the bundle of nerves located there that turns the lights out. Damage from the gunshot has impinged some nerves in that bundle-swelling, some small bone fragments and so on-and that’s what causes you such misery.”
“Can you take it away?”
“Pain exists for a reason. It’s often a warning signal that movement is causing further damage. Your knee is a prime example of this.”
“That’s all well and good,” I said, “but I have a baby to care for.”
He looked around. “Where is Kate?”
“Missing in action.”
He got it that my life had gone awry in every way and grimaced, but continued to refrain from comment. “Where are your crutches?”
“I threw them away.”
“Why in the name of fucking God would you do something that stupid?”
“Because I’ve been alone and need at least one hand to use.” I held up my cane. “This suffices.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
I wanted to say something caustic, but I didn’t. I was just cranky, as usual these days, and he was trying to be a good doctor.
“We have two options,” he said. “We can increase your dosages of Oxapam and Norflex-the tranquilizers and muscle relaxants-and start you on Temgesic, a stronger painkiller.”
“So then I’m basically a drug-addicted zombie who still has a wasted knee.”
“It’s not quite as bad as you describe it, but, yeah, it’s a lot of drugs. Option two. I shoot your knee and jaw full of cortisone. It will deaden the pain for a few weeks. I’ve spoken to your doctors. It’s not likely, but possible, that another prosthesis might work in your knee. It would give you a greater range of motion eventually, after a long bout of physical therapy, during which your body might reject the prosthesis and leave you back where you are now. I’m hesitant to treat your knee with cortisone, since you refuse to take care of it properly.”
“I’m a nurse,” Mirjami reminded him. “I can wrap it tightly enough so he can’t move it much but won’t cut off his circulation, then put a knee brace over top so he’s not able to damage himself further without working really hard at it.”
Jari nodded assent. “Are you going to be around for a while to do that?”
She looked at me, inquiring. I didn’t let my expression answer her.
“If I’m needed and Kari wants me here,” she said.
Obviously, Jari was curious about my relationship with her, but he’s good at keeping his thoughts to himself.
“About your jaw,” he said. “I think a surgeon needs to get in there and repair as much damage as possible. It might leave you with partial paralysis of the right side of your face and mouth.”
“Every word I utter hurts like hell. I don’t think I have much choice. Shoot me up.”
“We need ample bandages and the brace.”
Mirjami got her purse. “There’s a pharmacy just a few minutes’ walk from here. I’ll be right back.” She walked out.
“Things clearly suck for you in a multitude of ways,” Jari said. “Anything you want to talk about while we have privacy?”
I shook my head. “Thanks, but no.”
“Then let’s take off your pants,” Jari said. He knelt in front of me and helped me wriggle out of them, so I didn’t have to move too much. “This is going to hurt,” he said.
It already hurt. “Proceed.”
He jammed a needle like a railroad spike into my left knee. I gritted my teeth. He wasn’t exaggerating about the pain. He pulled it out, stuck it in again. Repeated the process a couple more times. Then took out a smaller needle. After finding out how much it hurt, I had a hard time not anticipating, wincing and keeping my head still. He injected more cortisone in my face, then told me to open wide, pushed the syringe deep into my mouth and jabbed the thing into my gum.
“There,” he said, “that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“Let me stick you with the goddamned needles and you tell me.”
He laughed. “I always say that. It’s a little doctor’s joke. I know it hurt like screaming hell. I could have given you an anesthetic first, but I figured you’re a big boy. Also, about what you can expect: Your injuries will hurt worse for a couple days, then improve. This isn’t a miracle drug, especially not for your knee. The cortisone will help some aspects of your wounds, others it won’t. You’ll still be in pain, but hopefully less of it.”
I noticed the fucking noises from the bedroom had stopped.
“Don’t stop taking the drugs,” Jari said. “Cut down slowly if you don’t need them as badly, but don’t stop cold turkey or you’ll have vicious withdrawal that will make those needles I stuck in you feel like a vacation.”
Mirjami returned. He watched her wrap and brace my knee to make sure she did it to his satisfaction.
“Nice job,” he said.
She smiled. “I practice.”
Jari finished off his beer, took his bag and went to the foyer to put his shoes on. “If you have any problems,” he said, “or just want to talk, call me.”
“Thank you for this,” I said.
7
Next step, locate my wife. Sweetness and Jenna came back from the bedroom. “Thanks for everything,” I said, “but I’ll be OK now. You don’t have to hang around.”
Anu was awake, Mirjami was feeding her, sitting beside me again. “You don’t need to stay either,” I said. “If you can stop by every day or two so you can rewrap my knee after I shower, I would be grateful.”
Sweetness shook his head. “We’re not going anywhere. Milo and I liberated that ten million with you. That brick was a message to all of us. It’s time to circle the wagons. And speaking of Milo, you need to call and tell him what happened.”
“The girls should leave anyway.”
Jenna set beers, a Koskenkorva bottle and shot glasses for everyone on the dining room table. “I ain’t goin’ nowhere without Sweetness.”
Even she calls him by the nickname Sulo hates. Kate hung it on him by accident, through a language snafu. It got a chuckle out of me. And then I realized Jenna knew about the ten million euros. Mirjami didn’t flinch at its mention, so she knew too, which meant she’d been talking to Jenna, which meant they had become good enough friends to share secrets. They just met three months ago. I wondered if Mirjami had cultivated their friendship as a way of staying close to me. I’d noticed her calculating and devious side before. She knew how to get what she wanted.
“Hurting the girls is a potential way of getting at us,” Sweetness said. “They’re safer here.”
He was right, it hadn’t occurred to me. My fear because of Kate’s absence multiplied.
“And have you looked in the mirror lately?” Mirjami asked. “You need care. And help with Anu.”
“Don’t you have a job?” I asked her.
“Haven’t you read about the shortage of health care workers? I can quit my job tomorrow and have a new one within a week when I want to go back to work. In fact, I think I’ll do just that.”
I didn’t have the strength or will to argue. I grabbed my cell phone and pushed myself out of my chair. “I need to make some phone calls.”
I noticed that Jari forgot the empty hypodermics. They struck me as something that might be useful. For what, I didn’t know. I took my phone and laptop, went to the kitchen for quiet and privacy, then put the needles in the cupboard and sat at a little table for two that we usually use to prep food on.
Jenna called out, “Come and have a
“Later,” I answered.
