At the hospital, David met Mary Ann’s husband, Donald, for the first time. Donald, his teenage son Matt, and Mary Ann’s parents were in the patients’ lounge across from the ICU quietly talking and consoling each other. As with the Kleber family and the Tarlow family, they were appreciative of David’s efforts. None of them had a bad word for him or a complaint.
“We had her for longer than Dr. Mieslich estimated,” Donald said. His eyes were red and his hair was tousled as if he had been sleeping. “She even got to go back to her job at the library.”
David commiserated with the family, telling them what they wanted to hear: she hadn’t suffered. But David had to confess his confusion as to the cause of her seizures.
“You didn’t expect seizures?” Donald asked.
“Not at all,” David said. “Especially since her MRI was normal.”
Everyone nodded as if they understood. Then, on the spur of the moment, David went against Kelley’s orders and asked the family if they would permit an autopsy. He explained that it might answer a lot of questions.
“I don’t know,” Donald said. He looked over at his in-laws. They were equally indecisive.
“Why don’t you think about it overnight?” David suggested. “We’ll keep the body here.”
Leaving the ICU, David felt despondent. He didn’t go directly home. Instead, he wandered over to the dimly lit second-floor nurses’ station. It was a quiet time of the night. Trying to keep his mind on other things, he glanced at Jonathan Eakins’ chart. As he was perusing it, one of the night nurses told David that Mr. Eakins was awake, watching TV. David walked down and poked his head in.
“Everything okay?” David asked.
“What a committed doctor,” Jonathan said with a smile. “You must live here.”
“Is that ticker of yours staying nice and regular?” David asked.
“Like clockwork,” Jonathan said. “When do I get to go home?”
“Probably today,” David said. “I see they changed your bed.”
“Sure did,” Jonathan said. “They couldn’t seem to fix the old one. Thanks for giving them a nudge. My complaints fell on deaf ears.”
“No problem,” David said. “See you tomorrow.”
David left the hospital and got into his car. He started the engine but didn’t put the car in gear. He’d had three unexpected deaths in one week: patients other doctors had been keeping alive and healthy. He couldn’t help but question his competence. He wondered if he were meant to be a doctor. Maybe those three patients would still be alive if they’d had another physician.
He knew he couldn’t sit in the hospital parking lot all night, so David finally put the car in gear and drove home. He was surprised to see a light on in the family room. By the time he’d parked and gotten out of the car, Angela was at the door. She was holding a medical journal.
“Are you all right?” she asked as she closed and locked the door behind David.
“I’ve been better,” David said. “Why are you still up?” He removed his coat and motioned for Angela to precede him into the kitchen.
“There was no way I would sleep without you here,” Angela said over her shoulder as she passed through the kitchen into the hall. “Not after that note was nailed to our door. And I’ve been thinking. If you have to go out in the middle of the night like this, I want to have a gun here.”
David reached out and pulled Angela to a stop. “We’ll have no guns in our house,” he said. “You know the statistics as well as I do about guns in houses where there are children.”
“Such statistics are not for physicians’ families with a single, intelligent child,” Angela countered. “Besides, I’ll take responsibility for making sure Nikki is well acquainted with the gun and its potential.”
David let go of his wife and headed for the stairs. “I don’t have the energy or the emotional strength to argue with you.”
“Good,” Angela said as she caught up with him.
Upstairs, David decided to take another shower. When he came into the bedroom Angela was reading her pathology journal. She was as wide awake as he.