Michael Palmer - Flashback

It was absurd that at one time he had found her so desirable. He could do better-much better. "Remember, Frank, " Leigh said, snapping her briefcase closed, "assuming what you've told me is true, I don't want one word of it to get anywhere near Ultramed."

"Sure, baby. Sure."

Even her orders sounded diffierent-groveling, hollow. "Damn you, Frank," she muttered.

Before he could respond, she turned and was gone.

Gradually, the unpleasant tightness in Frank's throat began to subside.

He was pleased to find he could breathe deeply again. He even managed a thin smile. He was on a roll. Another challenge had arisen and been dealt with. Still, he cautioned himself, this was no time to celebrate.

Not yet. Soon, though, he thought. As soon as Suzanne Cole and one Zachary Iverson had been dispatched, there would be all the time in the world. He pushed himself off the table and headed toward his office, reviewing the plan he had devised. Removing Suzanne from the hospital was the only tricky part, and that could easily be accomplished with one of the hospital's laundry hampers. He had always been a "hands-on" administrator. It was hardly unusual for him to be seen carrying tools to a job, or moving a piece of furniture. So even if he were seen with the hamper, it was doubtful any questions would be raised. The rest was elegantly simple, a call to Zack, a meeting at Christmas Point, and an accident. He had even thought to stop by central supply and appropriate some intravenous alcohol. Starting an IV lineespecially one that needed to last only minutes-was no big deal. Once Zack was immobilized, either with an injection of Screnyl or the butt of his revolver, he would infuse enough of the alcohol to leave no doubt in anyone's mind what had happened-especially since he had already seen to it that Zack's drinking the night before was common knowledge around the hospital. Inspired.

Elegant. Simple. Lost in thought, Frank hurried along the first-floor corridor toward the new wing, nearly colliding with the Judge's wheelchair as it was pushed out of the admissions office. Clayton Iverson eyed him grimly and then turned to the young candy striper who was transporting him. "Kathy, dear, this is my son. If you don't mind, I need to talk to him. I'll send for you if I need you again, Thank you."

He waited until the girl had left, and then used his cast and his good hand to wheel himself past the doorway. "I want you to know that it hurt me to do what I had to do in there, Frank, " he said.

"Nonsense, Judge, " Frank said. "I wouldn't have expected anything less of my father."

Clayton Iverson looked up at him in surprise. "I'm pleased to bear you say that, Frank. Unfortunately, I wish that was all there was to it."

Once again, Frank saw daylight. "Dad, listen, " he said. "I just finished speaking with Leigh Baron. I know the spot she put you in."

"You do?"

"Three years ago, some people from Boston came to me with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get in on a land deal. They were so goddamn smooth, so well organized, that I fell for their crap hook, line, and sinker. I borrowed the money from the hospital expecting to pay it back in a matter of a week or two. It… it was the stupidest thing I've ever done…"

Frank knelt on one knee and forced a tremble into his voice."… I was so frightened, so ashamed, I-"

"Frank, you should have come to me."

"I know that, Dad. I know that now…" Easy. Not too much. Not too thick. "But… but you'd already helped me out of that mess in Concord, and-" His voice broke as he stared down at his hands. "What did Leigh Baron say? " the Judge asked. "Say?"

"About the money."

"Oh. Well, she was pretty reasonable, all things considered. You see, I've been working on some deals-a second mortgage on the house, the sale of that lot on Winnipesaukee-and I can get together at least part of what I owe. She understands that I meant to repay the money and that I'm probably out of a job, so she's promised to put the matter to rest providing I can come up with the full amount in the next few weeks."

"And can you?"

"I. I can try."

"How short are you?"

Frank struggled to mask his excitement. "I… Judge, I want to handle this myself."

"And just how do you expect to do that with a wife and two children and no job?"

"I'll manage. We'll manage. I'll catch on somewhere. I may have made a stupid mistake, but I'm still a damn good administrator."

"The best."

"Thanks for saying that."

"And Leigh Baron has promised that if you replace the money, she'll be off your back?"

"That's what she said."

"How much?"

"Judge, please."

"How much more do you need?"

"A-About a hundred thousand."

"I see… "Dad, it's my problem."

"Nonsense. Frank, I'm very pleased with, the way you're dealing with all this. I was angry as hell at you, but now I understand. You made a mistake, you admitted it, and you're trying to make good. That's all I could ever ask of you. I'll see to it that you get the money as soon as I get out of here."

"But…" Again, Frank stared down at his hands. First Mainwaring, then Leigh Baron, and now the Judge himself! "No buts, " the Judge went on.

"You can pay me back when things get better. Believe me, it will be worth it not to have to explain all of this to your mother."

"Judge, I… I don't know what to say."

"Well, for starters, you can stand up and promise me that as the administrator of Davis Regional Hospital, you'll never let anything like this happen again."

Slowly, Frank straightened up, carefully monitoring every muscle of his face. Who says you can't have it all? he was thinking. no says you can't have it all, and more? "You mean that? " he asked, with just the right mix of incredulity and gratitude. "Frank, I don't think there's a single member of the board who wouldn't vote to retain you-that is, provided you'd agree to stay on."

Finally, Frank allowed himself a smile. "I think I'll be able to manage that, " he said. "Now, I think it's time you got out of that chair and into a bed. You look a little pale. What room did they give you?"

"I asked for the third floor. They gave me 301."

"Perfect. The best in the house. Come on. I'll wheel you up."

Frank pushed his father toward the elevator. As they reached the corridor to the new wing, he stopped. "Listen, Judge, " he said.

"If you don't mind waiting here for just a moment, there's something I need to check on in my office."

"No problem, " the Judge said. "Take your time."

The door to Frank's outer office was less than, twenty feet away. Frank left the wheelchair against a wall, crossed to the door, and inserted the key. At the same moment he realized there was no music coming from within, Henry Flowers entered the corridor from the stairway. "She's not there, Mr. Iverson, " he said. "What?"

Frank felt a sudden, vicious chill. "Dr. Cole. She's not there." Frank threw open the door, revealing the gaping hole to his inner office.

"She's in the intensive care unit with Dr. Mainwaring and your brother,

" the giant guard explained. "And you ought to be ashamed of the way-"

"No!"

"— you tied her up and-" Frank shoved the man aside and bolted past him.

"Nooo! " he bellowed again as he slammed through the stairway door. "Two minutes." Seated beside Toby Nelms's bed, Zack mouthed the words and held two fingers in the beam of his penlight for Jack Pearl to see.

Pearl nodded, and let up on the Serenyl infusion. They had kept Suzanne anesthe ized with the drug for nine minutes. Besides the cessation of all voluntary movement, the only sign of any change had been an almost immediate drop in her pulse rate from 120 to sixty. And although it was now more than twelve minutes since the anesthe ic had been stopped, she had not awakened. Rather than wait, Zack had decided to leave Bernice Rimmer in with her and to move on to Toby. The child, too, had responded to his anesthesia with a dramatic drop in pulse. Now, he lay in the eerie darkness, motionless except for the minute respiratory rise and fall of his chest beneath two thin blankets. As Zack monitored the surreal scene, he struggled against the mounting foreboding that it was already too late for the boy, and possibly for Suzanne as well.