Plague Ship Read Online Free PDF Page B

Marilyn gushed. She reached out and gave his hand a grateful squeeze. “Thank you for saving my son, Will.”
    David was taken aback. “I didn’t know that Will was your son. He told me his last name was Harrison.”
    “It is,” Marilyn explained. “Harrison was my former husband’s name.”
    “I see,” David said, nodding. “Well, he’s certainly a brave little fellow.”
    “Would you believe he didn’t tell me anything about the choking episode?” Marilyn asked. “I learned everything from Dr. Maggio this morning. He told me you saved Will’s life.”
    “He wasn’t in any real danger,” David downplayed it. “The gumball was off to one side of his throat.”
    “But he still could have sucked it down in this lungs. Right?”
    “It could have happened,” David agreed mildly.
    “Then you saved him from possible suffocation,” Marilyn insisted. “And we owe you a debt we can never repay.”
    “No payment is necessary.”
    “Just the same. I want you and Carolyn to join us in the lounge before dinner for a nice bottle of Dom Pérignon.”
    “We’ll look forward to it.”
    The skeet shooting resumed, with one shot after another in rapid fire. Marilyn waited for the noise to quiet before continuing. “I wonder if I could impose on your medical knowledge a little further,” she said hesitantly. “I hope you don’t mind.”
    “Not at all,” David said and again thought about the sandy beaches of Hawaii where he and Carolyn and Kit should be now. His eyes drifted to the well-healed scar on Marilyn’s breast. “Are you ill?”
    “Not me,” Marilyn answered. “Sol.”
    Carolyn grumbled to herself, but kept her face expressionless. Poor David, she thought, had suddenly become the ship’s go-to doctor. He would never be able to relax and enjoy himself on the Grand Atlantic . She felt like hanging a DO NOT DISTURB sign around his neck.
    “What’s wrong with Sol?” David was asking.
    “He has coronary artery disease,” Marilyn confided. “He’s undergone bypass surgery, but still has to take a variety of medicines to prevent his angina from recurring. We were assured there would be excellent medical care aboard the ship in case of any problem. But now I’m not so sure. The little doctor downstairs is a very nice man, but I’m not certain he’s up to date.”
    Try twenty years behind time, Carolyn wanted to say but held her tongue.
    “If any problem arises,” Marilyn went on, “could we turn to you for help?”
    “Of course.”
    “You’re very kind,” Marilyn said and reached into her purse for an envelope, which she handed to David. “And here is the name, address, and phone number of Sol’s friend in Los Angeles. He’s the one who knows so much about diamonds.”
    “Thanks,” David said and winked at Carolyn.
    “I wonder who the diamond is for?” Carolyn asked with a grin.
    “I can’t tell you,” David grinned back. “It’s a surprise.”
    Carolyn chuckled softly, delighted that her life was once again smooth and wonderful. The depression that followed her mother’s death from Alzheimer’s disease had finally lifted, and the memories of several failed relationships, which should have led to marriage but didn’t, had faded away. Now she had the ideal man and everything in her world was perfect. “Big secret, eh?”
    “For now.”
    The threesome strolled on as a warm breeze from the south freshened. The women chatted about the ship’s beauty spa and salon, and about shopping in the luxury stores located on the arcade level. Names such as Gucci, Bottega, and Bulgari were discussed at length. David blanked out the conversation, but his mind was still on Marilyn Wyman. A pleasant, attractive woman, well-to-do and refined, who seemingly had everything in the world. But that was on the surface. Scratch a little deeper and one found a world of sadness. A first marriage that ended in the premature death of her husband. A second marriage to a man with heart disease, who she