“I checked with the Bartlet Sun,” Beaton said. “They have agreed to keep the rape attempt out of the paper.”
“At least they’re on our side,” Traynor said.
“I think their loyalty is inspired by the ads we run,” Beaton said.
“Any new business to be brought up at the board meeting?” Sherwood asked.
“There’s a new battle fomenting in the clinical arena,” Beaton said. “The radiologists and the neurologists are squaring off for a bloody fight over which group is officially designated to read MRIs of the skull.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” Traynor said.
“Honest,” Beaton said. “If we gave them weapons it would be a fight to the death. It involves dollars and ego, a tough combination.”
“Damn doctors,” Traynor said with disgust. “They can’t work together on anything. They’re a bunch of lone rangers, if you ask me.”
“Which brings me to M.D. 91,” Beaton said. “He’s planning on suing the hospital over his privileges.”
“Let him sue,” Traynor said. “I’m even tired of the medical staffs insistence that we call these ‘compromised physicians’ by code numbers. Hell, ‘compromised physician’ is a euphemism in itself.”
“That’s all the new business,” Beaton said.
Traynor looked around the table. “Anything else?”
“I had a curious visit yesterday afternoon,” Sherwood said. “The caller was a PI by the name of Phil Calhoun.”
“He came to see me too,” Traynor said.
“He makes me nervous,” Sherwood said. “He asked a lot of questions about Hodges.”
“Likewise,” Traynor said.
“The problem was that he already seemed to know a fair amount,” Sherwood said. “I was reluctant to give him any information, but I didn’t want to appear to be stonewalling either.”
“My feelings exactly,” Traynor said.
“He hasn’t come to see me,” Beaton said.
“Who do you think retained him?” Sherwood asked.
“I asked him,” Traynor said. “He implied that the family had. I assumed he meant Clara, so I called her. She said she didn’t know anything about Phil Calhoun. Next I called Wayne Robertson. Calhoun had already been to see him. Wayne thought that the most likely candidate is Angela Wilson, our new pathologist.”
“That makes sense,” Sherwood said. “She came to see me about Hodges. She was very upset about his body being discovered in her house.”
“That’s a curious coincidence,” Beaton said. “She’s certainly having her troubles: first finding a body in her house and then experiencing a rape attempt.”
“Maybe the rape attempt will dampen her interest in Hodges,” Traynor said. “It would be ironic for something positive to come out of something so potentially negative.”
“What if Phil Calhoun figures out who killed Hodges?” Caldwell asked.
“That could be a problem,” Traynor said. “But it’s been over eight months. What are the odds? The trail must be pretty cool by now.”
When the meeting broke up, Traynor walked Beaton out to her car. He asked her if she’d had a change of heart about their relationship.
“No,” Beaton said. “Have you?”
“I can’t divorce Jacqueline right now,” Traynor said. “Not with my boy in college. But when he gets out . . .”
“Fine,” Beaton said. “We’ll talk about it then.”
As Beaton drove up to the hospital, she shook her head in dismay. “Men!” she said irritably.
After seeing off his last patient for the day, David stepped across the hall into his private office. Nikki was sitting at his desk leafing through one of his medical journals. David liked the fact that she was interested in medicine. He hoped that if her interest persisted, she would have the opportunity to study medicine.
“Are you ready?” she asked.
“Let’s go.”
It took them only a few minutes to cover the short distance to the hospital and up a flight of stairs. When they stepped into Caroline’s room, Caroline’s face lit up with joy. She was especially pleased that Nikki had remembered to bring the books that she’d requested. Caroline was a superb student, just like Nikki.
“Look what I can do,” Caroline said. She reached up and grabbed an overhead bar and pulled herself completely off the bed, angling her feet up into the air.
David clapped. It was a feat that took considerable strength, more than David would have guessed her slender arms had. Caroline was in a large orthopedic bed with an overhead frame. David assumed they’d put her in it for its entertainment value since the child was obviously enjoying it.