She buzzed her nurse. "Janice, how are we doing with those reschedulings?"
"You're clear for the next hour, Dr. Cole, " the woman said. "I haven't been able to reach Mr. Braddock or that new referral from Hanover, but I'll keep trying."
"Excellent. Listen, I'll be in the unit or on page if you need me. There are a few things I've got to get done."
She left her office and took the glass-enclosed walkway from the Physicians and Surgeons Building to the main hospital. On her way to the ICU, she passed the Carter Conference Room. Two dietary aides were busily arranging the tables for a luncheon meeting-almost certainly, she realized, the meeting of the community board and the people from Ultramed. There could be no better time to confront Frank with her concerns than right now. He would listen, and make some major concessions, or face the embarrassment and conflict of having her present those misgivings to the meeting. Frank's outer office door was closed. Suzanne opened it and stepped into the deserted reception area.
"Hello? Frank? " she called as she tapped on the inner door. "It's Suzanne Cole… Frank?"
"It's open, Suzanne." She was startled to hear his voice through the intercom on one of the desks behind her. "Come in." She opened the oor and he rose from behind his desk. "Well, now, " he said, shaking her hand. "This is a pleasant surprise. 5@ "Thanks, Frank. I'm sorry to barge in on you like this, but I need to talk with you."
He glanced at the Lucite clock. "That would be fine, Suzanne, but this just isn't the time. You see, I have a b-"
"I know what you have, Frank, " she said, taking a seat in one of the pair of oak-armed chairs facing his desk. "You have a meeting with the community board and the people from Ultramed. Before you go into that meeting, I think you should hear what I have to say."
"Oh, you do."
His buoyant expression chilled, perhaps, a degree. "Yes. But first, I wanted to find out why you fired Zachary."
"Because I always do what is in the best interests of my hospital, and getting rid of a disruptive, drunken troublemaker was clearly in the best interests of my hospital. Speaking of which, would you like a drink?"
"Frank, listen to me, please. Two years ago you helped me out of a huge jam. I'm grateful for what you did, and ever since I've been here, I've done my best to support you."
"And I appreciate it, Suze. You've been great. Tell you what, as soon as this board business is taken care of, let's you and I do dinner on Ultramed and talk about some sort of increase in your pay."
Suzanne felt her irritability quicken. "Don't patronize me, Frank. I came here to get some issues straight — to voice some concerns Zack has shared with me. And Frank, if you can't respond to those concerns, I intend to go in and raise them at that meeting."
I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Frank was thinking, rapidly sorting through his options. The votes to finalize the sale were almost certainly there now, but they were shaky. And of even greater concern were the clauses Mainwaring's corporate lawyers had forced into their contract, requiring legal reprisals or an immediate return of their investment should there be any deception-or even suggestion of deception-regarding the properties of Serenyl. No, siree, baby, he concluded, I'm afraid I can't let you do that at all. He propped his elbows on the desk and his chin on his hands. "Okay, shoot, " he said.
"That's better. Well, I have two requests I would like your word on, Frank."
"Go on."
"First of all, I want your promise to allow the medical staff to determine whether or not Zack has been disruptive enough to be fired from the hospital."
"Done, " he said. "What?"
"You have my word. As soon as possible, next Wednesday's meeting if you want, we'll present our cases to the medical staff and let them decide.
Satisfied?"
"I guess so."
"Good. Now, what's number two?"
"Well, number two has to do with some concerns Zack has raised regarding Jason and Jaek Pearl."
"Ah, yes, the infamous anesthe ic."
"You don't believe him?"
"Of course I don't believe him, Suzanne. But I am investigating his allegations."
"You are?"
Frank was hardly acting like the man Zack had described meeting with earlier that morning. And despite herself, Suzanne once again felt a spur of doubt regarding what she had been told. "Absolutely, " Frank was saying. "I have already contacted the members of the medical ethics committee, as well as Jason and Jack, and have scheduled a meeting for the first thing next week. Call them and check on that if you want. I'll be happy to have both you and my brother present if you wish."
"I wish. But what about Toby Nelms?"
"What about him?"
"Frank, if what Zack believes is true, that child might not have until the first thing next week. Is there any way you could try and reason with Jason and Jack, just in case?"
"Jason's away, but if it will make you feel better about things, you and I can meet with Jack at, say, five o'clock today, right here."
"Thank you. Would you mind if Zack comes, too?"
"If you insist. Suzanne, you're one of the best things that has ever happened to this place. I would do anything I could to keep you here and happy. But now, if you'll pardon me, there is a meeting room filling up with people. We can plan on getting together again at five o'clock."
By then, his thoughts continued, I'm sure I will have come up with some more permanent way of dealing with both you and my brother. "Frank, I appreciate all of this very much, " she said, rising. In that moment, inexplicably, she began to sense that something was wrong-very wrong.
The whole session had gone much too smoothly. There was too great a difference between the man Zack had described firing him and the one she was confronting now. "Hey, no problem, " Frank was saying, his hand extended. "I'm as committed as you are to making sure this place is the best."
Suzanne took his hand and, for just a few seconds, continued to hold it.
There was an unnatural feel to it-a coolness, a tension.
"Frank, tell me one last thing, " she said, releasing his hand but keeping her eyes firmly fixed on his. "Were you responsible for all those rumors and stories that circulated about Guy?"
Frank held her gaze unwaveringly. "Absolutely not, " he said. In that instant, Suzanne knew. The unflinching darkness in his eyes, the earnest set of his face-it was a look that had confronted her before. Many times before. It was Paul!
"Frank, you're lying to me, aren't you? " she said, "Nonsense." He forced calm into his voice, but beneath his lightweight suit, he had begun to sweat. There was no way, he reaffirmed even more strongly, that Suzanne Cole was going to that board meeting. In the back of his desk drawer was a small revolver. Carefully, Frank eased the drawer open.
Then he stopped. If Zack was right, there was an easier, far easier, means of regaining control of the situation. It was certainly worth a try. "Suzanne, sit down, please, " he said calmly, rising from his own chair. Puzzled, she did as he asked. "There's something I want you to listen to."
"Okay, but I don't see what-"
"Please."
"A-All right."
She followed him with her eyes as he crossed to his stereo, switched on the tape deck, and replaced the cassette that he had listened to earlier. After just a few notes, she recognized the music. "Have you heard this before? " Frank asked, returning to his desk and opening the drawer another inch. Suzanne did not answer. Instead, she began to stare at the large aerial photo of the hospital complex. The colors were growing more and more intense. Get up! her mind screamed. Get up and run! Her legs would not respond. "Well, have you? " he asked again. His voice was rumbling and muted, his face twisted in a strange, bemused smile. "Well, I'll be damned, " she heard him say. Suzanne rubbed at her eyes. The sounds in the room-Frank's breathing, her own, gave way to the music, which itself drifted farther and farther away. Then she heard the voice-slow and patient and reassuring. "All right, Suzanne, now I want you to count back from one hundred…"