In this high-suspense race against time, three unlikely heroes try to stop Vincent Fossari, MD from disfiguring anymore patients at Parkwest Pediatric Hospital. Marilyn Pelletier, RN is hell-bent on preventing future tragedies on her unit. Allied with Michael Sutherland, a dying lawyer and Ross Manchester, an out-cast surgeon, the three of them set out to stop Fossari before he strikes again. But first Marilyn must face the deadliest enemy ever: the one inside herself. And there's no time to lose, because Fossari is already en route to trap his next victims deep within a deadly blizzard during high-stakes human hibernation research. 1 Long Island, New York August 1968 The last time Vincent Fossari saw his father alive was the moment before the explosion, when the older man's eyes froze in the space between his surgical cap and mask. Julian Fossari's life ended in a green flash from the lights that hung above the four-year-old boy who lay draped and unconscious on the operating table. From the observatory's first row seat, Vincent Fossari felt his body jar in the deafening blast. He saw that the force had severed the wires glued to the child's small chest, disconnecting them from the cardiac monitor chirping in erratic fits near the outlying wall. The cauterizer whipped its narrow rubber body like a snake trying to shake loose from a trap. The instrument's heated end glowed in the now-dim room. Then it cooled off and went out. Above, Vincent Fossari could hear the steady hissing of gas as it escaped from the detached facemask that had been held over the child's nose and mouth a moment before. Fossari ran for the telephone next to the teaching theater's exit door and impatiently waited for the operator's voice. "Dr. Fossari here," he screamed. "Get the crash team. Stat! Explosion in OR 12." Almost before he finished, he heard the overhead speakers spring to life. "Code Blue and Code Red. OR 12. Code Blue and Code Red. OR 12." In a panic, Vincent Fossari stood by the door, the telephone still in his hand. He watched the crash cart push into the operating room, followed by three nurses and a doctor. One of the nurses took the fire extinguisher off the wall and sprayed the flames that licked at the child's surgical drape. Another woman ran to turn off the switch controlling the anesthetic gas filling the room. The doctor kneeled on the floor next to Julian Fossari, and leaned his ear on the surgeon's chest. Vincent saw the blackened face of his father roll to one side and then stop. From where he stood, Vincent Fossari knew his father was dead - along with the child, the scrub nurse, and the anesthesiologist. Two others, the circulating nurse, and an operating room technician sat dazed in opposite corners of the room. Stretchers arrived and the two survivors were wheeled away. Vincent Fossari didn't hear the conversation below, but he saw the doctor cover four people with clean white sheets in the soot-laden room.
About the Author: Gail Ghigna Hallas, is an author, artist, public speaker, roller skater, and registered nurse. Her writings are published in over 60 publications, including professional journals, children's picture books, healthcare academic texts, fiction and nonfiction books, many in Braille, voiceover and music. She has won awards and recognition for her research, writings, and advocacy for healthcare consumers, children, and animals. Hallas worked in clinical nursing, infection control, pediatrics, psychiatry, staff development administration, and education. She owns own healthcare consulting firm for the past 18 years, leading seminars for hospital administrators, physicians, lawyers, judges, business owners, nurses, and others. Among original 400 students trained by Dept. of Justice and EEOC, she teaches compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act. RN Magazine published Why Nurses are Giving it Up, as feature cover story based on her doctoral dissertation, Analytical Study of the Nursing Shortage and the Problematic Stressors of Individual Nurses. An advocate for disabled children and adults, Hallas has won discrimination cases (large department store for 9-year-old girl with spina bifida); (entertainment complex for wheelchair users), and others. A student of Braille, and Reading for the Blind, Hallas teaches beginning Braille to blind and sighted slow readers. Former guest faculty for National Judicial College at Univ. of Nevada-Reno, and Univ. of New Mexico Law Center, Albuquerque, Hallas taught ADA to lawyers, judges, and others. She wrote Chapter 7 of the National Judicial College's teaching text, Understanding the ADA for Judges and Court Administrators. Hallas founded several nonprofit organizations for nurses, people with disabilities, and children. In 2001, she founded a charity agency to serve at-risk children. In partnership with the County Sheriff's Office, she developed and conducted classes to teach female inmates creative writing and illustration for children's picture books, and how to transcribe their work into Braille. She spends her time writing and with her children's organization. She is currently completing her second novel, BEDS, about racism and ageism in the Deep South; as well as three nonfiction books: How to Recruit and Retain Nurses; and Travel America With a Dog Who's Bigger than You. and The Magic of Roller Skating for Friendship, Fitness, and Fun! She lives in Florida with her 150-pound Saint Bernard.