'Uh-huh.' Back to the form.
'Well,' I said, 'at least Cassie doesn't seem to have a tumor.'
No answer.
'Dr. Eves told me she's planning to discharge her soon.'
'Uh-huh.'
'I thought I'd go out and make a home visit.'
Her pen raced.
'You've been out there yourself, haven't you?'
No answer.
I repeated the question. She stopped writing and looked up. 'If I have, is there something wrong with that?'
'No, I was just-' 'You were just making talky-talk is what you were doing.
Right?' She put the pen down and wheeled backward. A smug smile was on her lips. 'Or are you checking me out? Wanting to know if I went out and did something to her?'
She wheeled back farther, keeping her eyes on me, still smiling.
'Why would I think that?' I said.
'Cause I know the way you people think.'
'It was a simple question, Vicki.'
'Yeah, right. That's what this has all been about, from the beginning.
All this phony talky-talk. You're checking me out to see if I'm like that nurse in NewJersey.'
'What nurse is that?'
'The one killed the babies. They wrote a book about it and it was on TV' 'You think you're under suspicion?'
Aren't I? Isn't it always the nurse who gets blamed?'
'Was the nurse in New Jersey blamed falsely?'
Her smile managed to turn into a grimace without a movement.
'I'm sick of this game,' she said, standing and shoving the chair away.
'With you people it's always games.'
'You people' meaning psychologists?'
She folded her hands across her chest and muttered something.
Then she turned her back on me.
'Vicki?'
No answer.
'What this is all about,' I said, fighting to keep my voice even, 'is finding out what the hell's going on with' She pretended to read the bulletin board behind the desk.
'So much for our little truce,' I said.
