The Doctor's Tale (18 page)

“He wants to talk to me about Lori? Sure, put him on. I’m all ears.”

“Here he is, Mr. Raines,” Sergeant Combs said. “Please accept our condolences.”

“Your what?” Eddie said.

“Hello, Mr. Rained? This here is Sergeant Roger Watts from Las
Vegas. I represent the Las Vegas Police Department.”

“Watts in Vegas? Is this a joke? This is a joke, right?”

“This is no joke. Mr. Rained.”

“It’s Raines.”

“That’s what I said, sir. I need to speak with you about a serious matter. I hope that you will cooperate with us.”

“I’m afraid you have the wrong number,” Eddie said. He turned to hang up the phone.

“Wait just a cotton pickin’ minute, Mr. Rained. Don’t hang up. I’ve got some very important information for you.”

Eddie felt confused. What in the—? “Sergeant Watts, is it? Look Sergeant, I don’t know anyone in Las Vegas, or anything about it, ‘cept it’s in Nevada.”

“Eddie? Who is it, baby?” Starr’s voice echoed from the back bedroom.

“Trying to find Lori, Starr. Don’t worry. The Las Vegas police are looking for her.”

“Oh goodie,” Starr said. “That sure is a big load off of my mind, I have to say.”

Eddie didn’t hear her. The only sound he could hear was the voice on the other end of the line.

“Mr. Rained, we believe we have found your wife, Lori. The identification we found in her wallet listed you as an emergency contact.”

“You found Lori? Oh, thank the Lord!” Eddie cupped the receiver with his hand. “Starr, the police found Lori! Hey, Starr!”

“Mr. Rained,” Watts continued, “I’m sorry to have be the one to say this to you, friend, I truly am. We’re going to need you to identify the body.”

Shaking chills rippled through Eddie’s body, just before the waves of sweat drenched his skin. The ponderous weight of the words crackled in his bones.

“The body? Whose body we talking ‘bout, Watts? Listen to me,
you clown. If you done found Lori, then by God, put her on. I’ll come pick her up, wherever she is. Otherwise, you’d best be on your way.”

“We can arrange this however you would like, Mr. Rained. The usual way is for the next of kin to make the final arrangements. As I said earlier, a card we found in her wallet listed you as the emergency contact. I believe this would qualify as an emergency, don’t you?”

“Wait, just a minute…are you saying Lori died?”

A long sigh breathed into the receiver. “Yes sir. That’s exactly what I’m saying. Like I said before, Mr. Rind, I am truly sorry. We estimate your wife died approximately 36 hours ago. I apologize for the delay, but it took us a little while to locate the next of kin. Your wife was out of state at the time of her death

Eddie barely heard the remainder of the instructions. Something about bringing Lori back to Missouri and something about the cost. Sure, he said to Sergeant Watts, go ahead and send Lori’s body to the funeral home down the street. The Schreckengeist, he thought it was called. Some people thought the place was haunted, but in Eddie’s opinion, that was absolute, real time hogwash. But, he also thought that if anyone did see a ghost in a funeral home, well, that just made good sense to him. Like where else would they see one?

What, Watts asked, about the cash in his wife’s purse? Nine hundred and something dollars? Eddie said he had no idea where his wife would have gotten that kind of money, but he guessed it would be enough to pay for some kind of burial—he would have to see about the life insurance he had left on Lori—he borrowed against it so much for the hospital bills. He couldn’t tell whether his hand or his voice trembled more. Somehow he wrote down a phone number, a name and an address. Then, he said goodbye to Sergeant Watts from Nevada, and wondered if God believed in second chances.

Eddie didn’t know how long he stood there in the kitchen, there by the telephone, just breathing and feeling. Feeling like he wanted a
second chance at a life with Lori. This time, he would make sure she didn’t get the cancer. How would he do that? Eddie didn’t know the answer to that question; but now, he did know absolutely know one thing. Even with all that happened, he loved Lori with all his heart. No matter what the gossips said about him, when he said he would take care of Lori until the day she died, he meant every word.

“Eddie? Where you been, baby?”

Eddie glanced at Starr. She was attractive in a certain way, he supposed, in her tight jeans and sweater. Now though—well, right now he just didn’t know what he felt about anything or anybody.

“Hey.”

“Hey, yourself. I do something wrong?”

“She’s gone, Starr.”

“Who? You mean Lori? She’s been gone for a while now, baby. What’s wrong with you?”

“No, I mean, she’s—” Eddie stared at the wall while he spoke. “Lori’s dead.”

“Well, sure. She had the cancer.” Starr frowned and chewed on her lip. “Where’d she die?”

“Don’t remember what the cop said. Somewhere in Nevada. Something about a train station, all’s I can recall right now. They’re sending her body back here, so I guess I need to think about a funeral—or a party or something.”

“Why don’t you call that neighbor woman friend of hers, what’s her name? She called her Mrs. P.”

“That’s a good idea, I guess. I guess it’s a good one. You got all the answers, don’t you?”

“Yes and no. Now either we go get some breakfast, or I’m making me some pancakes.” She opened the refrigerator and snatched a bottle of dark beer from the top shelf. “I was hoping there was one of these left. A lot better than orange juice, don’t you think?” She twisted off the cap and downed a long gulp. “There. So, are we going or what?”

“Gotta get my wallet.”

“It’s the danged phone again,” Starr said. “I’m getting it this time. If you answer it, we’ll never leave.” She grabbed the receiver, cradled it on her bony shoulder and took another swig of the beer.

“Hi there,” she said, one hand planted on her hip. In an instant, her face brightened. “Dr. Pizza! Say, long time, no see, huh? Got some breaking news for you, Bubba. Oh, okay. Your news first. But, make it quick, hear? Eddie’s taking me out for pancakes. Oh, and something else. He’s coughing up blood all the time. Says it’s not a big deal, and I don’t know, maybe it isn’t, but I say, anything that looks that bad can’t be good. Well sure, I’ll try to get him to come in, but after the news he just got, I don’t know when that’ll be. What? You know, the news about Lori. Huh? You didn’t? Well, hon, see, she just up and died. Guess nobody told you. Well, now you know. I don’t know all the particulars, but Eddie said they’d be sending her body back today. You know, he was thinking that neighbor lady friend of hers, that Mrs. P lady—yeah, Pennybaker, that’s it. Well, maybe she could set something up for Lori’s friends. You don’t think so? Why not? You’re kidding me. Her too? Now, ain’t that something? Sure, I’ll let him know.” One last chug of beer, and Starr set the empty bottle on the kitchen table, kind of like a centerpiece.

“Hey, why’d you call?” Starr listened.

After a few moments, she spoke.

“Buddy, listen to me. Eddie won’t be calling you about nothing. No more. And thank the stars above, Lori Raines is dead. She won’t be around to bother you or me or any of us. No more. So, just forget her. I plan to. Oh, and sorry about Mrs. P.” She hung up the receiver and heard a rustle in the hall.

“Ready?” Eddie said. “I guess after the bad news I just got, it’ll be good for me to get out.”

“Perfect timing, Eddie Bear,” Starr said. “Let’s go out and forget.”

“Afraid I can’t forget everything at once, Starr.”

Starr squeezed Eddie’s hand. For the first time, he didn’t squeeze her hand back, but Starr wasn’t worried. She got Eddie to forget about Lori once before, didn’t she?

Well, she’d bet anybody a bottle of beer, she could do it again.

Dr. Skelton stared at me in the gray light. Outside his office, snowflakes swirled through the barren trees, and piled high on the windowsill.

“Are you sure, Spezia?” Dr. Skelton said. “Have you verified this information?” He sipped coffee from a Styrofoam cup and puffed on a cigarette.

“Yes, Dr. Skelton.” Even to myself, I looked defeated and sounded discouraged.

“After the conversation with Starr, I phoned the Las Vegas Police Department. I even called Amtrak and spoke with Brad, the man that helped her at the station. He told me Lori looked a bit tired, but nothing about her appearance alarmed him. Certainly nothing caused him to believe that she needed medical attention. It just doesn’t make sense.”

“Hmm.”

Just once, before I graduated, I wished Dr. Skelton would say something new.

“Something like this happened to me once, you know.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. Suddenly, I felt very guilty.

“I’ve never shared this with anyone, but well…now might be a good time. Years ago, when I was a medical student, I was married to a young woman—don’t look so shocked, Spezia, I was young once too, believe it or not. I was very much in love with her. And I believed that she loved me in the same way.”

“Dr. Skelton, I—”

“Please, just hear me out.”

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s not necessary. All right, as I was saying, I believed she loved me in the same way. I suppose she was fond of me. After all, I am rather likable, don’t you think? One day, I returned home to find a letter from her—can’t tell you how it shocked me, Spezia. Really shocked me. Well,
she said she was going back to Plano, Texas, of all places. Seems that her old flame from West Point was getting a divorce and wanted to see her again. And so, after roughly two years or so with me, off she went, taking nothing but her clothes and a little money with her. Nothing much, really, in the material sense. What she took from me that day, Spezia, was much greater than any amount of money can buy. The day that I stood there, reading that letter, a piece of my soul died.” His voice trembled. “Do you know what I mean?”

“Yes. Yes, I think I do.”

“I tell you this now, because you will have occasions like this one, in which you know that you have done your best, and yet, things end very badly, even tragically. I know. It has happened to me. It can leave you scarred, but listen to me because this is very important—you cannot allow yourself to become bitter.” He stubbed out the cigarette and stretched his shoulders.

“I feel terrible about this. I should have been there.”

“Lori Raines died on her own terms. Let her go. From what I know, her life here was no picnic.”

“How do I cope with the guilt of a failure?”

“Myself, I recall the times when things turned out better than they should have—you will have those times, too—times when I thought all was lost, but I stepped up, and the Hand of Providence took the wheel. Which, by the way, brings me to your performance in the Emergency Room last evening. You are to be congratulated on your courage and leadership under pressure. That central line you put in was smooth. You saved that young woman’s life, Spezia.”

“What are you going to do about Freeman? I can’t deal with that again.”

“How long do you believe Freeman’s habit has been a problem?”

“From the looks of the situation last night, it must have been going on at least a year. Nurse Potts said that the drug cabinet’s been short on Dilaudid and morphine for around six or seven months.”

“Why wasn’t this deficit reported immediately?”

“She said she thought she could deal with Freeman herself, before it became a big problem.”

“That sounds like Nurse Potts.” Dr. Skelton rose and extended his hand. “Dr. Spezia, you are on your way to becoming a fine physician. Remember, always be decisive. Once the decision is made, do not second guess yourself. Make the best judgment you can at the point of decision. Never look back. Understood?”

“Yes sir.” I smiled and shook Dr. Skelton’s hand.

Dr. Skelton’s eyes glazed over with a distant expression. “Always remember, Spezia. There is what you expect in this life—and what you actually receive. Rarely do the two coincide.” With short, brisk steps, he rushed from the room.

Over thirty hours had passed since I last slept. My second wind surged about nine hours ago, and now, my body felt weary and wasted. I needed to go to my apartment for a while and recharge.

The snow fell thick and fast while I crossed the rear parking lot to my car. I felt so exhausted, I wondered if I could drive. I decided I couldn’t. I would sleep a few hours in one of the call rooms, or even a vacant hospital room somewhere, if such a thing could be found in that monstrous stone structure. I gazed at it for a moment—a “human warehouse” is how I would have described it. Yet within those walls, I had done my best for Lori Raines—and D’Yan too. Now, I was beginning to question whether or not I had the energy to endure the walk back. My feet could barely support my body. That’s when I heard an all too familiar voice, calling my name.

“Dr. Pizza!”

It couldn’t be! One glance at her hair, and I knew it was Starr Hixson. I didn’t have what it took to deal with her right now. Right now, I couldn’t face anyone. I waved at Starr, and slid into the driver’s seat of my car. Suddenly, I was starving for a bag of burgers.

The next morning, I was surprised when I awoke in my own bed. I went to the window and saw my car, parked by the curb in front of the building. I must have stopped for hamburgers, because the empty wrappers were in the trashcan in the kitchen. I must have done all of those things.

I simply couldn’t remember.