He shrugged.
"People don't have faith in their hometown police. It makes sense to me. It takes too much effort and imagination to really investigate something as complicated as this appears to be.
"Look, Terri," he continued, reaching across the table for her hand, "you've got to put this behind you. If you let every death, every patient get to you like this, you'll soon become a patient yourself," he concluded.
She nodded.
"I know. You're right, of course. Hyman is with you on that, too."
"I always liked Hyman. I think I might even have trouble suing him."
"If you even thought of representing someone who would want to do that," she said, her eyes growing big with a fury he thought could consume them both. He laughed.
"Hey, I gotta do what I gotta do, don't I? You can't turn away a sick person just because you don't like him or her, or because he or she is a criminal, can you?"
"I sure as hell could discourage him or her from using me," she fired back and then sadly thought, and that's the difference between us.
Before the waitress returned to their table with their cocktails, Terri saw Eileen Okun enter the restaurant holding hands with a red-haired man who looked familiar. As they stepped down to follow the maitre d' to their table, the man glanced at her and smiled. She immediately recalled the strikingly hazel brown eyes and realized he was a nurse at the hospital and he, in fact, had been one of the nurses on duty the night Paige Thorndyke had been brought into the ER. How strange to see him with the woman Terri had been told was Paige's best friend, the woman on Paige's brother Phil's arm at the funeral.
"What is it?" Curt asked, noticing how she was staring at the couple. She told him who they were.
"So? This is a popular restaurant and there aren't all that many good ones open this time of the year. I'm not surprised," he said with a shrug. He was annoying her so much tonight, she thought. Usually, she had more tolerance. She recognized just how much she was on edge.
"Have you decided?" the waitress asked.
"I have," Curt said. "Terri?"
"The poached salmon," she snapped.
"I'll have the same," Curt said. The waitress took their menus and Curt ordered himself another cocktail. He smiled at her.
"So, have you given thought to remodeling our bedroom? I have Frank Curtis coming over tomorrow to decide how we would go about cutting in the patio door. I thought, if we could cut it on the west end, we would build the balcony and be able to see the sun set over the Shawangunk Mountains. Huh?"
"That does sound very nice, Curt."
"Can you make it over, say about ten? Or better yet, sleep over tonight?" He reached for her hand again.
"You want to hear something funny?" she said instead of replying. "Hyman had four calls from patients today asking about the daily requirements for vitamin C. Like they thought a scourge of scurvy was about to descend on us. Despite all the information over the Internet, education, television, whatever, most people are relatively ignorant when it comes to their own bodies. I guess part of the reason is there is so much conflicting information. First, coffee is no good for you, then it is. First, you should take more supplements, then a study shows it could be harmful."
Curt stared coldly.
Then he leaned back.
"So I have this case involving a mother who has illegally tapped into her own children's trust funds. The children have hired me to sue their own mother. Now, of course it gets complicated when you begin to consider the defined benefit pension plan her husband had created and then there is the matter of the family trust fund and IRS code..."
"Okay," she said putting up her hands in a gesture of surrender. "I get the point." The waitress served Curt his second cocktail. As soon as she left, he leaned forward, smiling.
"I'd rather talk about us than anything, Terri, anything."
"I know. I'm sorry." She put her hand into his just as Eileen Okun stepped up to their booth.
"Excuse me," she said. "Mark, who's a nurse at the hospital, just told me who you are. I'm Eileen Okun. I was a very good friend of Paige Thorndyke's and..."
"Yes," Terri said quickly. "I know. I saw you at the funeral."
"Oh, you were there?"
"Yes, she was there," Curt said sharply, his eyes on her.
"How can I help you, Eileen?" Terri asked, trying to overpower his stern tone.
"I just wanted to tell you that I was with Paige twice this past week. We had dinner together the night before, and that was when we had made plans to meet at the Underground. I was unable to get there because of a family problem. Anyway," she said her eyes moving nervously from Curt to Terri, "I don't mean to bother you, but I wanted to tell you that there was absolutely nothing wrong with Paige."
"Are you in the medical field?" Curt asked.
"No. I'm a marketing consultant for Scanlon Insurance and..."
"So how can you make a diagnosis?" he followed, as if she were on the witness stand.
"Oh. I just meant... she was... she looked fine and she ate well and..."
"We're all confused about it," Terri confessed. "I wish I could tell you something that would help you understand it. I haven't learned anything new." She nodded.
"I'm just trying to keep myself occupied and not think about it, but I was wondering if there was any possibility of there being something contagious or anything," she said, smiling weakly at Curt and then looking at Terri.
"Why don't you ask your boyfriend?" Curt said.
"He's not really my boyfriend and he's not a doctor. I just thought..."
"It's all right, Eileen," Terri said, her eyes soft and friendly. "Scurvy is not contagious, no. It's a disease caused by a deficiency of vitamin C. You don't have to be concerned because you were in contact with Paige shortly before," Terri added as reassuringly as she could.
Curt, either by reflex or because he was annoyed, followed with, "What sort of contact did you have with Paige?"
Terri's eyes went large.
Eileen looked as if she were about to burst into tears.
"Just... friends, having dinner. We hugged at the end of the evening. That's all," she said. She shook her head. "It just didn't make any sense. Even Mark says that, so I wanted to talk to you. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude."
"It's all right," Terri said. "When something crazy like this happens, it makes us all a little terrified."
Eileen smiled her appreciation, threw a colder glance at Curt, and then returned to her table.
"Well, you were right," Curt said quickly. "The amount of ignorance and stupidity despite the improved technology and communication
"And the lack of compassion," she added. "She's just a frightened young woman, Curt. What happened to her friend is devastating."
"Right," he said.
The waitress brought their food.
"I'm sure there is a sensible explanation waiting out there. Or else it's just a freak accident of some kind. We've all just got to take a deep breath and think next and go on. Doesn't this look good?" he concluded nodding at the food.
"Yes," she said, but she had lost her appetite. Eating became mechanical.
"I hope there's some vitamin C in here," Curt kidded. The untimely crudeness of the remark made her eyes glitter with steel.
"I hope there's plenty of antioxidants," she countered.
"Antioxidants? Why?" he asked, his fork poised.
"Keeps brain cells healthy," she said.
"Very funny. I can see it's going to be interesting being married to a doctor," he said, but it didn't come out sounding like something positive. She swallowed down the feeling along with her food.
Although they had come in later, Mark and Eileen left before she and Curt. On their way out, Eileen glanced back. Terri smiled at her and she smiled back.