Last Patient of the Night

Jenny Smithton is a 22-year-old patient who enters the ER at Ben Taub Hospital with a broken wrist and a fake name (Tracy Palmer). Doc treats her, but suspects she’s being abused. Doc tries to check on Jenny about what is going on in her life, but she doesn’t admit to being in danger. When she is later dropped off at the ER by a mysterious man with signs of severe torture, there is nothing Doc can do to save her. 

Jenny’s murder is the impetus for Doc’s involvement in the investigation. Since Jenny was his patient, Doc views himself as responsible for discovering what happened to her. Doc later finds out that Jenny was on her own: “She was an only child who left Arkansas when she was eighteen. Dad left a long time ago, and mom died last year. No siblings and no other relatives we could find. She was alone in the world” (126). Doc feels for Jenny, as he also had a challenging childhood. Both were lonely in their childhoods and sought to make connections in adulthood and to protect those whom they love.

Linda tells Doc that Jenny was special, saying, “All the girls have had a bad time in life before ending up here, and most of them have given up hope. But Jenny was different. She was smart and always optimistic…She always said she would figure out a way to get all of us out of that place” (153). Jenny steals from Dyyavola because she wants to help free herself and the other women from the abuse and trafficking they endure at the hands of the Ukrainian gang. Jenny, like Doc, is a light of hope for those around her, but the light is extinguished prematurely because of Dyyavola’s violence and greed.

Dyyavola is the antagonist of Last Patient of the Night. He is described by Doc as “easily six and a half feet tall and well over three hundred pounds, with no evidence of fat, his arms and neck strained his flannel shirt, and his jeans struggled to contain his massive legs. His wrists were bigger than my thighs” (195). Dyyavola’s stature makes him intimidating, as he’s capable of seriously hurting and even killing people with just his bare hands. His name is another intimidation factor, meaning “devil” in Ukrainian, as Linda describes Dyyavola by saying, “The devil could take lessons from this animal on how to be evil” (67). Dyyavola frequently abuses, tortures, and kills anyone who gets in his way. Just his name is enough to inspire fear and obedience within all the employees of the U, both male and female. He rules the Ukrainian gang with terror, not loyalty.

Dyyavola’s obsession with killing Doc stems from his need to protect his blackmailing operation. Dyyavola fears not having power over himself, as he was traumatized as a child by the rape and murder of his mother and sisters and the torture he endured at the hands of the soldiers. Dyyavola craves power more than anything else, as he tells Doc about his past, “Old life is gone. Old name is gone. No more family. No more friends. Now I am Dyyavola” (200). He shakes off whoever he was in the past, fixated entirely on obtaining money and power. Like Doc and Jenny, Dyyavola’s past is painful, but unlike them, he doesn’t seek to forge new relationships. He hoards power instead.

When Skinny Jeans discusses Dyyavola after his death, they say, “This guy never really spent his money. It sat there and kept growing in value. Even his own guys probably had no idea how much money he had. They would have killed him for it if they knew” (218). Dyyavola maintains his power until his death because he keeps everyone else in the dark about his blackmailing scheme. Dyyavola remains mysterious at the end of the novel, as his true identity is still unknown, leaving part of the novel’s central mystery unsolved.