“Okay,” he said. He leaned forward and filled her glass first with the effervescent wine and then his. Putting down the bottle, he lifted Aria’s glass and extended it to her, then picked up his own. “Cheers, and once again, great job!”
Aria took the glass, clinked it with his that he had outstretched, and took a sip.
Carl hesitated, watching her. “What do you think?” he said. “How is it?”
“It’s all right,” she said. Actually, it was tasty, and it was a pleasant shade of pink, to boot.
“To me it is the best one I have ever had,” Carl said. “And I’ve had a lot of prosecco because I’m not a champagne fan. Even the best champagne doesn’t do much for me, whereas a nice prosecco is like a bit of summer in a bottle.”
Aria took another drink, with more volume. After the marked ups and downs of the day, it was a pleasure to feel the wine’s effervescence in her mouth along with its subtle taste. Whether it was more suggestion or reality, it did seem to have more flavor than the prosecco she’d had at Nobu, making her wonder if it was because it was rosé or because she was in a different frame of mind. When she’d been at the bar in Nobu, she’d just had two disheartening conversations, first with Madison Bryant and then with Evelyn Mabry. Both of those talks had made her feel that she’d already hit up against a dead-end of finding the fetus’s father. In contrast, she was now enjoying the high of success.
“Don’t hold back,” he said. “We have a whole bottle.” He was already pouring himself more. He then gestured toward Aria with it, and she allowed him to top off her glass.
“How did you come up with the clever idea of using genetic genealogy to find the father?” Carl asked.
“It was Madison Bryant’s idea,” she admitted. “It wouldn’t have occurred to me because I thought you had to have an individual’s DNA if the process was going to help find someone.”
“That was my understanding, too,” Carl said. “That’s interesting you got to talk with Madison Bryant. Was that after you and I spoke when she was in the Bellevue ICU?”
“No, it was the night before,” Aria said. She took yet another healthy drink while settling back comfortably into the club chair as if it were enveloping her. The wine was providing her with a wonderfully relaxing sensation, as if there was a sudden increase in the force of gravity. All at once the idea of going to bed sounded immensely appealing.
“That means you saw Madison Bryant after you and I talked in my office,” he said. “My, my, you were motivated, which begs the question...”
Once again Aria took an ample drink of her pleasantly bubbly wine, and as she swallowed, she felt a new sensation. Suddenly a dizziness spread through her that wasn’t so pleasant. At the same time Carl’s words seemed to have no meaning. She could see he was still speaking, and she heard the words, but they made no sense. Then her vision blurred. Blinking repeatedly in an effort to clear her vision, she put her glass down on the coffee table and in a mounting panic, tried to stand.
“What’s the matter?” he questioned. He moved to the edge of the couch and reached toward her with his hand. He was afraid she was about to pitch forward and fall out of the chair.
“I need...” she mumbled, but she didn’t finish her sentence. In slow motion, she sagged to the side and would have tumbled from the chair had Carl not stood up and eased her back against the rear cushion. Then he got out a pair of surgical gloves and put them on.
Chapter 34
May 11th
5:45 A.M.
Jack had been awake for almost an hour but hadn’t moved while he worried about the coming day. The moment it was apparent that the sun had risen, he slipped out of the bed, being careful to avoid allowing the mattress to spring back suddenly into position after being relieved of his muscular 168 pounds. He’d made that mistake before, almost causing Laurie to be catapulted out on her side. On this particular morning, Jack certainly did not want to wake her in hopes that she could sleep as long as possible. With the anticipation of general anesthesia sometime after noon, she wouldn’t be able to eat or drink anything but water.
For a few moments he merely looked at her. She was on her side, facing him with her head framed by her rich auburn hair. He knew she’d taken a zolpidem sleeping pill the night before, and on the rare occasions she did, she was able to sleep a surprisingly long time. He hoped the biopsy would prove to be negative and her operation would go smoothly. He still wished it was he who was having the surgery because worrying about Laurie was going to make it hard to get through the day. Knowing himself, he knew that the best way was to bury himself in work.
Going into the bathroom, he shaved quickly and then showered even more quickly. Because of the way they had designed the master suite, he could go from the bathroom into what they called the dressing room without going back into the bedroom.
Once he was dressed, he first looked in on Emma. She was fast asleep and appeared as adorable as ever. He wasn’t worried about her for today because for her it was going to be like any other day, with no comprehension her mother’s life would be in jeopardy. Unfortunately, the same could not be said about JJ, with whom he and Laurie had had a talk the night before. There was no doubt JJ understood the situation. It was also clear that the boy chose to put on a face that said that he wasn’t concerned and didn’t care. But Jack knew differently as he was sensitive enough about his son to recognize the discrepancy between his outward behavior and his inner persona.
Leaving Emma’s room, Jack went into JJ’s. He had to smile when he saw how twisted up JJ was in his bedsheets even though his face at the moment was the picture of total repose. Jack could clearly remember himself in the fourth grade and how rambunctious he’d been. It made him wonder if he were in JJ’s school and acted as he had in his grammar school, would they also be asking to have him psychologically evaluated. Of course, there was no answer to such a question, yet Jack couldn’t help but ponder it. He had acclimated to the idea of having JJ evaluated, going along with Laurie’s idea that the more they knew about him, the better parents they could be. At the same time, Jack felt as strongly as he did before about the current rampant overdiagnosis of ADHD and the folly of putting so many children, particularly young boys, on stimulants. From his perspective, if there was going to be such a recommendation for JJ, there would have to be one hell of a good argument, and it would have to come from multiple sources.
Although JJ’s alarm wasn’t due to wake him up for another fifteen minutes or so, Jack put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and gave it a gentle jostle. He had to do it again several times with increasing force before the boy’s eyes opened. When he saw Jack, he sat up.
“What time is it?” he asked nervously, apparently thinking he’d overslept.
“It’s still early,” Jack said, speaking quietly. “Everyone is still asleep. I just wanted to talk with you before I go off to work.”
“What about?”
“About Mom’s surgery today,” he said. “Have you thought about it since you, Mom, and I discussed it last night?”
“Yeah, a little.”
“How do you feel about it?”
“What do you mean?” JJ said.
“Does it scare you? Are you worried that she will be in the hospital for a few days? Anything like that?”
“I don’t know, maybe a little. Can I stay home from school today?”