Lessons in Corruption (Astoria Royals Standalone #4)

Prologue

Four Years Ago

Seattle Medical Herald

Seattle, Washington

The surgery that saved a child’s life. And might destroy a career.

Doctors around the globe are calling it a miracle. Hospital administrators are calling it a violation. One pediatric surgeon is caught in the middle.

A young boy is alive despite being declared non-survivable upon arrival in the Cascadia Children’s Medical Center’s Emergency Department.

According to unnamed hospital sources, the child was rushed in with catastrophic internal injuries following a car accident.

Trauma specialists assessed the damage and unanimously advised the family against surgical intervention, citing irreversible organ failure and an extremely low chance of survival.

One surgeon disagreed. Dr. Cormac O’Rourke, a UCLA-educated pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon, went on to perform a modern miracle.

Ignoring established protocol and formal recommendations, O’Rourke took the child into surgery himself, even ignoring the advice and warning of his twin brother and fellow pediatric surgeon, Dr. Darragh O’Rourke.

The child underwent an eighteen-hour operation, performed without pause, approval, or guarantee of success.

At several points, sources reported the boy had died on the table.

It is said that Dr. O’Rourke refused to accept that outcome and successfully revived him each time.

The risk paid off.

Early this morning, the child was in stable condition and transferred out of intensive care. He is expected to make a full recovery.

Hospital officials declined to comment on the ethical implications of Dr. O’Rourke’s actions, stating only that a formal review is underway.

When approached for comment, Dr. O’Rourke offered this brief statement: “The kid was a fighter. He has a lot of life left to live.”

Colleagues describe Dr. Cormac O’Rourke as one of the most gifted pediatric surgeons of his generation. He’s brilliant, relentless, and famously unwilling to accept limits when a child’s life is at stake.

Whether his defiance will be celebrated or punished remains to be seen.

Tonight, a family is preparing to take their healthy son home.

And the surgeon responsible is facing disciplinary action.