Michael Palmer - Flashback

He gave Suzanne's hand a final squeeze and then strode out of the recovery room. "Are you going down there? " she asked Zack. "Uh-huh."

"Let me know what's going on, okay?"

"Sure." He made no move to touch her. "Zack? " she said softly. "What?"

"I'm sorry I didn't handle that situation better. Jason comes on a little strong sometimes. He caught me off balance. He's really a decent guy. Just don't let him get to you, okay?"

"Sure."

"Talk to you later in the week?"

"Right."

He turned to go. "I hope the trouble with Guy is nothing big, " she called. "You and me, both, " he muttered. But as he headed for the emergency ward, feeling not a little deflated, Zack could not shake an ugly sense of foreboding. Nothing that Zack had imagined about what was transpiring in the emergency ward prepared him for the reality. There was commotion bordering on chaos. The hospital's threeman security force was there, as were the director of nursing, Mainwaring, Chief of Staff Donald Norman, and half a dozen embarrassed patients and their families.

The epicenter of the turmoil was behind the closed door of the family quiet room, where brief periods of strained silence separated angry, easily audible outbursts in English and in French from Guy Beaulieu.

"Damn you, Frank, get out of my way before I strike you, " were the first words Zack heard. "That woman is my patient, and I have every right to care for her. Now, out of my way!"

"Guy, sit down and quiet down, or I swear I'll have the guards come in here and tie you down. I will not have you making a scene like this in my hospital."

"Your hospital! If it's your hospital, Mr. High and Mighty, then why don't you see that this is all a plot to take my practice away?

You're in on it, aren't you? That's why. You're one of them!"

"Dammit, Guy, shut up. There are patients out there."

"I know there are. My patients! Now let me pass!"

Zack crossed to where Jason Mainwaring stood, leaning against a wall near the quiet room. "What gives? " he asked. Mainwaring glanced over at him and then looked back toward the source of the commotion. "The old quack has gone beserk, that's what, " he said coolly. "He's been unbalanced for some time, but at least he's had the presence and intelligence to limit his outbursts and paranoia to the staff meetings.

This is disgraceful."

"Do you know what happened?"

Mainwaring's response was preempted by yet another outburst from Beaulieu, followed by still another, though more constrained, response from Frank. Moments later, the door to the quiet room opened and Frank slipped out. He appeared a bit more ruffled than usual, but was still impeccably dressed, with not a hair out of place. "Stay with him, Henry,

" he said to one of the security guards-a broad, reckless man with bad skin and close-cut hair, who looked to Zack like a mammoth fireplug. "If he starts yelling again, cuff him to the chair and shove a rag in his mouth."

"Mr. Iverson, I don't hurt people unless they hurt me. I told them that when I started working here."

"Look, Henry, if you want to keep on working here, you'll do as I say and keep that nutcase quiet until Chief Clifford and his men get here.

Now get in there and do your job."

Shaking his massive head, the guard entered the quiet room and closed the door behind him. There were no shouts of protest from Beaulieu.

Frank scanned the cubicles filled with patients. "Christ, " he muttered.

Spotting Zack and Mainwaring, he approached them, shaking his head.

"This is fucking insane, " he said, keeping his voice low. "And you know what? It's my fault. I should have done something about him way back when his craziness started. Well, Zack-o, if there's one good thing to come out of all this, it's that at least you get to see him in action firsthand."

"Exactly what's going on? " Zack asked. "What tipped him over?"

Frank laughed sardonically. "I keep telling you, brother, Guy Beaulieu tipped over a long time ago. This is just an example of how far. See that woman over there in bed five? Well, she's got some sort of bowel problem."

"Probably a ruptured diverticulum, " Mainwaring interjected. "Well,"

Frank went on, "Beaulieu's done some surgery on her in the past. On her husband, too, I think. This time, though, the woman and her internist apparently talked things over and decided that she might be better off with Jason, here, doing the surgery."

"I evaluated her right before I did Suzanne, " Mainwaring explained,

"and had her scheduled to follow in the O. R."

"Meanwhile, Beaulieu, the lunatic, comes strolling through the emergency ward, spots the woman, and without a word to anyone, begins examining her and issuing orders to the nurses. Needless to say, the poor lady, who's not too swift to begin with, was totally confused and absolutely terrified." Frank looked impatiently toward the ambulance bay. "Where in the hell are the goddamn cops? When you don't want them they're all over the place."

"Frank, you don't need the police, " Zack said. "Let me talk to him.

Can't you see where this might be upsetting and humiliating for him?

I'll just get him out of the hospital and he'll calm down."

"He's out of the hospital anyway, " Frank said acidly. "For good."

"What?"

"This was the last fucking straw. I told him about the latest series of complaints, and about that letter from Maureen Banas. And I suspended his privileges."

Zack's heart sank. "Frank, is that when he went nuts?"

"What difference does it make? " Frank said. "Nuts is nuts. Just listen to him."

From within the quiet room, Beaulieu had again begun to shout. "You ape, let go of me! Take your hands off me, goddamn it!

Take your hands-" Suddenly, the surgeon's words were cut short. Without waiting for Frank's permission, Zack bounded across to the quiet room and threw open the door. The guard, Henry, had balled a red bandanna in his fist, preparing to use it as a gag. Beaulieu was sitting, handcuffed to the arm of his chair. He was staring in wide-eyed terror, not at his tormentor, but at a vacant spot on one wall. The right side of his face was starting to droop. "Oh, Jesus, " Zack said as he knelt by the man.

"Guy, can you talk?"

Beaulieu turned to him slowly. His eyes were glassy and filled with tears. "Head… hurts, " he moaned. His speech was thick and slurred.

His tongue seemed bunched at the corner of his mouth. "Did you hit him?

" Zack demanded of the guard. "Not even a tap. I swear I didn't."

"Undo these, " Zack snapped, jiggling the handcuffs. The man hesitated.

"Dammit, do as I say!"

"Do it, Henry, " Frank said from the doorway. "What's happening, Zack?"

Zack turned slowly and looked up at his brother. "He's having a stroke, Frank, " he said hoarsely. "That's what. A cerebral hemorrhage, I would guess. I need a litter, a nurse, and an IV setup. And I want the CT scanner warmed up." He turned to the guard. "Tell me again, did you touch this man's head? " His voice was ice, his eyes fire. "I didn't touch nothin' except his wrists, " the man said defensively. "I swear, I don't hurt people unless they hurt me."

"Undo these. Quickly now!"

The guard did as he was told, and instantly, as if made of rags, Guy Beaulieu's right arm flopped off the chair and dangled down. Zack lowered him to the floor and cradled his head in his lap. "I need that litter, please, " he said, barely able to contain his anguish. He bent close to Beaulieu. "Easy does it, old friend, " he whispered. "Easy does it."

Beaulieu's eyes opened, and Zack noted with horror and despair that the pupil of the right one had already begun to dilate. "Okay, Guy, " he whispered, stroking the older man's forehead and cheek, "the litter will be here in a second. Just hang on. You're going to be okay."