“Probably,” Renie said, a trifle glum. “Why couldn’t
Sean Connery have fallen off a ladder instead of Mr.
Mummy?”
Heather Chinn appeared, taking more vital signs.
“When will Maya be back?” Judith asked.
Heather concentrated on Judith’s pulse. “Maya’s not
with us anymore.”
Judith lurched forward, disrupting Heather’s pulse
count. “Literally? Figuratively?”
“Both, I suppose,” Heather replied, slightly irritated.
“Yesterday was her last day working for Good Cheer.”
“Oh.” The thermometer cut off further comment
from Judith.
“Seeking new opportunities, huh?” Renie remarked.
“Yes,” Heather said, still intent upon her tasks.
“What was in the autopsy report on Bob Randall?”
Renie inquired.
“I don’t know,” Heather replied.
“Surely not suicide,” Renie said.
“I don’t know,” Heather repeated, her pretty face set
in stone.
“Yes, you do,” Renie asserted. “Bob Randall was
one of your patients. You would be informed if he’d
taken his own life. Don’t you think it would be prudent
for you to tell other patients on this floor what really
happened? Cover-ups never work, and then you’re left
with serious egg on your face.”
Heather removed the thermometer from Judith’s
mouth and glared at Renie. “We’ve been told not to
discuss Mr. Randall’s death. The orders have come
down from on high.”
“Dr. Van Boeck or Queen Blanche?” Renie retorted.
“Dr. Van Boeck, of course,” Heather said stiffly.
“He’s in charge here.”
SUTURE SELF
127
“That’s not the impression I got this afternoon,”
Renie said. “Now let me think—Good Cheer is kind
of conservative, old-fashioned. Which is good. I’m
still here, and in any other hospital in the city, I’d have
been sent home this morning, right? Keeping me
longer may not suit the bottom line. So maybe the Van
Boecks aren’t merely fighting to keep Good Cheer’s
reputation spotless, but for the hospital’s very survival. How am I doing, Nurse Chinn?”
Heather yanked the blood pressure cuff off Judith’s
arm with more force than was necessary. “All hospitals
are fighting to stay alive,” the nurse said grimly. “Over
the years, the Sisters of Good Cheer have wisely managed this institution. They’ve refused to remodel for
the sake of appearances, the plant budget is always
