They are also the people most likely to become patients at the Spellman Center for H.I.V.-Related Diseases of St. Clare's Hospital in midtown Manhattan, where Dr. Baxter worked for three and a half years. It's only 8 A.M., and as I walk onto the stifling AIDS Unit 3A to begin my rounds, all hell is about to break loose,'' he begins. He describes Jose T., a Hispanic man released from prison less than a week earlier, who is suffering from a rash of AIDS complications. Subsequent pages take us deeper into the world inhabited by Dr. Baxter and his patients. One crisis follows another, and after a while it becomes apparent that in order to work at a place like the Spellman Center you must learn to distance yourself from the patients.
Situations frequently arise that seem implausible.
The stories that unfold in the book are brutal, and Dr. Baxter does not spare us the gory details. But if you look past the horror and set your fears aside, you will begin to appreciate the message that, however great a cliche, we are all in this together. It's not that big a deal, you know. The book's biggest flaw is that one learns very little about Dr. Baxter's life outside the hospital. He does not disclose how he came to work at the Spellman Center, or why he chose to leave when he did.