but I didn’t think they were stupid.”
Judith didn’t respond immediately. “You’re right.
Maybe they simply wanted to vent. The odd thing is
that when we spoke with him right after Bob died,
Jim acted as if he was fond of his brother. And, in
fact, there was no mention of his relationship to Bob
in the write-up. Does that mean Bob and Jim really
did get along?”
“I don’t know,” Renie said, delving into her Falstaff ’s bag. “It’s a good thing I’m not hungry anymore.
All I have left is an apple and a small chunk of Gouda.
I’ll be a bag of bones by the time I leave this place. We
could use some good news around here. Then maybe
my appetite will come back.”
Judith eyed Renie curiously. “That’s funny, now that
you mention it—when Jim Randall left Addison
Kirby’s room this afternoon, Dr. Garnett met him in
the hall. He said he had some good news for Jim. I
wonder what he meant?”
“Didn’t Jim have some tests done the other day?”
Renie responded. “Maybe the results came back.”
Judith snapped her fingers. “That must be it. I’d forgotten.” She gazed at the phone. “I think I’ll call ICU.”
“They’ll let you know when they have anything to
report,” Renie said, munching on her apple.
“I should call Mike,” Judith said. “I should have done
that sooner. Why didn’t I?” She picked up the phone.
SUTURE SELF
229
“Because you don’t know anything for sure and you
don’t want to scare the wits out of Mike until you do.
Hold off,” Renie urged.
“I can’t,” Judith declared. “It wouldn’t be fair.” She
used her long distance calling card to get an outside
line, then waited as the phone rang a dozen times up at
the mountain summit. “Nobody’s answering,” she said,
finally clicking off. “Where could they go in this
weather?”
“Maybe the phone lines are down,” Renie suggested.
“Or maybe Mike’s got his other line tied up. He could
be busy.”
“True,” Judith allowed, but redialed in case she’d
made a mistake the first time. The result was the same.
Nobody picked up the phone.
“Doesn’t he have an answering machine?” Renie
asked.
“Not on his private phone,” Judith said. “Kristin
feels it’s bad enough to have the forest service lines
ring in the house. She’s not much for gadgetry. My
daughter-in-law is strictly a no-nonsense person.”
“I know,” Renie acknowledged. “Kristin’s a natural
