those. The theater is full of big egos. But Joan knew
how to handle them. She was a veteran, a real pro.”
“Gosh,” Judith said in a bleak voice, “it sounds as if
the community has lost more than just talent. Both
Joan and Joaquin sound like decent, upstanding human
beings. Did Addison say anything about Bob Randall?
We know he was brave both on and off the field. Bob
saved some lives, as well as games.”
“Addison hadn’t had time to do more than speak
with Nancy and Bob Jr.,” Renie responded after she’d
devoured two crackers and another chunk of cheese.
“As you might guess from the looks of them, they
weren’t a lot of help. Like their mother, they seem ineffectual and unable to cope with the rest of the world.
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I sure wish Bill would open the vault on his blasted patient confidentiality and let us know what’s going on.”
“Tell me,” Judith said, making yet another attempt
to get comfortable in the bed, “does Addison know
why there isn’t a full-fledged homicide investigation
going on around here?”
Renie shook her head. “That’s where he sort of
clammed up. I suspect he knows more about that than
he’s saying.”
“But does he agree that the police aren’t involved?”
Judith persisted.
“He told me he’d gotten nowhere going to his usual
sources at city hall, including the police department.”
Renie shot Judith a cryptic glance. “Think about it—
Addison Kirby has been covering city hall for ten, fifteen years. He must have cultivated all sorts of people
who can help him. But not this time. Why? Could it be
Blanche Van Boeck on the city council? She who
would be mayor?”
“Drat,” said Judith. “That woman has clout.”
Judith had opened her mouth to tell Renie about the
Randall twins’ visits when Corinne Appleby entered
the room, looking determined and pushing a wheelchair. “You’re getting up today, Mrs. Flynn. We’re
going to put you in this swift little number.”
“That’s good—I think,” Judith responded.
But she was not without trepidation, especially
when Corinne didn’t request any help with the lifting
process.
“Just take your time,” Corinne said, exuding more
confidence than Judith felt. “I’m used to doing this.
My mother is very crippled with arthritis and can’t
stand without assistance.”
“My mother also has arthritis,” Judith said, sitting
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up and struggling to swing her legs over the side of the
bed. “Unfortunately, it’s often just part of old age.”
“My mother’s not quite sixty,” Corinne said, her
freckled face clouding over. “She developed arthritis in
her early twenties. It was terrible. She’d planned to become a concert pianist.”
“Oh, that is awful!” Renie exclaimed. “We had a
dear family friend, we called her Auntie May, who
played beautifully, but she had arthritis, too, and all her
professional dreams were dashed at a very young age.
Can your mother play at all?”
Corinne shook her head as she put her arms under
Judith’s. “No. She hasn’t played in almost thirty years.
We sold the piano when I was still a child. Mummy
couldn’t bear to have it in the house.”
“That’s very sad,” Judith said, gritting her teeth.
“Oooh . . . I don’t know if I . . .”
“You’re doing fine,” Corinne said. “Just keep coming up. Be thankful that eventually you’ll be mobile
again. Not everyone is so lucky. There. You’re on your
feet. Don’t move for a few seconds. Steady . . .”
Judith wasn’t steady. In fact, she was swaying. But
after focusing her eyes on the bathroom doorknob, she
began to get her bearings.
“Good,” Corinne said, slowly letting go of Judith.
“Now try to take a step toward me. Don’t worry—if
you fall, I’ll catch you.”
Judith inched her way forward on her good leg,
though most of her weight was against the bed. Then,
closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she tried to
move her left leg. It hurt, but not as much as she’d
feared. Corinne gave her a nod of encouragement. Judith gently tested putting weight on the hip replacement. She felt unsure of herself and gritted her teeth.
SUTURE SELF
175
“Go ahead,” urged Corinne. “It’ll hold you up.”
To Judith’s amazement, it did.
“Hooray for modern medicine!” Renie cried, grinning at her cousin. “Go, girl, go.”
Judith didn’t go very far, but she did manage another
step before she felt on the verge of collapsing.
“Hold it right there,” Corinne said, angling the
wheelchair so that Judith could sit down. “That was
very good. Now you can visit the rest of the world.”
Uttering a feeble laugh, Judith gratefully eased
herself into the chair. The nurse pushed her to the
doorway. Judith, who had thought that Corinne’s remark about the “rest of the world” was merely an attempt at hospital humor, realized that for two days
she hadn’t seen anything outside the four walls of
her room. The hallway, with its ebb and flow of
staff, the nurses’ station, the doors leading to other
patient rooms, the flowers on desks, and even Robbie the Robot, who was heading her way, were indeed a brave new world. Until now, Judith had relied
on Renie’s eyes to see beyond the small space outside their ward. Finally Judith was on her own and
felt a strange surge of independence. Jauntily, she
waved at Robbie as he swerved and beeped past her.
“Wow,” Judith said under her breath. “People.
Places. Things.”
“We’ll go down to the end of the hall,” Corinne
said. “There’s a big window there where you can see
out. It’s not snowing, but it’s very cold, down around
twenty, I heard. Almost all of the staff has been staying in the nurses’ former residence halls. Unless you
have chains and know how to drive in this stuff, it’s
much safer to stay put.”
Judith glanced into Mr. Mummy’s room across the
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Mary Daheim
hall, but he wasn’t there. Then she looked into Addison
Kirby’s room. He was there, but was on the phone,
looking frustrated. She passed three more patient
rooms, each of which contained four beds. On her left,
she saw the small area set into an alcove where
Blanche Van Boeck had held her press conference with
KLIP-TV. Then there were supply rooms and six more
patient wards, and finally the staff lounge and what
might have been a small kitchen, judging from the aromas that wafted out into the hall.
The snowscape made Judith catch her breath. “It’s
gorgeous,” she said to Corinne. “I haven’t even been
able to look out the window in our room.”
Judith wasn’t exaggerating. The trees, the shrubs,
the sweeping lawn were covered in a pristine blanket
of snow. The driveway to the entrance had been
shoveled, but there were only a few tire tracks and
footprints in the main parking lot off to the right. Beyond, the rooftops of the surrounding residential
neighborhoods looked like a Christmas card, with
smoke spiraling out of chimneys and soft lights behind windows warding off the winter gloom.
“This is lovely,” Judith said. “It’s the first real snow