This is a public post. If you’re interested in reading more, I’d so welcome your subscription — which gets you additional posts and access to archives. Thank you! April 1990, St. John’s Medical Center, Santa Monica. “Hold still, because I’m not gonna numb your ass.” Thirty-one years later, and I remember the contempt on the doctor’s face, just as I remember the Louisiana drawl. He had curtly introduced himself as Dr. Dupree, and I had smiled and asked if he was any relation to