David phoned the ICU and got Dr. Pilsner on the line. David apologized for disturbing him but felt obliged to let him know the oral antibiotic wasn’t helping.
“Let’s up it,” Dr. Pilsner said in a tired voice. “And I think we’d better use a mucolytic agent and a bronchodilator with her respiratory therapy.”
“Any change with Caroline?” David asked.
“No change,” Dr. Pilsner answered.
Angela didn’t get home until almost seven o’clock. After she checked on Nikki, who was doing better after a respiratory therapy session with David, she went to take a shower. David followed her into the bathroom.
“Caroline is no better,” David said as Angela stepped into the shower.
“I feel great compassion for the Helmsfords,” Angela said. “They must be heartsick. I hope to heaven that Nikki doesn’t come down with whatever Caroline got.”
“I’ve got another patient–Sandra Hascher–who is scaring me the same way the others did.”
Angela poked her head out of the shower. “What was her admitting diagnosis?”
“Abscessed tooth,” David said. “It had responded nicely to antibiotics. Then this afternoon she suddenly had a mental status change.”
“Disoriented?”
“Mostly just apathetic and vague,” David said. “I know it doesn’t sound like much, but to me it was dramatic.”
“Meningitis?” Angela asked.
“That was the only thing I thought of,” David said. “She hasn’t had any headache or spiking fever. But I did a lumbar puncture just to be sure, and it was normal.”
“What about a brain abscess?” Angela asked.
“Again, she’s had little fever,” David said. “But maybe I’ll do an MRI tomorrow if she’s not better. The problem is, she’s reminding me of the other patients who died.”
“I suppose you don’t want to ask for any consults.”
“Not unless I want to have her transferred to someone else,” David said. “I might even get into trouble ordering the MRI.”
“It’s a lousy way to practice medicine,” Angela said.
David didn’t answer.
“The trip to Burlington went smoothly,” Angela said.
“I’m glad,” David replied without interest.
“The only trouble I had was when I got back. Wadley’s being unreasonable. He even threatened to terminate me.”
“No!” David said. He was aghast. “That would be a disaster.”
“Don’t worry,” Angela said. “He’s just blowing off steam. There’s no way he could terminate me so soon after I complained about his sexual harassment. For that reason alone I’m glad I went to Cantor. The conversation officially established my complaint.”
“That’s not a lot of reassurance,” David said. “I’d never even thought of the possibility of your being fired.”
Later, when dinner was served, Nikki reported she wasn’t hungry. Angela made her come to the table anyway, saying she could eat what she wanted. But during the dinner, Angela urged Nikki to eat more. David told Angela not to force her. Soon David and Angela exchanged words over the issue, causing Nikki to flee the table in tears.
David and Angela fumed, each blaming the other. For a while they didn’t talk, preferring to turn on the TV and watch the news in silence. When it was time for Nikki to go to bed, Angela told David that she would see to Nikki’s respiratory therapy while he cleaned up the kitchen.
David hardly had time to carry the soiled dishes into the kitchen when Angela returned.
“Nikki asked me a question I didn’t know how to answer,” Angela said. “She asked me if Caroline was coming home soon.”
“What did you say?” David asked.
“I said I didn’t know,” Angela admitted. “With Nikki feeling as poorly as she is, I hate to tell her.”
“Don’t look at me,” David said. “I don’t want to tell her either. Let’s wait until this bout of congestion is over.”
“All right,” Angela said. “I’ll see what I can do.” She left the kitchen and returned upstairs.
Around nine David called the hospital. He spoke at length with the head nurse who kept insisting that Sandra’s condition had not changed, at least not dramatically. She did admit, however, that she’d not eaten her dinner.
After David had hung up the phone, Angela appeared from the kitchen.
“Would you like to look at the papers we got from Burlington today?” she asked.