mustn’t lose hope. That, Judith understood, was what
the sacrament was all about.
Moving away from Judith, Renie eyed Dr. Garnett.
“I assume they haven’t caught whoever stabbed Joe?
My husband didn’t mention it, and I couldn’t quiz him
closely because I didn’t want to frighten Judith.”
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“I don’t know any of the details,” Dr. Garnett said.
“I’d just come from attending to Dr. Van Boeck and
had to scrub up immediately to operate on Mr. Flynn.”
The surgeon, who looked so weary that his mustache
seemed to droop, started for the door.
As beset as she was with her own troubles, Judith
managed to take in the wider world. “How is Dr. Van
Boeck?”
“He’ll be fine,” Dr. Garnett said without turning
around. “Unfortunately.”
“He doesn’t like his boss much, does he?” Renie
said, directing the remark to Sister Jacqueline after Dr.
Garnett had left.
The nun’s fine features puckered slightly. “They
have differing philosophies on some issues. It’s common among medical professionals.”
“You’ll keep me posted on Joe?” Judith asked Sister
Jacqueline as Heather returned with the sedative.
“Of course.” Sister Jacqueline’s smile seemed
tense. “Once he’s out of intensive care, I’m not sure
what floor he’ll go to. We’re terribly crowded here,
too. Maybe tomorrow we can release some of the patients who are ready to go home. Right now, we can’t
take chances since our patients are all orthopedic
post-op. A spill on the ice or an out-of-control vehicle could be disastrous.”
“Blanche Van Boeck wants to throw me out into the
snow,” Renie said. “Do you think she’s serious?”
Sister Jacqueline cocked her head to one side. “I
doubt it. That would be up to Dr. Ming. She’d have to
convince him that you’re ready to be discharged.”
“She could do it, though,” Renie said. “She has the
influence.”
Sister Jacqueline’s nod was curt. “That’s true. But
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she’ll be too busy tomorrow to worry about you.
Blanche Van Boeck is announcing her candidacy for
mayor.”
The Valium helped relax Judith, but it didn’t erase
her fears for Joe. For an hour, she fussed and fretted.
She also repeated over and over how she wished she
could see him.
Renie was remarkably patient. But as seven
o’clock rolled around, she finally called a halt.
“You’re literally going to make yourself sick,” she
told Judith. “If you don’t stop stewing, I’ll ask somebody to give you another dose of Valium.”
“Okay,” Judith said, “but you know you’d worry like
this if it were Bill.”
“I’m already worried about Bill,” Renie responded.
“It isn’t normal—even for a shrink—to dress up Chihuahuas.”
“That’s nothing compared to what happened to Joe,”
Judith pointed out.
“It could be if Bill’s gone nuts,” Renie argued. “Do
you think I look forward to visiting him in some institution where he’s wearing a waffle on his head and
talking to the begonias?”
“You’re just trying to make me stop fussing,” Judith
declared. “Okay, so tell me what Bill said about the Chihuahuas. What was that about a Sea Auks uniform?”
“I’m not sure,” Renie admitted. “Between the doggy
concept, the car, and his news about Joe, I couldn’t figure out what he was talking about. Maybe Bill should
analyze himself.”
“I gather you didn’t get a chance to ask him about
Nancy and Bob Jr.,” Judith said, though her mind was
mostly in the ICU with Joe.
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“No,” Renie replied. “I could tell from the start
that something was wrong. I knew he’d get to it in
his own good time, but I didn’t want to put any detours in the way.” She glanced out the window,
where night had settled in over the snow-covered
city. “I still can’t believe that obit the Randall family
put together. Jim and Margie are both kind of weird,
but I didn’t think they were stupid.”
Judith didn’t respond immediately. “You’re right.
Maybe they simply wanted to vent. The odd thing is
that when we spoke with him right after Bob died,
Jim acted as if he was fond of his brother. And, in
fact, there was no mention of his relationship to Bob
in the write-up. Does that mean Bob and Jim really
did get along?”
“I don’t know,” Renie said, delving into her Falstaff ’s bag. “It’s a good thing I’m not hungry anymore.
All I have left is an apple and a small chunk of Gouda.
I’ll be a bag of bones by the time I leave this place. We
could use some good news around here. Then maybe
my appetite will come back.”
Judith eyed Renie curiously. “That’s funny, now that
you mention it—when Jim Randall left Addison
Kirby’s room this afternoon, Dr. Garnett met him in
the hall. He said he had some good news for Jim. I
wonder what he meant?”
“Didn’t Jim have some tests done the other day?”
Renie responded. “Maybe the results came back.”
Judith snapped her fingers. “That must be it. I’d forgotten.” She gazed at the phone. “I think I’ll call ICU.”
“They’ll let you know when they have anything to
report,” Renie said, munching on her apple.
“I should call Mike,” Judith said. “I should have done
that sooner. Why didn’t I?” She picked up the phone.
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229
“Because you don’t know anything for sure and you
don’t want to scare the wits out of Mike until you do.
Hold off,” Renie urged.
“I can’t,” Judith declared. “It wouldn’t be fair.” She
used her long distance calling card to get an outside
line, then waited as the phone rang a dozen times up at
the mountain summit. “Nobody’s answering,” she said,
finally clicking off. “Where could they go in this
weather?”
“Maybe the phone lines are down,” Renie suggested.
“Or maybe Mike’s got his other line tied up. He could
be busy.”
“True,” Judith allowed, but redialed in case she’d
made a mistake the first time. The result was the same.
Nobody picked up the phone.
“Doesn’t he have an answering machine?” Renie
asked.
“Not on his private phone,” Judith said. “Kristin
feels it’s bad enough to have the forest service lines
ring in the house. She’s not much for gadgetry. My
daughter-in-law is strictly a no-nonsense person.”
“I know,” Renie acknowledged. “Kristin’s a natural
phenomenon, like a giant redwood.” Renie did not add,
as she might have, that Kristin was damned near as big.
Judith tensed as Sister Jacqueline quietly entered the
room. “Mrs. Flynn?”
“Yes?” Judith flinched, her voice hoarse.
“I wanted to thank both you and your husband for
being organ donors,” the nun said, approaching Judith’s bed. “We’re very big proponents of the program,
and I’m sure you know what a wonderful thing it is.”
Judith barely heard what Sister Jacqueline was saying. “What about Joe?”
“He’s still in the ICU,” Sister Jacqueline replied.
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