Naked, he went back into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. He dialed twenty-one for room service and ordered an orange juice, a cup of coffee, and a toasted English muffin. You should eat too, Mrs. Daniels had said. To keep your strength up. Mrs. Daniels, whose husband had just undergone open-heart surgery for the second time and was now refusing to eat. Keep your strength up. He fished in his wallet for the hospital’s number, dialed nine for an outside line, and then dialed the number directly.
“St. Mary’s Hospital,” a woman’s voice said.
“I’d like some information on a patient, please,” he said.
“The patient’s name?”
“Morris Weber.”
“One moment, please.”
He waited.
“Mr. Weber is in critical condition,” the voice said.
“Yes, I know that, but he was supposed to go into surgery this morning, and I wanted to know...”
“One moment, please.”
He waited.
“I have no indication of that, sir.”
“Of what?”
“Of any surgery this morning.”
“Well, is there any way you can check? I simply want to know how the operation...”
“I’m sorry, sir, there’s nothing on the computer except that he’s in Intensive Care.”
“Thank you,” David said.
He lit another cigarette, looked for the slip of paper on which he had written Kaplan’s number, and then dialed it. He got the answering service again, a pleasant-voiced woman who said she would give Dr. Kaplan his message and would ask him to call back as soon as possible.
“I want to know how the operation went,” David said.
“Yes, Mr. Weber, I’ll give him that information.”
“Thank you.”
He put the receiver back on the cradle. The phone rang while his hand was still on the receiver, startling him. He picked it up at once.
“Hello?”
“David, it’s me.”
“Hi, Molly.”
“I thought you’d have called by now. I was beginning to get worried.”
“I overslept.”
“How is he?”
“I don’t know yet. I’m waiting for the doctor to call back now.”
“Did you call the hospital?”
“Yes, but their computer doesn’t show anything.”
“What do you mean?”
“About how the operation went.”
“Did you ask if he was in the Recovery Room?”
“No.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because... honey, the goddamn computer didn’t show anything!”
There was a silence on the line.
“All right,” Molly said, “call me when you know something.”
“I will.” He paused. “Molly, I’m sorry I...”
“I know you’re upset,” she said, and hung up abruptly.
He stared at the receiver. This is the way it started, he thought. On the telephone. This is the way it really started. Now she just hangs up. He slammed down the receiver. The entire phone shook, the bell vibrated. Well, I shouldn’t have yelled at her, he thought. Still, you don’t just hang up that way. In Rockaway that summer, she didn’t hang up. That summer...
He could not wait for morning.
He had spoken to her at midnight and then had lain awake half the night, thinking of her, wondering why she couldn’t have told him last night whether she’d be seeing him tonight; was she waiting for a call from the guy who’d dated her, was she hedging her bets, playing one off against the other? The sheets were sticky. Even naked, he was hot.
There were two beds in the basement room he was renting with the dental student who was never there. There was a paisley-printed curtain hanging over the small window; it tinted the sunlight red and stained the bed. The phone was beside the bed, between his bed and the one the dental student never slept in. There was a big dental chart on the wall opposite the bed; it showed the position and gave the name of every tooth in the human mouth. David knew the names of all the teeth by heart. It was only eight o’clock; was she still sleeping? He didn’t want to wake her up, but neither did he want to chance missing her. Suppose she was an early riser? Suppose she was already out on the beach, taking the sun; she said she’d be leaving on Sunday, and this was already Wednesday; suppose he missed her?
He reached for the phone.
No, he thought, pulling back his hand, give her another fifteen minutes.
He could hear the ticking of his watch.
In the backyard outside, someone was taking a shower. He heard the person singing in the shower. There was no hot water out there; how could anyone possibly sing so loud in a cold shower? He could not tell whether the person was a man or a woman, the voice was that rotten. Naked, he got out of bed, walked across the room to the thrift-shop dresser, and turned on the small electric fan there. He was still hot. He went back to the bed. It was ten minutes past eight.
He waited.
The person outside stopped singing. He heard the shower being turned off. “Good morning,” he heard a woman chirp. “Good morning,” someone chirped back. He looked at his watch again. In the room upstairs, he heard the floorboards creak. The fat lady who wore the shorts and halter tops. The widow lady. She’d once asked his invisible dental student roommate if he’d like to come in for a cup of coffee. She’d placed her hand on his arm and said, “My coffee is very good, I’m told.” The dental student declined the invitation; he had already met the redheaded dancer he was sleeping with. David was tempted to wander by the fat lady’s room one day, see if she’d invite him in for some of her very good coffee. It had been that kind of summer.
He looked at his watch again.
Two more minutes, he thought.
He started reciting aloud the names of the teeth on the dental chart. He had gone through all of them in the lower jaw when he looked at his watch again. Okay, he thought, here we go. He picked up the slip of paper on which he’d written the phone number for the Seaview Hotel. His hand was shaking when he dialed the number.
“Seaview,” a voice said.
“Miss Regen, please,” he said.
“Who?”
“Molly Regen.”
“Just a second.”
He waited. His heart was pounding.
“Hello?”
God, he’d woken her up!
“Molly?”
“Yes?”
“It’s me. David.”
“What time is it?” she said.
“Eight-fifteen,” he said.
“Oh,” she said. He heard her yawning. “Sorry,” she said. “I was asleep.”
“I’m sorry I woke you up.”
“That’s okay,” she said.
“How are you?”
“Fine.”
“Listen, I’m really sorry I woke you up.”
“Well, that’s okay.”
“Have you given any thought to tonight?”
“Tonight?”
“Yeah, I... uh... you remember I asked you if you might like to go out with me tonight?”