"We eventually want to buy that facility," he said.
"I assumed as much," Kelley said. "And that's why I wanted to come to talk with you directly."
Mr. Mitchell slipped a gold cigarette case from his vest pocket and took out a cigarette. He tapped it thoughtfully against the case's flat front surface. "There's a lot of profit to be squeezed out of these rural hospitals," Mitchell said. "But it takes careful management."
"I couldn't agree more," Kelley said.
"What is it you wanted to talk about?" Mr. Mitchell asked.
"Two issues," Kelley said. "The first involves a bonus program the hospital wants to initiate similar to our own with our hospitals. They want to cut down on hospitalization."
"And what's the other?" Mitchell asked. He blew smoke up toward the ceiling of the car.
"One of our CMV physicians has begun acting bizarrely in response to post-operative complications in his patients," Kelley said. "He's saying things like he's not to blame and there's something wrong with the hospital."
"Does he have a psychiatric history?" Mr. Mitchell asked.
"Not that we can determine," Kelley said.
"Regarding the first issue, let them have their bonus program. At this point it doesn't matter about their balance sheet."
"What about the doctor?" Kelley asked.
"Obviously you'll have to do something," Mitchell said. "We can't let that type of behavior go on."
"Any suggestions?" Kelley asked.
"Do what you need to do," Mitchell said. "I'll leave the details up to you. Part of the skill of running a large organization like ours is knowing when to delegate responsibility. This is one of those times."
"Thank you, Mr. Mitchell," Kelley said. He was pleased. It was obvious to him that he was being given a vote of confidence.
Elated, Kelley climbed out of the limousine and got back into his Ferrari. As he was pulling out of the airport he caught a glimpse of Mitchell walking from his car to the CMV jet.
"Someday," Kelley vowed, "it'll be me using that plane."
7
Both the internal medicine department and the pathology department had small, informal ceremonies for that year's group of graduates, marking the end of their residencies. After collecting their diplomas, David and Angela passed up the parties scheduled for that afternoon and hurried home. This was the day they would leave Boston for their new home and careers in Bartlet, Vermont.
"Are you excited?" David asked Nikki.
"I'm excited to see Rusty," Nikki announced.
They'd rented a U-Haul truck to help make the move. It took quite a few trips up and down the stairs to get their possessions in the two vehicles. Once they were finally packed, Angela got in their station wagon and David got in the U-Haul. For the first half of the trip, Nikki elected to ride with her dad.
David used the time to talk with Nikki about starting at a new school and ask her if she'd miss her friends.
"Some of them I'll miss," Nikki said, "but others I won't. Anyway, I think I'll cope."
David smiled, promising himself that he would remember to tell Angela about Nikki's precocious comment.
Just south of the New Hampshire border, they stopped for lunch. Eager to arrive at their new home, they ate quickly.
"I feel wonderful about leaving the frantic, crime-filled city behind," Angela said as they left the restaurant and approached their vehicles. "At this point I don't care if I ever go back."
"I don't know," David joked. "I'm going to miss hearing sirens, gunshots, breaking glass, and cries for help. Country life is going to be so boring."
Both Nikki and Angela pummeled him in mock anger.
For the rest of the trip Nikki joined Angela in the station wagon.
As they drove north the weather improved. In Boston it had been hot, muggy, and hazy. By the time they crossed into Vermont it was still warm but clear and much less humid.
Bartlet appeared serene in the early summer heat. Flower-filled window boxes adorned almost every sill. Slowing down, the Wilsons' two-vehicle caravan crept through the lazy town. Few people were on the streets. It was as if everyone were napping.
"Can we stop and get Rusty?" Nikki asked as they neared Staley's Hardware Store.
"Let's get a bit settled first," Angela said. "We'll have to build something to keep him in until he gets housebroken."
David and Angela pulled into their driveway and parked side by side. Now that the house was officially theirs they felt even more awed than they had on their initial visit.
David climbed out of the truck, his eyes glued to the house. "The place is lovely," he said. "But it looks like it needs more attention than I realized."
Angela walked over to David and followed his line of sight. Some of the decorative dentil work had fallen from the cornice. "I'm not worried," she said. "That's why I married someone who is handy around the house."
David laughed. "I can see it'll take some effort to make a believer out of you."
"I'll try to keep an open mind," she teased.
With a key they had been sent in the mail, they opened the front door and stepped inside. It looked very different without furniture. When they'd seen it before it had been filled with the Hodgeses' belongings.
"It has a dance hail feel," David said.
"There's even an echo," Nikki said. She yelled "Hello" and the word reverberated.
"That's when you know you've arrived at your proper station in life," David said, affecting an English accent. "When your house has an echo."
The Wilsons slowly passed through the foyer. Now that there were no rugs, their heels clicked on the wide wooden flooring. They had forgotten their new home's enormity, especially in contrast to their Boston apartment. Aside from a few pieces of furniture they'd agreed Clara would leave behind-a stool, a kitchen table-the place was bare.
In the center hall just before the grand staircase an imposing chandelier hung. There was a library and dining room to the left and a huge living room to the right. A central hall led to a spacious country kitchen which stretched across the back of the house. Beyond the kitchen was the two-story clapboard addition that connected the house to the barn. It had a mud room, several storerooms, and a back staircase leading up to the second level.
Returning to the grand staircase, the Wilsons climbed up to the second story. There were two bedrooms with connecting baths on each side and a master suite over the kitchen area.
Opening a door off the central hallway next to the master suite, they climbed a narrow staircase up to the third level where there were four unheated rooms.
"Plenty of storage," David quipped.
"Which room will be my bedroom?" Nikki asked.
"Whatever room you want," Angela said.
"I want the room facing the frog pond," she said.
They went down to the second level and walked into the room Nikki wanted. They discussed where her furniture would go, including the desk she did not yet own.
"Okay, you guys," Angela commanded. "Enough procrastination. Time to unload."
David gave her a military salute.
Returning to the vehicles, they began to bring their belongings into the house and put them into the appropriate rooms. The couch, the bedding, and the heavy boxes of books made it quite a struggle. When they were finished David and Angela stood beneath the archway leading into the living room.
"It would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic," Angela said. The rug that had been almost wall to wall in their apartment seemed little better than a doormat in the middle of the expansive room. Their threadbare couch, two armchairs, and coffee table looked like they had been rescued from a garage sale.
"Understated elegance," David said. "Minimalist decor. If it were in Architectural Digest, everyone would be trying to imitate it."