On a sun-exposed area, that was a basal cell carcinoma until proven otherwise. She wasn't his doctor, and it was sometimes touchy to point out a potential health problem to someone who hadn't asked, but she decided to mention it to him later.
She heard a pencil drop. She looked up. No, it was a pen. It had fallen near Senator Vincent. He must have dropped it, but he didn't seem to notice. She was forcing her attention back to Dr. Fox when she noticed Senator Vincent jerk in his seat. She watched and he did it again. A spasmodic movement, as if someone had jabbed him with a pin, or a violent chill had passed through him. The room was cool but he seemed to be sweating. He ran a trembling hand through his frizzy hair.
Is he all right? she wondered.
She watched him a moment longer and he seemed to be calm, no more jerks or twitches. But he was still sweating, and gripping the edge of the table as if it might float away from him, or he from it.
Concentrate on the testimony, Gin, she told herself. That's your job here. Not Senator Vincent's hangover or whatever's bothering him.
She focused on Fox's words and was in the middle of another notation when . . .
"Just a minute, please. P-Please, excuse me." Gin jumped at the sudden interruption. Senator Vincent, kissing his mike and popping his P's, had broken in at peak volume.
"Yes, Senator? " Senator Marsden said softly. "Shall we allow The doctor to finish his statement before questioning him? " "No! " Vincent shouted, slamming his fist on the table. His eyes were wild as he glared along the table at Senator Marsden. "We shall do no such damn thing. Not when this son of a bitch starts slandering my wife!" Gin was rocked by that. Fox had been talking about overutilization of services. She saw heads snap up all around the hearing room. Both C-SPAN cameras had swiveled toward Vincent, and the still photographers were screwing their lenses back and forth as they focused on him, the previously somnolent reporters had come alive and were now scribbling on their pads or jabbing away at their laptops.
And on the dais she watched the other members exchange puzzled glances.
Marsden looked the most concerned of all.
He cleared his throat. "Senator Vincent, I don't believe Dr. Fox mentioned anyone's wife. He was discussing, " "Don't you tell me what he said or didn't say, you greenhorn! " Vincent shouted. "I was taking testimony when you were pissing your pants. And don't you side with him against me, either! ' "Senator, ' Dr. Fox said from the floor.
His expression was wounded and confused. "I assure you I never said or even implied anything, " Vincent leapt to his fee. He was. off mike now, but his harsh voice cut through the hearing room as he pointed a trembling finger at Fox.
"Don't lie to me, you little shit! Of course you did! " He swayed as he swept the room with his hand. "They all heard you. Every word of it." He stared at the wide-eyed, gawking visitors. "Didn't you?
Didn't you? " Silence . . . except for the clicks of camera lenses and the whir of advancing film.
Vincent began to nod his head. "Oh, so that's it. You're all in on it. Well that's just fine. I'll just, " Suddenly he whirled on Senator Marsden. "What did you say? " Gin saw Senator Marsden cringe back.
She didn't blame him. The naked fury in Vincent's eyes was frightening.
"I, I didn't say anything, Harold. Maybe we should call a recess until, " "No! No recess! " Saliva flecked his lips and began to spray as he shouted. "We're going to settle this right here. Here and now!
We're, " Suddenly he stiffened. His arms went rigid, his head snapped back as his spine bowed. Gin saw his eyes roll up and knew he was going to convulse. She was out of her chair and halfway to him when he dropped to the floor and began a tonic-clonic seizure.
Gin crouched beside him, cradling his jerking head. His eyes were open but he was seeing nothing. She listened to the air hissing in and out between his clenched teeth. Good. As long as that kept up, she knew he hadn't swallowed his tongue.
"Somebody call the emergency squad! " she cried.
She loosened his tie, folded it, and worked it between his grinding teeth. The senator was going to need a dose of diazepam soon. She looked up and saw Samuel Fox in the encircling huddle of anxious faces and camera lenses, those damn clicking, whirring cameras.
"Dr. Fox. Flow about a little help? " Fox didn't budge. He shook his head. "I can't! I . . . I've never practiced. ' "Great, " Gin muttered.
Suddenly Senator Marsden was at her side.
"The E.M.Ts are on their way. What do you want me to do? " Gin gave him a quick, grateful smile. "Just grab his arms and steady them.
Don't try to pin them down, just blunt the wild movements, keep him from flailing around too much and breaking a bone." '"Will do." It took another minute or so, it seemed much longer, before the seizure abated and Senator Vincent's limbs relaxed. His body slumped, his eyes closed. He began to snore.
"Does he have a history of seizures? " Gin asked Senator Marsden as they released their hold.
"Not that I know of. But then again, that's not something you broadcast in public life. ' Right. Voters were probably funny about voting for an epileptic. But what about the bizarre paranoid behavior just before the seizure?
The E.M.Ts arrived then. As they started an IV drip and loaded Senator Vincent on the stretcher, Gin told them he'd suffered a grand mal seizure and suggested they call ahead and have a neurologist waiting.
"Have ten milligrams of diazepam ready to go IV push if he starts again, " she told them as they were leaving.
She turned to Senator Marsden. "Thanks for your help." He nodded absently, then surveyed the milling, murmuring crowd around the dais.
"Nothing like starting off with a bang, " he said with a sigh.
"Are you going to call a recess? " He nodded. "An indefinite one. ' "What do you mean? " . - His expression was bleak." I opened the hearings this morning two members short. Now I'm three short. I've got half a committee now. Even if Senator Vincent recovers soon, I don't see him appearing before the cameras again for quite some time
Do you? " "No. Can't say as I do."
"So I'm going to have to wait until at least one of those empty seats is filled."
"How long will that take? " Gin said, her heart sinking. She'd just started this job last week, now it was evaporating before her eyes.
"Could be a while." Gin's expression must have revealed her dismay.
He smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry. I want you around doing background during the hiatus. I like the way you handle yourself. And who knows? We may not have a long wait if I can get the president involved. He wants this bill before the end of the year. Maybe he can twist a few arms. ' He returned to his seat on the dais, banged his gavel twice, and announced that hearings were suspended until further notice.
Gin suddenly thought of Duncan. She searched the crowd for him but he was gone.
Twice now, Duncan had been present when some catastrophe had befallen one of his legislator patients.
What had he said to Senator Vincent down on the. floor . . . minutes before the senator went crazy?
Gin had a strange feeling that he'd told him to remember someone named Lisa.
Later, Gin returned to the Hart Building via the underground shuttle and was surprised to find Gerry waiting for her in the atrium.
"Am I glad to see you." She needed someone to talk to, needed to ventilate the morning's events. She gave him a hug and felt the tension in his muscles. Gerry didn't seem to be in a listening mood.
"We need to talk, ' he said. His expression was serious, almost grim.