Blood Test by Kellerman, Jonathan

help. Any idea when the parents will be in ?”

“Vangie, did the Swopes say when they’d be in?”

The Filipino nurse shook her head. “Usually

they’re here in the morning–right around now. If

they don’t come soon, I don’t know when. I can

leave a message for them to call you, Doctor–”

“Delaware. Why don’t you tell them I’ll be here

tomorrow at eight thirty and if they arrive earlier,

please have them’ wait.”

“Eight thirty you should catch them.”

“I’ll tell you what,” said Bev, “I’ve got the number

of the place they’re staying–some motel on the

west side. I’ll call and leave a message. If they Show

up today do you want to come back?”

I considered it. Nothing on the agenda that

couldn’t wait. “Sure. Call my exchange. They’ll

know where to reach me.” I gave her the number.

“All right, Alex, you’d better get in there before

you truck a few million pathogens over the border..

See ya.”

She hoisted the large purse over her shou!dex

and walked out the door.

BLOOD TEST 71

I .stepped pounds to the Laminar Airflow Room:

He’d sat up and his dark eyes followed ‘my entry.

“I look like a spaceman, huh?”

“I can tell who you are,” he said gravely, “everyone

looks-different.”

“That’s good. I always had trouble recognizing

people when they wore these things.”

“Ya gotta look close, with strong eyes.”

“I see. Thanks for the advice.”

I got the box of checkers and unfolded the board

on the armlike table that swung across the bed.

“What eolor do you want to be?”

“Dunno.”

“Black goes first, I think. You wanna go first?”

“Uh huh.”

He was precociously good at the game, able to

plot, set up moves, and think sequentially.’A bright

little boy.

A couple of times I tried to engage him in conversation

but he ignored me. It wasn’t shyness or lack

of good manners. His attention was focused on the

checkerboard and he didn’t even hear the sound of

my voice. When he completed a move he’d lean

back against the pillows with a satisfied look on his

grave little face and say, “There! Your turn,” in a

voice made soft by fatigue.

We were halfway through the game and he was

giving me a run for my money when he clutched

his abdomen and cried out in paim

I eased him down and felt his brow. Low-grade

fever.

“Your tummy hurts, doesn’t it?”

He nodded and wiped his eyes with the back of

his hand.

: -72. Jonathan Kellerman

I press6d the call button. Vangie, .the Filipino

nurse, appeared on the other side of the plastic.

“Abdominal pain. Febrile,” I told her.

She frowned and disappeared, returning with a

cup of liquid acetominophen held in a gloved hand.

“Swing that counter over this way, would you.” .

qhe set the medicine on the slab of Formica.

“You can take it now and give it to him. The

resident’s due by within the hour to check him

over.”

I returned to the boy’s bedside, propped him up

with one hand behind his head, and held the liquid

to his lips with the other.

“Open up, Woody. This will make it hurt less.”

“Okay, Doctor Delaware.”

“I think you’d better rest now. You played a good

game.”

He nodded and the curls bounced. “Tie?”

“I’d say so. Although you were getting me pretty

good at the end. Can I come back and play with you

again?”

“Uh huh.” I-le closed his eyes.

“Rest up, now.”

By the time I was out of the unit and had shed

the paper suit, he was asleep, lips parted, sucking

gently at the softness of the pillow.

THE NEXT morning I drove east on Sunset under a

sky streaked with tin-strip clouds and thought about

last night’s dreams-Tthe same kind of spooky, murky

images that had plagued my sleep when I first

started working in oncology. It had taken a good

year to chase those demons away and now I wondered

if they’d ever been gone or had just been

lurking in my subconscious, ever ready for mischief.

Raoul’s world was madness and I found myself

resenting him for drawing me back into it.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *