of. the word cancer.”
“Progress, huh?”
“Alex, nothing’s changed in the last five years. If
anything it’s gotten worse. I’ve even started open-
ing my ears to other offers. Last week I was given
the chance to run an entire hospital in Miami.
Chief of Staff. More money and a full professorship.”
“Considering it ?”
“No. The research facilities were Mickey Mouse
and I suspect they want me more for my Spanish
6 JonaOum Kel
.than my. medical brilliance. Anyway, what do you
iay-about lending the department a hand–you’re
s till ‘officially listed as our consultant, you know.”
“To be honest, Raoul, I’m not taking on any therapy
cases.”
“Yes, yes, I’m aware of that,” he said impatiently,
“but this is not therapy. Short term liaison consultation.
I don’t want to sound melodramatic, but the
life of a very sick little boy is at stake.”
“Exactly what kind of noncompliance are you
talking about?”
“It’s too complicated to explain over the phone,
Alex. I hate to be rude, but I must-get over to the
lab and see how Helen is doing. We’re pacing an in
vitro hepatoblastoma as it approaches pulmonary
tissue. It’s painstaking work and it requires constant
vigilance. Let’s talk about it tomorrow–nine,
my office? I’ll.have breakfast sent up, and voucher
forms. We’re prepared to pay for your time.”
“All right, Raoul. I’ll be there.”
“Excellent.” He hung up.
Being released from a conversation with Melendez-Lynch
was a jarring experience, a sudden shift into
low gear. I put down the receiver, regained my
bearings, and reflected on the complexity of the
manic syndrome.
WESTERN PEDIATRIC Medical Center occupies a
block of mid-Hollywood real estate in a neigh-
once grand but is now the turf of
, hookers, drag queens, and fancy dancers of
every stripe. The working girls were up early this
morning, halter-topped and hot-panted, and as I
cruised eastward on Sunset they stepped out from
alleys and shadowed doorways sashaying and hoot-lng.
The Whores were as much a fixture of Hollywood
as the brass stars inlaid in the sidewalks,
and I could swear I recognized some of the same
painted faces I’d seen there three years ago. The
streetwalkers seemed to fall into two categories:
doughy-faced nmaways from Bakersfield, Fresno,
and the surrounding farmlands, and lean, leggy,
shopworn black girls from South Central L.A. All
of them raring to go at eight forty-five in the morning.
If the whole country ever got that industrious
the Japanese wouldn’t stand a chance.
The hospital loomed large, a compound of aged
37
dark stone buildings and one newer column of concrete
and glass. I pulled the Seville into the.doctors’
lot and walked to Prinzley Pavilion, the
contemporary structure.
The Department of Oncology was situated on the
fifth floor. The doctors’ offices were cubicles arranged
in a U around the secretarial pool. As head
of the department, Raoul got four times as much
space as any of the other oncologists, as well as
privacy. His office was at the far end of the corridor
and cordoned off by double glass doors. I went
through them and walked into the reception area.
Seeing no receptionist, I kept going and entered his
office through a door marked PRIVATE.
He could have had an executive suite but had
chosen to use almost all the space for his lab, end-lng
up with an office only ten by twelve. The room
was as I remembered it, the desk pried high with
correspondence,journals, and unanswered messages,-
· all ordered and precisely stacked. There were too
many books for the floor-to-ceiling bookcase and the
overflow was similarly heaped on-the floor. One
shelf was filled with bottles of Maalox. Perpendicular
to the desk, faded beige curtains concealed
the office’s sole window as well as a view of the
hills beyond.
I knew that view well, having spent a significant
proportion of my time at Western Peds staring out
at the crumbling letters of the HOLLYWOOD sign
while waiting for Raoul to show up for meetings he
had scheduled but inevitably forgot about, or cooling
my heels during his interminable long-distance
phone chats.
I searched for signs of habitation and found a
Styrofoam cup half-filled with cold coffee and a