'I guess so.'
'For weeks I've been so consumed with my damn lump, then suddenly you show up in my life and… Zack, I just need some time and a little space to sort some things out. You said the other night that you had no expectations. I hope you meant it.'
Zack swallowed hard. 'I hope so, too, ' he said. She smiled thinly and squeezed his hand. 'Thanks at least for trying. Listen, I have the next week off. I owe Jen some quality time with her mother and my partner a few days of help in the gallery. I'll call you toward the middle of the week, okay?'
'Middle meaning like Tuesday?'
'Zack, please.'
'Okay, sorry, sorry. Middle of the week is fine. Can I at least drive you home later?'
'I'll be fine. Besides, I don't even know if I'll be going home later.
Zack, there'll be time. If it's supposed to be, there'll be plenty of time.'
There was a sadness in her eyes that helped keep him from pushing matters any further. 'Sure thing, ' he said. 'Hey, for what it's worth, I just ran into your replacement in Annie's room.'
Suzanne smiled broadly, obviously relieved at the change in subject.
'Don Norman? Is he overwhelmed yet?'
'Hardly. Norman doesn't seem like the type to be overwhelmed very easily-at least not as long as there are guidelines and policies for him to follow. And Ultramed seems to have provided all the guidelines and policies he could ever want, so not to worry.'
'I won't, ' she said. 'And I agree totally. The man is conscientious as hell, but he is a little medical robot. Julia Childs with a stethoscope-strictly cookbook. Annie okay?'
Zack nodded. 'When I stopped by, she was fighting with Norman about her sodium restriction, so I guess that's about as good a sign as any. Oh, get this, right in the middle of their little altercation he puffs himself up like he loves to do-you know, like this-and he says, 'Mrs.
Doucette, pull-eese. Whether you know it or not, I am the Chief of Staff at this hospital. I certainly know what is best for my patients.'
'Good imitation. Excellent. And what did Annie say?'
'Nothing too inflammatory. She just eyed him with this great Annie look, called him Tubby, and suggested that he should lose weight so that he would be a better example for his patients.'
'Oh, no.'
'It was great. Norman turned ten shades of red, and looked for a moment as if he might haul off and pop her in the nose. Having been brought up by the woman, I can say that it's lucky for him he didn't. Even after cardiac arrest, my money would have been on Annie. Well, listen, I've got to go play doctor. If you change your mind about that ride home, give me a page.'
'Sure.'
'You know, I still can't get over it.'
'What? ' she asked. 'How light you are. The nurse I was talking to said all of Mainwaring's patients come out of the O. R. like that. I've got to ask him his secret.'
'No secret, Doctor. Just good technique.'
Jason Mainwaring, sans mask and haircover, appraised them from the foot of the bed. 'Well, ' Zack said casually, trying not to appear as startled by the intrusion as he was, 'whatever it is, it's impressive.
I'd like to scrub with you sometime to learn firsthand how it's done.'
'My goodness, ' Mainwaring mused, 'a neurosurgeon who doesn't know everything. What will the gods send us next?'
'Now just a minute, ' Zack countered, again feeling his hackles stiffen at the man's superciliousness. 'I don't know if you're like this with everyone, or just with me, but I-'
'Hey, fellas, ' Suzanne cut in, 'remember me? The patient?'
Mainwaring smiled down at her as if Zack were no longer there. 'Is everything still all right, my friend? ' he asked. 'Perfect, Jason. I can't tell you how pleased I am.'
'That's fine. Just fine, ' he drawled. Zack, arms folded tightly, stood back from the bed a step, wondering if he should say good-bye or simply leave. It was obvious that Jason Mainwaring, for all of his glistening reputation and surgical skills, was too threatened by him to let up even for a moment. Unless he could find some way of reassuring the man that they were playing for the same team-and his experience with similar egos told him that possibility was highly unlikely-the two of them seemed destined to be enemies. Well, so be it, Zack thought. It would only make things that much easier if, in fact, Mainwaring did prove in any way responsible for Guy's difficulties. 'Can I go home this afternoon? ' Suzanne asked. Mainwaring smiled, walked to the bedside opposite Zack and took her hand. 'If there's no major bleeding from that incision, ' he said, 'and you still feel the way you do right now, I don't see why not. Listen, I've got an emergency exploratory in just a few minutes, and a gall bladder at two. Why don't I stop by after that-say, four-thirty? Then, I'll not only discharge you, but I'll even drive you home. Your place isn't very far out of my way.'
Suzanne's eyes flicked toward Zack. 'Oh, Jason, I wouldn't think of-'
'No, no. It's settled.'
Don't you think driving your post-op patients home is carrying bedside manner a bit too far, Doctor?
Zack barely kept the snide rebuke in check. He was already irritated with the man and his ways, and now he realized he was jealous of him as well. Suzanne had made no secret that she and her surgeon had a friendship that, at times, went beyond the hospital. But she had also been careful to add that Mainwaring had a wife and children living somewhere in the South, who were, for whatever reason, as yet unable to follow him to New England. There was, Zack reminded himself angrily, never a valid excuse for jealousy. Nevertheless, jealous he was. His reaction also reminded him that it was far more pleasant being threatening than feeling threatened. 'Well, ' he said, clearing his throat, but still unable to fully expunge the hurt from his voice, 'you two seem to have everything pretty much under control, so I'll just get along. See you later, Suze. Nice job, Mainwaring.'
Before either of them could respond, a nurse whom Zack recognized as one of the emergency crew rushed across the recovery room to Mainwaring.
'Doctor, ' she said breathlessly, 'there's some trouble in the emergency ward. It's Dr. Beaulieu. He's-' She glanced at Zack and Suzanne, and stopped in mid-sentence, obviously unsure of how much more to say.'… um… Mr. Iverson would like you to come down right away if you can.'
'Of course, Sandy, ' Mainwaring responded with urbane calm. 'Tell Mr.
Iverson I'll be right along.'
'Thank you, Doctor. Hi, Dr. Iverson. Hi, Suzanne. Are you okay?'
'I'm fine, Sandy, thanks, ' Suzanne said. 'Everything's all right.'
'That's wonderful. I'll tell everyone downstairs the good news.' She hurried off. 'So, ' said Mainwaring, 'I'll see y'all at four-thirty, yes?'
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.
