Hamilton, Donald - Novel 02 Read Online Free PDF Page B

Bethke’s help, I have arranged
that the patient should learn about it—”
                 “It
was in Time magazine,” the nurse
said. “I left it where she could see it. She cut the piece out and keeps it in
her purse.”
                 “But
if you know that Kissel is in Denver …?”
                 The
doctor nodded. “I might have had her confronted by Dr. Kissel, true. But it was
our last resource, and I did not want to waste it. I wanted her to want to see
him, to put it clumsily. Even now, I don’t want to let her know that she is not
entirely on her own. It is a most hopeful sign that she should take the, for
her, reckless step of driving across the country; it shows that at last she has
developed a strong desire to learn the truth about herself. I don’t want to
distract her in any way.” He drained his coffee mug and returned it to the
exact center of the ring it had already left on the painted table. “On the
other hand, of course, she is my patient and I am responsible for her safety.
Which is why I’ve taken the liberty of approaching you and examining your
credentials, Mr. Emmett, and of divulging as much of Miss Nicholson’s medical
history as I have.”
                 He
sat back and offered his cigarettes first to the nurse, who accepted, and then
to Emmett, who refused, finally taking one himself. Emmett watched him light
the nurse’s and his own, feeling a little as if the lights of the diner had
suddenly brightened, like the lights going up in a theater after the fall of
the curtain. He had an impulse to rise and stretch his legs and walk into the
lobby for a drink of water. He was aware of the counterman in the corner,
having difficulty with his crossword puzzle; and he heard, outside, the rising
whine of a car leaving the town at well over the legal speed limit and
accelerating to still higher speeds as it swept past. The diner was alive with
the constant flicker of lights on the highway. He was back in the present
again, looking across the table at the small compact doctor, and at the nurse
with the shining untidy yellow-brown hair. He thought that it was a pity to
waste a nurse like Miss Bethke on a female patient.
                 The
doctor said, “I am going to take a chance on you, Mr. Emmett, that may cost me
my career. It would not look well, if anything should happen, for me to have
abandoned my patient to a stranger she picked up on the highway. On the other
hand, if either Miss Bethke or I were to force our company on her at this
point, she might very well relapse into her former attitude of resistance. It’s
a risk I do not want to take…”
                 Emmett
said, “Well, what do you want me to do?” He was not greatly impressed by the
sight of the doctor pretending to argue aloud a decision he had obviously
already made.
                 Dr.
Kaufman took a card from his wallet and wrote an address on it. Emmett read the
name he already knew: Paul Frederick Kaufman, M.D.; and the address: Estes Hotel, Denver .
                 “Merely
make sure that she reaches Denver safely, Mr. Emmett,” the doctor said. “Call me at that address when you
get there and I’ll arrange to have her watched over from there. Try not to let
her get too tired; if you can persuade her to stop at a hotel tomorrow night,
do so. See that she doesn’t try to live entirely on hamburgers and Coca-Cola.
And if she wants to talk, let her.”
                 Emmett
frowned.
                 The
older man smiled. “I won’t ask you to reveal any confidences, Mr. Emmett. It’s
quite possible that she may be willing to talk to a stranger; we very often
tell strangers things that we would never admit either to our family or our
doctor. But once the dam has broken, so to speak, my task in the future will be
easier. You can consult your conscience as to what you wish to pass on to me.
Of course I will