Laurie rolled over on her side facing Jack and propped herself up on an elbow. She gazed at his profile, the picture of tranquility lying on his back with one arm casually thrown onto the pillow behind his head. She did indeed love him, but his obstinacy could drive her to distraction, as was the case with the surgery issue. For the life of her, she could not understand how he could dismiss the data and believe it was prudent to have the procedure.
Recognizing that more sleep was not in the cards, Laurie got out of bed. With her bathrobe and slippers on, she padded into the study they had made facing out onto 106th Street. It was just becoming light. She looked down from the window onto Jack's beloved basketball court, wishing it would suddenly disappear. Then she turned back to the partner's desk. Her side was piled high with the MRSA case files and hospital records of the twenty-four cases, along with her uncompleted matrix. She'd hauled all the material home with the intention of working on it the previous evening, but she hadn't done it. And now that she was awake early, she thought she would take advantage of the time, but before even sitting down, she recognized she felt the same as she had the night before. Her despondency kept telling her that her efforts were in vain. Jack was just going to do what Jack wanted.
In the kitchen, Laurie made herself some coffee. Sitting down at the breakfast table, she began thinking about the process of in vitro fertilization and how Jack would respond to the idea..Although it would be a natural progression, they'd not discussed it. In truth, Laurie had been afraid. She knew that Jack's agreement to have children was more to please her than something he intrinsically wanted to do.
To Laurie's surprise and despite being unable to fall back asleep in bed, she fell asleep at the kitchen table as evidence of how tired she was. What woke her was Jack standing in the doorway completely naked with his hands on his hips and an exaggerated expression of confusion on his face.
"What the hell are you doing snoozing in the kitchen?" he asked.
"I couldn't sleep," Laurie said, conscious of the irony.
Jack advanced into the room and put a hand on her shoulder. "If you are still fretting about this surgery, I'll promise you I'll be fine."
"Oh, yeah, sure," Laurie said sarcastically. "As if you have control. Why do you have to be so headstrong?"
"Look who's talking!"
"Well, if the situation was reversed, I sure as hell wouldn't be taking the kind of gamble you're planning on taking."
"Hey!" Jack said. "We've been through this, remember? Let's agree to disagree. I have to go over to the hospital this morning on the way to work for a quick pre-op blood and urine test, get the MRSA swab I told you about, and have a quick chat with the anesthesiologist. That's why I'm up early. Why don't you come along? Witnessing all such preparation, maybe you'll feel better."
Laurie thought for a moment about the suggestion. At first she thought she didn't want any further association with Jack's surgical plans as a way of protest, but rethinking the issue, she didn't want to cut off her nose to spite her face. On this visit, she'd be invited as a spouse of a patient, so she wouldn't be blamed for making an official ME visit. Laurie couldn't help but feel that if the MRSA cases weren't intentional, then it had to be some sort of systems error involving all three hospitals, and if there was any chance of her guessing what such an error could be, she'd have to have opportunities to visit, which Jack was obviously affording.
"Okay, I'll come," Laurie said with such sudden decisiveness that Jack was mildly taken aback.
"Wonderful," he said. "Let's hit the shower and be on our way."
FRANCO AWOKE BUT opened only one eye. His cell phone was ringing, but before he answered it, he looked at his radio alarm to see the time. It was five-forty-five. Accompanied by an extended string of blasphemy and expletives, he snaked a hand out from beneath the covers and put the phone to his ear.
"Yeah?" he said with a tone that would let the caller know he was not happy about being disturbed at such an hour. The only reason he answered was because it might be Vinnie.
"Let's get a move on," Angelo said. "But let's not take your boat. Let's take a van."
With a few more carefully chosen expletives, Franco reminded Angelo what time it was.
"I know it's early," Angelo admitted. "But when I got back to my apartment last night, I called the ME office. I asked about Dr. Laurie Montgomery and was told she still works there. I also asked what time she comes into work, in case we can snatch her. I know these people work long hours."
"You're too damn eager," Franco complained.
"Vinnie wanted it done yesterday, don't you remember?"
"Yeah, I remember," Franco said reluctantly.
"Okay, let's meet up at the Neapolitan. I'll get the van."
"The Neapolitan's not going to be open."
"Oh, you're right."
"Angelo, you're too into this. Slow down! It's when you're all keyed up that mistakes are made, like forgetting that nobody's at the damn restaurant until after ten."
"You're right. I am keyed up, but you would be, too, if you was me. I tell you what! I'll pick you up at your apartment at six-thirty. Okay?"
"You can still pick me up at the restaurant," Franco said. He didn't want to be without his car later on in the day. "There's always a place to park right in front as early as it is." He disconnected and threw his feet out from under the blankets. He sensed it was going to be a long day trying to tamp down Angelo's zeal, especially since knocking off a public servant who worked in a reasonably secure environment was not going to be a walk in the park.
ADAM WILLIAMSON answered the phone on the first ring. Especially on a mission, he slept like a nervous cat, always prepared to leap up at the slightest provocation.
"Mr. Bramford, it is six o'clock, as you requested. The weather is expected to be cloudy with a possible shower and with a high temperature of sixty-two degrees."