Silent Treatment

He left the room with Doug Atwater closebehind. Transportation had just arrived to bring Evie down for her scan.Richard Cohen looked at Harry and shrugged.

'Harry, Caspar's gone to call the ME andthe police. He's sure you gave your wife something to cause her pressure toskyrocket — some sort of pressor drug. I think maybe I should call Bob Lord andOwen, let them know what's going on.'

Lord was the chief of the medical staff.Owen Erdman was president of the hospital.

'Call anybody you want,' Harry said. 'Thisis ridiculous.'

'I'll call Owen,' Atwater offered. 'IsSidonis crazy or what, Richard?'

'I don't know about crazy,' theneurosurgeon replied, 'but he's definitely furious. Harry, he says he spoke toyour wife just as you two were leaving the house last night, and that she sworeshe was going to tell you about the two of them.'

'She didn't tell me anything.'

'Well, listen. We've got to get going.I'll call Lord from X ray. Stick around here, will you? As soon as I've seenthe CT I'll be back up to speak to you. The EEG tech is on the way in, but shelives in the Bronx.'

With the respiratory technician breathingfor Evie with a rubber Ambu bag, the transportation worker guided her bedtoward the elevator. Cohen and Sue Jilson followed, along with the tworesidents who had remained nearby at Cohen's request.

Doug Atwater glanced over at Maura Hughes.

'Evie's roommate,' Harry explained. 'Thecop's her brother. She's in the DTs.'

'In the DTs right now?'

'I think they've got her pretty heavilymedicated. Doug, I just don't believe this is happening.'

Atwater led Harry over to a molded plasticchair and motioned him to sit.

You going to stay here in the hospital?'he asked, lowering to one knee.

'I … I guess so. At least until thestudies are all back. Cohen wants my permission to have Evie donate her organs.I'm probably going to have to decide before morning.'

'Oh, shit.'

Atwater knew them as a couple about aswell as anyone at the hospital did. He had been a dinner guest at their hometwice, and had double-dated with them on at least two other occasions, althoughthe, last time was probably two or three years ago. He was charming, out-going,and at times — especially when he had had a few drinks — extremely witty. Morethan once, Evie had spoken of fixing him up with one or another of her friends.However, Harry recalled now, as their marriage deteriorated she had stoppedsuggesting a fix-up, and instead frequently encouraged him to join Doug for a'boy's night out.' Small wonder.

'I thought Sidonis was married,' Harrysaid.

'Not as long as I've been here. He has akid or two somewhere. I know that much. But mostly he's married to the OR, plushis stockbroker, his publicity agent, and of course his mirror. I had evenheard rumors he was gay.'

Harry laughed bitterly.

'Guess not,' he said.

'Listen, Harry, I'd better go call Owen. Ineed to check on Anneke, too. Do you want me to say something to Sido — nevermind. Here he comes.'

Sidonis bore down on them.

'The medical examiner's called the lab andordered some blood samples on Evie,' he announced triumphantly. 'And there's aDetective Dickinson on his way over. He'd like it if you could stay until hegets here.'

'I'm not going anyplace. But I havenothing to say to him or anyone else you bring in.'

'Caspar,' Doug said, 'why are you doingthis?'

Sidonis eyed the executive suspicously.Clearly, he had placed Atwater among the enemy.

'You really don't know?' he said finally.'Evie and I have been seeing each other for over a year. Last night she toldHarry she was leaving him. Tonight she checks in here with perfectly normalblood pressure, and not one symptom of her aneurysm for a month. He goes intoher room, she's fine. He leaves, and not half an hour later her bloodpressure's three hundred plus and her aneurysm has blown. Wouldn't you besuspicious?'

Atwater held the surgeon's gaze.

'If I didn't know Harry Corbett I mightbe,' he said. 'But you're way off base. And if what you say is true about youand this man's wife, someone ought to kick the shit out of you for busting uptheir marriage. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to phone Owen Erdman andlet him know what you've been up to. Harry, I'll be back a little later. Becool.'

'Now just a second,' Sidonis protested,hurrying after him. 'If you're calling Erdman I want to talk with him.

He was still railing when he and DougAtwater disappeared around the corner of the hallway. Suddenly, the corridorwas silent.

'Um. . excuse me.'

'Huh?' Harry looked around. Maura Hughes'sbrother, still by her bedside, cleared his throat and self-consciously smoothedhis uniform shirt. Harry noticed the three stripes on his immaculate uniform. Asergeant, then.

'I'm Tom Hughes,' he said, his speech freeof all but a hint of New York. 'Maura's my sister.'

'Hi,' Harry said flatly. He feltembarrassed that the policeman had been witness to Sidonis's outburst anddisclosure. But in truth, not that much.

'I … um. . I'm sorry for what you'vebeen going through.'

'Thanks.'

'Maura says you've been very kind to her.'He looked back at where his sister lay. She was asleep and snoring somewhatunnaturally. 'I guess the sedation has kicked in.'

'It would seem so.'

'Look, I don't mean to butt in, butstanding where I've been, it was impossible for me not to hear.'

'Yeah.'

Harry felt suddenly awkward sitting. Healso felt incapable of maintaining a conversation — even one as superficial as this.He stood up and pushed the plastic chair away with the toe of his shoe. Hestill hadn't called Evie's family. Maybe he should call Steve Josephson aswell. In anticipation of Evie's surgery, he had already canceled his morningpatients and signed out to Steve until one. Maybe he should call and make itthe whole day.

'Look, I'm sorry for blabbering on likethis,' Hughes said. 'I know you've got a lot on your mind and the weight of theworld on your shoulders. But there's something I really need to tell you.'

Harry hesitated, then crossed thecorridor.

'That doctor,' Hughes went on in a nearwhisper, 'the dark-haired one, the one who claims — '

'Yes, yes, I know who you mean. Sidonis.'

'Well, Dr. Sidonis seems to be making abig deal over the report from the nurse that you were the last one in with yourwife before she got so — '

'Yes.'

'Well, you weren't.'

'What?'

'You weren't the last one. There was a manin with her shortly after you left. A doctor, in fact.'

'Are you sure?'

Tom Hughes thought for a few secondsbefore he responded.

'Pretty sure,' he said finally. 'No, makethat very sure.'

'But. . but how do you know that?'

Again the policeman hesitated, his gazefixed on one of the bed wheels. When he looked at Harry again, his expressionwas sheepish.

'My sister told me so,' he said.

Chapter8

'I'm sure she doesn't look it to you rightnow, but Maura really is a very special, very talented, very good person.'

After just a few minutes of conversationwith Tom Hughes, several things had become quite clear to Harry: althoughyoung, Hughes was very intelligent and as sharp as any policeman he had evermet; and despite his older sister's obvious problems, he was absolutely devotedto her. He was also convinced that the man she claimed to have seen enter herhospital room had actually been there.

'A doctor in a white clinic coat came inshortly after you left,' Hughes related to Harry. 'Maura was apparentlyhollering at the time — she said something to me about the nurses never payingany attention to her unless she makes noise. The doctor smiled at her, strokedher forehead, leaned over, and whispered to her to just relax. Then he wentaround the curtain, spoke with your wife for a short while, and left. He was inhis thirties or early forties, five foot eight or so, with brown hair closelycut, unusually dark brown eyes, a large diamond ring on the little finger ofhis left hand, and a blue and green clip-on tie.'