Lying With Strangers Read Online Free PDF Page B

this?”
    “I’m calling from Brigham and Women’s Hospital. You’re married to Dr. Peyton Shields?”
    He glanced across the room at the curves beneath the covers, then looked away. “Yeah. But she works out of Children’s Hospital. What’s this about?”
    “Your wife’s been in a car accident.”
    He was suddenly frozen, though oblivious to the cold. “Is she—”
    “She’s in the intensive care unit.”
    “Is she going to be all right?”
    “That’s all the information I have right now, sir. You’re welcome to come down to the hospital and speak to the doctor.”
    “Yes, I will. You’re next to Children’s, right?”
    “Yes. Check in with the receptionist on the first floor.”
    “Thank you. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He switched off the phone and noticed Sandra sitting up in bed.
    “What’s wrong?” she asked.
    He ignored her, went to the chair, and slipped on his pants and shoes.
    “Kevin,” she said sternly, “what’s wrong?”
    “I have to go.”
    “Why?”
    “Emergency. I have to get back to Boston.” He hastily buttoned his shirt, got the holes wrong, and started over.
    “What kind of emergency?”
    He felt a chill against his back. The window was still open. He reached over and slammed it shut. “It’s Peyton. I have to go right now.”
    “You’re being paranoid.”
    He had neither the time nor the stomach for a debate. He grabbed the car keys from atop the dresser. “I need to take the rental car, okay?”
    “What?”
    “You’ll have to cover today’s meetings alone. I’ll explain later.”
    He hurried out the door and ran down the hall to his own room. If only he had just stayed there after dinner and told Sandra that he was too tired to go back to her room and “prepare for tomorrow’s meeting.” He felt like kicking himself, but instead he grabbed his briefcase and travel bag and headed for the elevator. Naturally, it was out of service. He flew down the stairwell, taking two or three steps at a time. He was nearly running, driven as much by the need to reach Peyton at the hospital as the desire to flee from Sandra and this terrible mistake. How the hell his marriage had ended up here he wasn’t quite sure. He could have blamed Peyton for making it so easy. When he told her about the trip, she hadn’t even bothered to write down where he’d be staying or ask when he’d return. He simply got the same old “’Bye, hon, see you when you get back.” Peyton had no time to talk, no time to listen, no time for sex, no time for anything that didn’t involve pediatric medicine. Was it his fault that he couldn’t stand the loneliness?
    He gave the exit door a shove at the bottom of the stairwell, then needed to shove again, harder. The wind was that strong. Itnearly blew him over as he stepped outside, chilling him instantly. The street was a sheet of ice beneath a foot of fresh snow, and the snow was still falling. Cars were indiscernible white mounds. He tried one, then another, unable to tell which of the generic American sedans was the one he and Sandra had rented. On the third try he dropped the key ring into the snow. He kicked around in the cold blanket of white but couldn’t find a thing. He got down on his knees and searched frantically till his bare fingers were numb. He found the keys, finally, and tried the door. The lock was iced over. With the key he chiseled at it, then forced the lock and gave the frozen door a yank. As it creaked open, snow fell from the roof like an avalanche, covering his head and slipping inside his shirt collar and down his back. The mountain on the windshield was too heavy for the wipers, so he grabbed the brush and cleared it away. Beneath the powder was a solid crust of ice. With a little plastic hand scraper he hacked away, so fast and furious his knuckles started to bleed. The clear patch was barely big enough for him to see out, but his fingers could stand no more. He jumped inside and fired the ignition. From