“Nope. Bone dry.”
The deputy brought Raoul out. I told him about
my visit to the Retreat and the.negative findings.
He took it in, looking downcast and beaten, and
offered no protest.
The sheriff, pleased With-his passivity, treated
him with exquisite courtesy while he signed him
out, He asked Raou] what he wanted to do about
his Volvo, and the oncologist shrugged and said to
have it fixed, he’d pay for it.
I led him out of the room and down the stairs.
BLOOD TEST ‘221
He was silent throughout the ride home, not even
losing his cool when a chubby female border guard
pulled us over and asked for his identification. He
accepted the indignity with a mute acquiescence
that I found pitiful. Two hours ago he’d been aggressive
and poised for battle. I wondered if he’d
been laid low by the accumulated stress or if cycIi-cal
mood swings were a part of his makeup i’d
never noticed.
I was famished but he looked too grungy to take
to a restaurant so I ‘bought a couple of burgers and
Cokes at a stand in Santa Ana and pulled to the
side of the road near a small municipal park. I gave
BaoUl his food and ate mine while watching a group
of teenagers play softball, racing to finish before
nightfall. When I turned to look at him, he was
asleep, the food still wrapped and lying in,his lap. I
took it, stowed it in a trashcan and started up the
Seville. He stirred but didn’t awaken and by the
time I got back on the freeway he was snoring
peacefully.
We reached L.A. by seven, just as traffic on the
downtown interchange was untangling. When I
turnedoff at the Los Feliz exit he opened his eyes.
“What’s your address ?”
“No, take me back to the hospital.”
“You’re in no shape to go back there.”
“I must. Helen will be waiting.”
“You’ll only scare her looking like that. At least
go home and freshen up first.”
“I have a change of clothes in my office. Please,
I threw up my hands and drove to Western Peds..
After parking in the doctors’ lot I walked him’ to
the front door of Prinzley.
222 Jonatkan Kelterman
“Thank you,” he said, looking at his feet.
“Take care ofyourself.”
On the way back to the car .I met Beverly Lucas
leaving the wards. She looked tired and worn, the
oversized, purse seeming to weigh her down.
“Alex, I’m so glad to see you.”
“W-hat’s the matter?”
She looked around, to make sure no one was
listening.
“It’s Augie. He’s been making my life miserable
ever since your friend interrogated him, calling me
unfaithful, a quisling. He even tried to embarrass
me on rounds but the attending doc stopped it.”
“Bastard.”
She shook her head.
“What makes it hard is that I see his point. We
were–close, once. What he did in bed was nobody’s
business.”
I took her by the shoulders.
“What you did was right. If you got enough distance
to see straight that would be obvious. Don’t
let him get .to you.”
She flinched at the harshness in my voice.
“I know you’re right. Intellectually. But he’s falling
apart and it hurts me. I can’t help my feelings.”
She started to cry. A trio of nurses walked our
way. I steered her off the walkway and -into the
stairwell to the doctors’ level.
“What do you mean falling apart?”
“Acting strange. Doping and drinking more heavo
ily than usual. He’s bound to get caught. This morning
he pulled me off the ward and into a conference
room, locked the door, and came on to me.”
She lowered her eyes in embarrassment.
“He told me I was the best he’d ever had, actu-
BLOOD TEST 223
ally tried to get physical. When ! stopped -him he
looked crushed. Then he started to rant about
Melendez-Lynch–how he’d scapegoated him and
was going to try to use the Swope case to terminate
the fellowship. He started to laUgh—it was a freaky
laugh, Alex, full of anger. He said he had an ace up
his sleeve. That Melendez-Lynch would never get
rid of him.”
“Did he say what that was?”