He closed the manual and picked up his computer. He looked up Dr. Steel and read about his other breakthrough therapies. On the side column of the screen were advertisements, mostly for medical, and there was a picture of Catherine White. Robert had talked to her about Gini’s insurance when she was first admitted. He clicked on the link.
Using his earbuds, he started a paused video of Gini speaking. She was talking to a large group of people about getting children vaccinated. She was dressed impeccably in a blue business suit and spike high heels. Standing behind the mic, she spoke with a strong voice and passionate heart. Her manner was elegant and her words precise. When the video finished, he sat and stared at the screen for a few minutes. There were other links; one said “The Power People of Boston” from the Boston Globe. The page had several pictures. There was one of Gini, in a red Santa’s hat, and an older woman. They were both smiling broadly. Gini’s eyes were bright and blue, her smile gracious. His heart was touched; she was so beautiful and obviously happy. Another picture was of a group of people, including Ric and Gini, and Robert recognized Senator Victor Westcott and his wife. Now he understood why Ric so longed for the social life they once shared. He clicked on more links of Catherine and Gini speaking.
When the door opened and John walked in, Robert set his computer on the kitchen table, linked back to Catherine White.
John had an insulated cloth bag. “Vicky sent you dinner. It’s pot roast and cherry pie.”
“Good, I’m hungry.”
They went through Gini’s chart and discussed the progress. There was a beep. Her temperature had fallen under 100. John nodded his head with approval. “Now, if the BP will just stabilize.”
Robert poured the last little bit of coffee from the pot and started a new brew. John took the meal out of the bag and put it on the table.
He saw Robert’s computer. “Catherine White.”
“Do you know her?”
“Not really. She brought her colleague a few years back to introduce her, telling us she covered New England. Their mission was better medical care and insurance for children. When she started drilling me on how our program worked here, I took her to HR.”
“The coffee will be ready in a minute. Do you remember the other woman’s name?” Robert sat down.
“No, it was a while ago.”
“Virginia Anderson.”
“Huh, strange. Same as our Mrs. Legotti.” John tilted his head toward the bedroom.
“Not so weird, our Gini is Ms. White’s Virginia Anderson.”
John looked at him with disbelief. Robert took his computer and clicked the link to Gini’s speech. Then he showed John the pictures and other videos, even the one where Ric and Gini were on the morning show talking about their babies and impending wedding.
“Oh, how tragic. She had such an important mission, and… her impeccable delivery…” John shook his head and wiped his mouth. “Sometimes life is so cruel. How come there have been no news stories on her accident or reporters crawling all over the hospital?”
“They don’t know.” Robert clicked on one more link. The story stated Ms. Anderson was taking some time off to raise her children.
Chapter 8—Guardian
While Robert ate, John went to the coffee table and started marking on the EEG strips. Later John showed Robert his comments. He had marked where she went under hypnosis and reached climax. “Here’s where she should have started recovery.” He took his finger to the next peak. “But instead she stopped and climaxed again, and then again. I couldn’t get her to come down. She just didn’t want to stop working with the balls. And then when I did get them out of her hands, she was in a panic.”
He sat back. “I just don’t understand. Did she come out of the hypnotic trance too soon? I have to figure this out.”
The monitor beeped, her BP 125 over 72. It stayed steady. “Thank goodness, she’s finally in recovery.” He marked it on her chart: climax eight hours, recovery starting at 12:35 a.m.
Robert went in and slept on Debbie’s bed while John continued to try to figure out what went wrong.
At two o’clock, Debbie quietly slipped in the door. John looked toward her. She held up a sack. “Donuts,” she whispered.
As she walked to the kitchen, Robert walked from the bedroom. His hair was a bit tousled and his eyes puffy; he’d obviously just awakened. On Robert’s way to the kitchen, he stopped and spoke to Gini. She thrust her tongue, indicating she was semiconscious.
“How’s she doing?” Debbie asked.
“She’s stable,” John reported.
“Listen, Dr. Meyer, I’m sorry I was so disrespectful earlier.”
“Apology accepted, but not necessary. We were all a little on edge.”
The three of them drank coffee and ate the donuts while John discussed what he thought had gone wrong. For one thing, he didn’t restrain her arms at the end, and he was sure he had overstimulated her. “She just kept wanting more, so I kept challenging her. I should have slowed down way earlier. Hopefully, when she wakes up, she won’t have a setback. I can’t do any more treatments. It has been tried, and the patient seems to lose all that was gained if more than three therapies are administered.”
John instructed Debbie and another nurse to hand-bathe Gini and change the bed linens. He went home for two hours to sleep. Robert said he could stay until Debbie was finished.
She sat down on the couch when she was done. “What a day and night.”
“Yeah. What do you know about Gini’s career?”
“Let’s
