speaking to Peter, urging him over and over to hang on, that help was coming, reminding him that this wouldn't be the right night to die, not after all that had taken place, and what had been accomplished. His steady, reassuring tone brought a smile to Peter's face, which managed to reach past all the gathered hurt and shock he felt, and the sensation of his life dripping from his side. He didn't say any words, however. Big Black cradled Peter's head, and then took off his white attendant's jacket, folded it up and began to apply it to the gash in Peter's side. 'Help is on the way, Peter,' Doctor Gulptilil said, bending toward the Fireman, but whether the wounded man heard this or not, neither he, nor any of the others could tell.
Doctor Gulptilil took a deep breath, surveyed their solitude, and then started to calculate fiercely in his head, trying to assess the damage that had been done that night. That it was a mess, the medical director understood, was a minimalist's statement of the events that had transpired. All he could see was a dizzying array of reports, inquiries, harsh questions with perhaps some very difficult answers, all awaiting him. He had an out of control prosecutor on her way to the local hospital with terrible wounds that no emergency room doctor was going to remain silent about, which meant policemen at his door within hours. He was staring down at a patient of significant notoriety and of substantial interest to many people, bleeding on the floor, clinging to life mere hours before he was supposed to be shipped off to another state in secret. And then he had a third patient very dead, and just as clearly killed by this notorious patient and his schizophrenic companion.
He had recognized that third patient, and he knew that a hospital file existed with his own handwriting on the jacket that stated unequivocally: Severe Retardation. Catatonic. Prognosis Guarded. Long Term Care required.
He knew also there was a notation that the dead man had been released for several weekend furloughs in the custody of an elderly mother and aunt.
The more he thought, the more he realized that his career hung in the balance of what he decided to do in the next few moments. For the second time that night, he heard a distant noise of sirens, which added urgency to his thinking.
Doctor Gulptilil breathed in sharply. He looked down at Peter and said, 'You will live, Mister Fireman.' He said this not knowing whether it was true or not, but knowing how important it was. Then he looked up at the Moses brothers. 'We need for this night not to have happened,' he said stiffly.
The two attendants quickly glanced at each other, then nodded.
'Going to be hard to make people not notice some,' Little Black said.
'Then we need to make them notice as little as possible.'
Little Black bent his head toward the basement, where the Angel's body remained behind. 'That body's going to make things tricky,' he said. He was speaking quietly, as if guarding his words carefully, understanding that this was a moment of some importance. 'That man back there, he was a killer.'
Doctor Gulptilil shook his head, speaking a little like he might to a grade school class, emphasizing some words. 'There's no real evidence to support that. All we know for certain is that he tried to assault Miss Jones earlier tonight. For what reason, we have no idea. And, more critically, what he has done on some other occasions, in other locations, well, that remains a mystery. It has no connection to us, here tonight. Unfortunately, what is not a mystery is that this patient was pursued and then was murdered himself by these two patients. Now, they may have been justified in what they did…'
He hesitated, as if waiting for Little Black to complete his sentence. This, the smaller brother did not do, and so Doctor Gulptilil was forced to finish it himself.
'… But perhaps they were not. Regardless, there will be arrests. Headlines in the newspapers. Perhaps an official inquiry. Certainly a state inquest is a strong likelihood. Criminal charges are a possibility. Nothing is likely to be the same for some time…'
Doctor Gulptilil paused' watching the expressions on the two brothers' faces. 'And perhaps,' he added quietly, 'it might not be merely Mister Petrel and the Fireman who conceivably would face charges. The people who helped allow this disastrous night to take place, they, too, might find their jobs in jeopardy…'
Again, he waited, carefully measuring the impact of what he said on the two attendants.
'We didn't do anything wrong,' Big Black said. 'And neither did Francis and Peter…'
'Of course,' Doctor Gulptilil said quickly, shaking his head back and forth. 'Morally, certainly. Ethically? Of course. But legally? Everyone did the right thing, I'm quite positive. I can see that. But others, ah, that would be outside investigators, I'm less sure how they might perceive these quite terrible events.'
They were silent, then Doctor Gulptilil spoke quickly. 'I believe we need to think creatively. And as quickly as possible. We need,' he repeated, 'for as little of this night to have happened as possible.' And, as he said this, he pointed toward the basement.
Little Black could see this, as could his brother. Wordlessly, the two brothers seemed to comprehend what was being asked of them. Both men nodded.
'But if that man ain't dead,' Little Black said, 'then C-Bird, and the Fireman, why no one likely to look at them again. Or us, either, for that matter.'
'Correct,' Doctor Gulptilil said stiffly. 'I think we understand each other fully.'
Little Black seemed to think hard for a moment. Then he turned to his brother and to Francis and said, 'You come with me. We've still got some work to do.'
He led them back toward the basement, turning once to Doctor Gulptilil, who now was bent over Peter, holding his hands over the Fireman's wounds, stanching the pulsing flow of blood with Big Black's jacket. 'You should make the call,' Little Black said.
The medical director nodded: 'Hurry,' he said. Then, as Francis watched, Doctor Gulptilil left Peter's side momentarily, and went back to the desk, where he picked up the telephone and dialed a number. After a second or two, he seemed to take a deep breath, and he said, 'Yes. State Police? This is Doctor Gulptilil at the Western State Hospital. I need to report that we have had one of our more dangerous patients escape from the hospital grounds this night. Yes, he appears to be armed. Yes, I can provide you with a name and description…' He glanced back at Francis and he made a gesture with his arm, as if to urge him to hurry. Outside, in the distance, the sound of the ambulance accompanied by the security staff was getting closer.
Rain spit on Francis's face, seemingly contemptuous of what had happened. Or perhaps, Francis thought, as if determined it could wash away the past hours. He was unsure. A wild wind bent a nearby tree back and forth, as if it were shocked at the procession passing by in the middle of the night.
Big Black was in front, the Angel's body tossed over his broad back like a misshapen dark duffel bag. Right behind him, Little Black quick marched through the night, two shovels and a pickaxe in his arms. Francis brought up the rear, hurrying when Little Black urged him forward. Behind them, Francis could hear the arrival of the ambulance in front of the power plant, and on a distant wall he could see the reflection of its flashing red emergency lights. A black security car had pulled in, as well, and its headlights carved a white arc out of the deep midnight world. But the three of them were out of the direct line of sight, and maneuvering through the darkness, using the weak residue of light to find their way deep into the corner of the hospital grounds.
'Be quiet,' Little Black said, although this was an unnecessary admonition. Francis looked up into the midnight sky above, and thought he could make out rich seams of ebony, as if some painter's hand had decided the night was not dark enough, and had tried to add even greater streaks of black.
When Francis looked back down, he immediately saw where they were heading. Not far away was the garden where he'd planted flowers at Cleo's side. Now he was at her side, once again. He followed the Moses brothers past the rickety metal link fence into the small cemetery, where Big Black grunted and swung the Angel's body to the ground. It thudded, and Francis thought he ought to feel sickened by the noise, but that, to his surprise, he wasn't. He looked at the man and thought that he might have passed by him in a corridor, in a dining room, on a pathway or in the dayroom a hundred times when he was alive, and never known who he really was until that night. And then, he shook his head in contradiction and thought this couldn't possibly be true, that if he'd ever once looked directly into the Angel's eyes, he was certain that he would have seen there what they had seen that night.
Big Black seized one of the shovels, and stepped to the side of the small mound of
