from surro-gate mothering in that the woman who wants to keep the child gives birth to it. I think the term they used was `recipient' mother. But in both cases the real mother gives up the child. The term we heard used was transoption, though our medical expert, Dr. Joseph Schulman, says he's never heard the word before.'
Thompson gave Lin a concerned and probing look. 'And no word as to why this recipient mother quietly went along with what she must have known was an illegal procedure?'
'No word yet. She presumably wanted a child in the worst way.' Thompson nodded. 'And that's how she seems to have got-ten it. Shocking story coming out of Harbor City. Something we'll follow up on tonight at six. Thanks, Sally.' He turned to face the camera.
'And a shocking loss for the Raiders in Den-ver, as Mauricio Sanchez tells us when we return with sports after these-'
The phone rang. Valerie switched off the TV and picked up the cordless hand unit an instant before the answering ma-chine could intercept the call.
'Val!' Ron's voice was distant but alarmed. 'Are you all right?'
'Where are you?'
