A footer indicated that the report had been downloaded from the BBC News home page. Beside the http address, someone had written the name Zuckerman.
I felt icy-hot, and my hands were shaking.
Relapse.
Time for an Imodium hit.
Returning from the bathroom, I noticed an odd shadow falling across the carpet in front of the door. I went to check. The latch had not properly engaged.
Had I left the door open when I’d arrived and dashed to the bathroom? I was feeling lousy, but such carelessness was out of character.
I closed and locked it, a sense of trepidation joining the rest of my symptoms.
Dialing Galiano, I felt weak all over. The trembling in my hands had intensified.
Galiano and Ryan were out. I had to swallow before I could leave a message.
Damn! I couldn’t be sick. I wouldn’t!
I collected Nordstern’s folders and stacked them beside the armchair. Stealing the quilt from the bed, I tucked my feet under my bum and wrapped myself in it. I was feeling worse by the minute.
Dramatically worse.
I opened a folder. Interview notes. I had to keep wiping my face as I read. Rivulets of perspiration rolled down the inside of my sweats.
Within minutes I felt a sharp pain in my belly, then tremors below my tongue. Heat rose from my throat to my hairline.
I raced to the bathroom, retched until my sides ached, then returned to my chair to re-cocoon. Every few minutes I repeated the journey. I felt weaker with each trip.
Collapsing into my chair for the fourth time, I shut my eyes and pulled the quilt to my chin. I felt rough cotton against my skin. I smelled my own odor. My head spun, and I saw tiny constellations on the backs of my lids.
The jackhammers receded to a sound like popping corn. I saw locusts on a summer night. Gossamer wings. Red, bulging eyes. I felt insects buzz through my bloodstream.
Then I was with Katy. She was little, maybe three or four, and we were reading a book of nursery rhymes. Her hair was white blonde. The sun shone through it like moonlight through mist. She wore the pinafore I’d bought on a trip to Nantucket.
