Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures: Analysis of Major Characters

Author: Vincent Lam

First published: 2006

Genre: Short stories

Locale: Ottawa and Toronto, Canada

Plot: Literary fiction

Time: Late 1990s through early 2000s

Fitzgerald, a medical student then physician. Fitzgerald is a bit of a lost soul. His mother was killed in a crash when he was quite young, and he feels disconnected from others. He is in love with Ming, his study partner, and the two have a serious relationship, to the point where they are planning to be married. When Ming gets into medical school and moves to Toronto she breaks up with Fitzgerald, going so far as to change her telephone number. Fitzgerald learns that she is seeing someone else and is devastated, taking years to get over the relationship. He begins drinking alcoholically, and is barred from working at the hospital. He becomes a flight physician, flying all over the world picking up critically ill patients. He is in his 40s when he contracts SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome).

Ming, a medical student then obstetrician. A tense young woman of Chinese descent, Ming's sole purpose in life is to get into medical school and become a physician. She is overly concerned about bringing honor to her family, and becomes quite anxious once she starts dating her study partner, Fitzgerald, because he is not Chinese. She has experienced sexual abuse at the hands of her cousin, Karl, but is thankful for the study methods he taught her. Early in medical school, she realizes that she has been using studying itself as a distraction from her emotions.

Sri, a medical student then physician. A very caring individual of Indian descent, Sri is a gentle and thoughtful man. He clashes with his lab partner, Ming, who considers him too sentimental when he refuses to cut into a cadaver's tattoo. He becomes a physician, but dies young from pancreatic cancer.

Chen, a medical student then physician. A friendly and even-tempered man, Chen is of Chinese decent. He meets Ming when they become lab partners in medical school. They begin dating and the two eventually marry. He ends up in a SARS isolation unit with Fitzgerald, but never learns that Fitzgerald was Ming's former lover and supposed fiancé.

Karl, Ming's cousin. Six years older than his cousin, Karl seems to be a wonderful influence on Ming's study habits after her father asks Karl to tutor Ming. Unfortunately, he teaches her more than study habits, carrying on a sexual relationship with her when she is just twelve years old. He is not a nice man. Coincidently, Karl is selected to sit on the interview committee for Fitzgerald's application to medical school. When Fitzgerald makes it clear, privately, that he knows Ming's history with Karl, Karl threatens Fitzgerald, implying he won't get into medical school at Toronto University. Fitzgerald swings right back with a threat to disclose that Karl is a pedophile.

Yeh Yeh, Chen's grandfather. Chen's grandfather had been the proprietor, headmaster and lecturer at the Percival English Academy. While the school had been lucrative, he lost his money to gambling, prostitutes, and loan sharks. At one point, his family had to live in the school because Yeh Yeh could not afford to pay rent. His first wife divorced him (at a time when such things were extremely rare), and he lived with his second and third wife at the same time. The second wife tried to kill herself, but only succeeded in losing her arm to a bullet wound. His fourth wife was 16 years old when the middle-aged Yeh Yeh married her. Still, Chen loves his grandfather, who now lives in an assisted living facility. He is dying from renal cell carcinoma.

Ma Ma, Chen's grandmother. Divorcing her philandering husband at a time when such a thing was unheard of, Ma Ma is a strong, determined woman. Her second husband is assassinated for political reasons when it is assumed he will be a leading candidate to head a Chinese secession movement in Taiwan.

Winston, one of Sri's patients. A psychotic man who believes his neighbor is poisoning him, Winston shows up in one of Sri's exam rooms. Sri's commitment and thoughtful concern have him tracking down this patient when he doesn't answer his phone, after he sends an odd text message to Sri. Winston hears voices and suffers from delusions, becoming a threat to his neighbor, Adrienne, with whom Winston has a fantasy relationship.

Adrienne and Claude(ia), Winston's neighbors. Winston describes his kindly neighbors as a married couple. Only after Sri asks Adrienne about the situation with Winston does he learn there is no husband named Claude, only an absentee roommate named Claudia. Adrienne is concerned about Winston, often taking food to him and checking to see that he is all right.

Dr. Miniadis, Sri's mentor. Dr. Miniadis is supposed to be supervising Sri's patient visits, watching on a hidden camera; however, she is more interested in listening to opera on her head phones than paying attention to the examination taking place. She gives Sri little guidance, asking strange, cryptic questions.

Eli, Fitzgerald's patient in the emergency room. Eli is brought in by two police officers to get stitches. He is filthy, belligerent, and combative. Fitzgerald is cut by his own scalpel when one of the officers lets go of her hold on Eli, as a punishment for Fitzgerald making them wait for a psychological evaluation, before they can leave with him. Fritz retaliates by surreptitiously leaving scissors on the gurney within Eli's reach, when the officers are about to lead him away.

Mrs. Wilhelm, wife of a deceased patient. Mrs. Wilhelm isn't shocked when she learns of her husband's collapse at a hair salon. He didn't take care of himself. However, she is curious as to why he would go to such a salon and suspects something untoward was going on. She insists that her son take her to this salon, where she learns her husband was with a prostitute when he died.

Tomas Wilhelm, son of a deceased patient. Tomas does not seem terribly grief-stricken upon learning of his father's death. He is more concerned about how to find his father's car before it is towed.

Cynthia, a prostitute. The prostitute who was with Mr. Wilhelm when he died, Cynthia is confronted by Mrs. Wilhelm. Once Mrs. Wilhelm leaves, with refunded money for services rendered, Cynthia gets back to business with her next client.

Janice, Ming's patient. With her husband, Oliver, away in New York on a business trip, Janice is home alone when her water breaks and she goes into labor. She makes it to the hospital and the labor goes smoothly until Ming discovers a prolapsed umbilical cord, which necessitates that Ming must keep the baby from crushing the cord before a C-section can be performed. In a split-second decision, Ming ends up performing the surgery without anesthesia in order to save the baby's life.

Oliver, Janice's husband. For his part, Oliver must drive to Toronto to be with his laboring wife after all planes are grounded due to a hurricane. He is somewhat out of touch with what is actually going on with the birth, and seems more concerned about minutiae such as having a camera and the success of his trip to New York. In the meantime, his wife and unborn baby are struggling for their lives in Toronto.

Franklin and Mrs. Aniel, Fitzgerald's patient and his wife. In Guatemala, Franklin suffers a massive stroke as the couple travels by motorcycle across Central America—a sort of last honeymoon before having children. Knowing that her husband will very likely die, she chooses to mortgage their home in order to have him flown to Toronto for treatment. Though she knows the odds, she feels she is keeping her promise to her husband that she'll get him home. Franklin dies in transit.

Zenkie, Fitzgerald's colleague who succumbs to SARS after it hits the hospital.

Delores, a nurse at Toronto South General Hospital. When a deadly SARS outbreak reaches South General Hospital, management uses a lottery system to staff the dangerous SARS unit. While some nurses opt out (losing their seniority standing), Delores can't afford to do so. She is selected to work on the unit. With three young children at home, and no relatives in the area, she is in a quandary about how to handle it. Medical staff are being infected, and some have already died. Should she be exposing her children to such a high-risk environment? What choice does she have?

Jill, a nurse in the emergency room at Toronto South General Hospital. On a busy night, the ER staff is short-handed, and Jill can't seem to control herself, complaining often and carelessly about how terrible the “agency” nurses are—unreliable, incompetent. Dr. Chen tries to get her to stop, but she is having none of it.

Lenny, a temporary “agency” nurse at Toronto South General Hospital.

Mr. Santorini, Chen's patient who refuses to accept that he is having a heart attack.

Mrs. Amin, Chen's patient who suffers from hiccups, and when these are cured, asks him to look at a rash, calling it an emergency. In frustration, Chen is finally quite rude to her, and she threatens to contact the hospital administration.

Dr. Pielou, Chen's colleague who gives Chen a hard time about wanting to admit a patient with cellulitis.