“What else?” Judith said. “An accident, I suppose.”
The whirring resumed almost at once. Renie gaped
as the helicopter reappeared and began ascending over
the parking area. “It’s leaving. What did they do, throw
the patient onto the roof?”
Judith frowned. “I suppose they can make the transfer really fast,” she said. “But that was
“
She’d just gotten back under the covers when Dr. Ming
appeared.
“I hear you’ve been a very active patient,” the surgeon remarked with an off-center grin. “You aren’t
wearing yourself out, are you, Mrs. Jones?”
“Me?” Renie gave the doctor a sickly smile. “I don’t
want to get weak.”
“You won’t,” Dr. Ming assured her. “What’s making
you run all around the hospital?”
“Oh—this and that,” Renie replied vaguely. “For example—what was with that helicopter just now?”
Dr. Ming was examining Renie’s shoulder. “That’s
coming along just fine. Your busy little ways haven’t
done any visible damage.” He paused, moving Renie’s
wrist this way and that. “Helicopter? Oh, that was a
transplant delivery. We don’t usually get them here
since we do only orthopedic work. But with the snow,
270
Mary Daheim
this week has been different. We’ve had to take on
some exceptional cases.”
“Transplant?” Renie said. “What kind?”
“I’m not sure,” Dr. Ming replied. “Does this hurt?”
he inquired, bending Renie’s arm toward her body.
“Not much,” she answered. “Heart, maybe?”
“Heart?” Dr. Ming frowned. “Oh—the transplant. I
don’t think so. We couldn’t do that here at all. What I
suspect is that the organ was flown in along with the
surgeon. None of our doctors could handle a transplant. We aren’t trained for that kind of specialty.” He
patted Renie’s lower arm. “You’re coming along just
fine. Want to visit the physical therapist and then go
home tomorrow?”
“You mean Blanche Van Boeck isn’t evicting me
today?” Renie asked, faintly surprised.
Dr. Ming laughed as he backed away from the bed.
“No, she’s too busy.” He glanced at his watch. “In
fact, in about twenty minutes, Blanche is going to
hold a press conference just down the hall. If you’re
not doing anything else, Mrs. Jones, you might want
to listen in. I’m sure she’ll have some words of wisdom for us all.”
Renie sneered, but said nothing until Dr. Ming had
left. “Why is Blanche holding her damned press conference out in the hall? Why not the foyer? Or the auditorium? I assume they have one. Teaching hospitals
always do.”
