Oath of Office

sometimes.”

Lou perked up at the word.

“Quirky?” he asked.

“You know, odd, strange. He’s not exactly obsessive, but he gets onto a hobby and goes overboard with it. It’s sort of like he gets fixated on things.”

Like that piece of carrot?

Lou began ticking off what he knew about conditions that featured fixations without dominating obsessive compulsive behavior. His list, as might be expected from an ER doc, was a short one-variants of autism such as Asperger’s syndrome, and …

“Can you give me some examples of things that Joey’s gotten locked in on?” he asked, wondering about Carolyn Meacham and her nearly deadly fixation on a busted taillight.

“The last thing Joey really got into,” Millie said, “was learning how to tie knots. I once bought him a book of over a hundred different knots, thinking he probably wouldn’t have enough of an attention span to do much with it. It took him two or three months, but he learned to tie every one of them. Eventually he could even do a bunch of them blindfolded. It was amazing to watch.

“How long ago was that?” asked Lou.

“Maybe two Christmases. And before that, it was puzzles. And before that, radio-controlled cars. Using a kit, the boy built one that went faster than I’m comfortable driving. Then he just lost interest and went on to something else.”

“So he’s been like that for a long time?”

Lou tried to keep the disappointment from his voice. If Joey’s behavior had been a recent development, it might have been an interesting avenue to explore. Instead, it appeared to be just another in a string of dead ends.

“Oh, he’s been that way ever since I’ve known him,” Millie said. “Now, I can’t be certain I’ve touched on all his hobbies. Joey’s a very private person, and not a boy anymore. I make it my business to keep out of his world. He has a driver’s license and an old Ford pickup, and pretty much comes and goes as he pleases. I don’t go traipsing about his apartment at the Dorm, and he doesn’t invite me over for dinner.” Millie said that with a laugh, and then added, “’Cause everybody eats at Millie’s.”

“And to your knowledge, he’s never behaved irrationally? Done anything dangerous?”

“No. Oh, no. Joey’s a stickler for the rules. My only demands of him beside honoring the Ten Commandments are that he’s on time for work and polite to everybody. He’s never let me down on either regard.”

Their conversation drifted off, and for a time, Millie dozed and Lou read some articles in an emergency medicine journal.

They were startled upright when the door to the family room swung open and Dr. Kurdi entered. He appeared as fresh as he had when he left to do the case, and he was smiling pleasantly, almost ecstatically.

“It went as well as we could have hoped,” he said. “I’m optimistic that we’re going to get a significant amount of function back.”

Lou had been imagining what Joey’s life of hobbies would have been like missing a functional thumb.

“That’s great news, Rafe,” he said.

“You get as much credit for the success as we do.”

Millie squeezed Lou’s arm.

“Can we go see him?” she asked.

“In a little while, one of the recovery room nurses will be in to get you. He’s still pretty out of it from the anesthesia. He’ll need to stay here for a couple days. We want to keep a close eye on him and give him pain meds and IV antibiotics.”

“Well, that’s fine,” Millie said, a note of disappointment in her voice. “I’m not much for driving any distance, but there are plenty of folks at the restaurant who will come and get him. In fact, someone will come and get me tonight. I’m just glad he’s going to be all right.”

Lou put his hand on Millie’s shoulder.

“It’s no problem for me to bring him back to Kings Ridge when it’s time,” he said. “In fact, it would be my pleasure. I’ll drive you home later tonight, too. I have a couple of new CDs I want to listen to on the way back home. Also, I work right down the street at the Annex, so I can pop in as much as I want. And I’ll phone you with progress reports. How would that be?”

Most of Millie’s wrinkles vanished around a bright smile. “How would that be?” she echoed. “Let me put it this way. Neither you nor Dr. Kurdi will ever have to pay for another meal at Millie’s again.”

CHAPTER 20

Lou rolled double sixes and moved his pewter Scottie dog ahead twelve spaces. Emily reacted immediately, springing from her beanbag chair, and tapping feverously at the IN JAIL square on their Monopoly board.

“Oh no you don’t,” she said. “That’s your second double in a row. You’ve got to go to jail.”

“No, no, no,” Lou countered. “It’s three doubles in a row and go to jail. Two in a row and I get to buy North Carolina, which I, in fact, am about to do.”

This was a serious development, and the teen’s somber expression reflected it. Her father already owned two monopolies to her one. North Carolina would give him a shot at putting her away. Her usual strategy of acquiring railroads at any and all cost along with the orange or red monopoly wasn’t working out.

“I’m sure it’s two doubles,” Emily said, as she plucked up Lou’s dog and set it on the jail square. Lou picked up the piece and reestablished it on North Carolina.

“Three,” he said.

“Two.” Emily moved the terrier back to jail.

Lou sighed deeply and spoke through clenched teeth. “Okay.… Let’s … get … the … rules.”

“We’re not getting the rules.”

“Because you know that I’m right.”

“No. Because I know that I’m right. And giving you the rules would be the same as admitting that I could be wrong.”

“I could always send you to your room.”

Emily’s face lit up. “I knew it. I knew you’d resort to that. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“Okay, I’m ashamed of myself. Go to your room!”

Lou could not keep from smiling as well. These were the times he treasured the most-though this one would sadly be ending soon. It seemed that with each passing day, Emily was becoming sharper and more fun. He loved spending time with her at his apartment, even though Renee rarely missed an opportunity to disapprove of his chosen neighborhood. The cozy two-bedroom place above Dimitri’s Pizza, across the street from the gym and not far from his old halfway house, had served him and, more important, Emily quite nicely.

“All right, then, the rules,” Lou said.

Emily dug out the flimsy, Scotch-taped rule booklet from underneath a pile of tattered Monopoly money.

“Come and get it!” She tossed it between them.

When he reached for it, she dived at him and wrestled him facedown onto the rug, bouncing on him until he cried uncle. When she let up and rolled off, he quickly read, “‘If you throw doubles three times in succession, move your token immediately to the space marked In Jail.’”

Emily looked at him, batting her eyes. “I’m sorry, Mr. Butler,” she said in a heavy Scarlett O’Hara accent, “did you say something?”

“Not really.”

“Good, because when it comes to rules, frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. They’re stupid.”

“Oh, they have their place,” Lou said.

Emily harrumphed. “Do you know how many rules Steve has?” she asked. “It’s insane over there. But he’s still like way more strict with me than with his own brood.”

“That’s a little hard to believe.”