Michael Palmer - Side Effects

"Both of them?"

Kate nodded. "Reluctantly. They wanted more of a biologic rationale than Tom was able to give them, but in the end, her condition had deteriorated so much that they abandoned the mental gymnastics. They have her on high doses of both."

"And?"

She shrugged. "And they'll let us know as soon as there's any change..

one way or the other. She's still in the OR."

"She's going to make it, " Jared murmured, his head sinking again to the spot beside her hand. Less than ten minutes later, the phone rang again.

"Yes? " Kate answered anxiously. Then, "Jared, it's for you. Someone named Dunleavy. Do you know who that is?"

Bewildered, Jared nodded and took the receiver. "Dunleavy? It's Jared Samuels."

"Mr. Samuels. I'm glad you made it all right."

"Are you in trouble for letting me go?"

"Nothing I can't handle. That's not why I'm calling."

Jared glanced at his watch. Seven-fifty. Dunleavy's sixteen-hour double shift had ended almost an hour before. "Go on."

"I'm at the nurses' station in the OR, Mr. Samuels. They've just started operating on Mrs. Sandler. I think they're going to try and oversew her bleeding ulcer."

Jared put his hand over the mouthpiece. "Kate, this is the nurse who took care of me at Metro. They're operating on Ellen." He released the mouthpiece. "Thank you, Cary. Thank you for staying and calling to tell me that."

"That's only one of the reasons I called. There are two others."

"Oh?"

"I wanted you and Dr. Bennett to know I'm going to stay on and special Mrs. Sandler after she gets out of surgery."

"But you've been up for-"

"Please. I was a corpsman in Nam. I know my limitations. I feel part of all this and… well, I just want to stay part of it for a while longer. I'll sign off if it gets too much for me."

"Thank you, " Jared said, aware that the words were not adequate. But Dunleavy had something more to say. "I… I also wanted to apologize for that last crack I made about your wife." He went on, "It was uncalled for, especially since I only know what I know second or third hand. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted, " Jared said. "For what it's worth, she didn't do any of the things people are saying she did, and no matter how long it takes, we're going to prove it."

"I hope you do, " Cary Dunleavy said. "That was a curious little exchange, " Kate said after Jared had replaced the phone on the bedside table. "At least the half I got to hear."

Jared recounted his conversation with the nurse for her. "They've gone ahead with the surgery. That's great, " she said, deliberately ignoring the reference to her situation. "Ellen's bleeding must have slowed enough to chance it…"

Her words trailed off and Jared knew that she was thinking about her own situation. "Katey, " he said. "Listen to me. Zimmermann is dead and Ellen isn't and you're not, and I'm not. And as far as I'm concerned that's cause for celebration. And I meant what I said to Dunleavy You are innocent-of everything. And we're going to prove it. Together." He leaned over and kissed her gently. Then he straightened and said, "Rest.

I'll wait with you until we hear from Metro."

Kate settled back on the pillow. A moment later, as if on cue, the day supervisor and another nurse strode into the room. "Dr. Bennett, " the supervisor said, "Dr. Jordan is in the hospital. She'll be furious if she finds out we haven't even done morning signs on her prize patient, let alone any other nursing care."

"Don't mind me, " Jared said. "Nurse away."

The supervisor eyed him sternly. "There are vending machines with coffee and danish just down the hall. Miss Austin will come and get you as soon as we're through."

Jared looked over at Kate, who nodded. "I'll send for you if they call, " she said. "Very well, coffee it is." He rose and swung his parka over his shoulder with a flourish. As he did, something fell from one of its pockets and clattered to the floor by the supervisor's feet. The woman knelt and came up holding a minature tape cassette. "Did that fall from my parka? " Jared asked, examining the cassette, which had no label.

"Absolutely, " the supervisor said. "Isn't it yours?"

Jared looked over at Kate, the muscles in his face suddenly drawn and tense. "I've never seen that tape before." His mind was picturing smoke and flames and blood… and a hand desperately clawing at the pocket of his parka. "Kate, we've got to play this tape. Now."

He turned to the nurses. "I'm sorry. Go do whatever else you need to do.

Right now we've got to find a machine and play this."

The supervisor started to protest, but was stopped by the look in Jared's eyes. "I have a machine in my office that will hold that, if it's that important, " she said. Again, Jared saw the hand pulling at him, holding him back. For Christ's sake, Paquette, let go of me. I'm trying to get you out of here. Let go! "It just might be, " he said. "It just might be."

"So, Norton, first that brilliant letter to the newspapers about the ballplayer and now this biopsy thing We asked you for something creative to stop Bennett, and you certainly delivered."

The entire tape, a conversation between Arlen Paquette and Norton Reese, lasted less than fifteen minutes. Still, for the battered audience of two in room 201 of Henderson Hospital, it was more than n enough. "It was my pleasure, Doctor. Really. The woman's been a thorn in my side from the day she first got here. She's as impudent as they come. A dogooder, always on some goddamn crusade or other. Know what I mean?"

For Kate and Jared, the excitement of Reese's disclosures was tempered by an eerie melancholy. Paquette's conscience had surfaced, but too late for him. The man whose smooth, easy voice was playing the Metro administrator like a master angler was dead-beaten, burned, and then most violently murdered. "You know what amazes me, Norton? What amazes me is how quickly and completely you were able to eliminate her as a factor. We asked, you did. Simple as that. It was as if you were on top of her case all the time."

"In a manner of speaking I was. Actually, I was on top of her chief technician-in every sense of the word, if ya know what I mean."

"Sheila." Kate hissed the word. "You know, I tried to believe she was the one who had set me up, but I just couldn't."

"Easy, boots. If you squeeze my hand any tighter, it's going to fall off."

"Jared, a woman lost her breast. Her breast!"

"You must be some lover, sir, to command that kind of loyalty. Maybe you can give me a few pointers some time."

Maybe I can, Arlen. Actually, it wasn't that tough to get Sheila to switch biopsy specimens. She had a bone of her own to pick with our dear, lamented, soon-to-be-ex pathologist. I just sweetened the pot by letting her pick on my bone for a while beforehand. Norton Reese's laughter reverberated through the silent hospital room, while Kate pantomimed her visceral reaction to the man. "I wonder, " Jared mused,

"how the lovely Ms. Pierce is going to respond when a prosecutor from the DA's office plays this for her and asks for a statement. I bet she'll try to save herself by turning State's evidence."

"She can try anything she wants, but she's still going to lose her license. She'll never work in a hospital again."

"Well, you really stuck it to her, Norton. With that chemist from the state lab in our pocket, Bennett's father-in-law doing what he can to discredit her even more, and now this biopsy coup, I doubt she'll ever be in a position to cause us trouble at the Omnicenter again. Our friend is going to be very impressed."

"And very grateful, I would hope."

"You can't even begin to imagine the things in store for you because of what you've done, Nort. Good show. That's all I can say. Damn good show."

"We aim to please."