It was the tail end of lunch hour but the room was nearly empty. Dan Kornblatt was getting change from the cashier just as I stepped up to pay. The cardiologist was carrying a lidded plastic cup. Coffee had leaked out and was running down the cup's sides in mud-colored rivulets. Kornblatt's handlebars drooped and he looked preoccupied.
He dropped the change in his pocket and saw me, gave a choppy nod.
'Hey, Dan. What's up?'
My smile seemed to bother him. 'Read the paper this morning?' he said.
Actually,' I said, 'I just skimmed.'
He squinted at me. Definitely peeved. I felt as if I'd gotten the wrong answer on an oral exam.
'What can I say,' he snapped, and walked away.
I paid for my coffee and wondered what in the paper was eating him.
Looking around the cafeteria for a discarded paper, I failed to spot one. I took a couple of swallows of coffee, tossed the cup, and went to the library's reading room. This time it was locked.
Chappy Ward was deserted and the door to every room but Cassie's was open. Lights off, stripped beds, the tainted meadow smell of fresh deodorization. A man in yellow maintenance scrubs vacuumed the hallway. The piped-in music was something Viennese, slow and syrupy.
Vicki Bottomley sat at the nursing station reading a chart. Her cap sat slightly off-kilter.
I said, 'Hi, anything new?'
She shook her head and held out the chart without looking up.
'Go ahead and finish it,' I said.
'Finished.' She waved the chart.
I took it but didn't open it. Leaning against the counter, I said, 'How's Cassie feeling today?'
'Bit better.' Still no eye contact.
'When did she wake up?'
Around nine.'
'Dad here yet?'
'It's all in there,' she said, keeping her head down and pointing at the chart.
I flipped it open, turned to this morning's pages, and read Al Macauley's summary notes and those of the neurologist.
She picked up some kind of form and began to write.
'Cassie's latest seizure,' I said, 'sounds like it was a strong one.'
'Nothing I haven't seen before.'
I put the chart down and just stood there. Finally she looked up.
The blue eyes blinked rapidly.
'Have you seen lots of childhood epilepsy?' I said.
'Seen everything. Worked Onco. Took care of babies with brain tumors.' Shrug.
'I did oncology, too. Years ago. Psychosocial support.'
