“They are narrow in comparison to this open space in the middle,” Lynn said. The area she was pointing to was a large rectangle, and it occupied the center of the building. Around its entire periphery was a hallway that could be reached from the cluster rooms.
George looked at the space on the floor plan but appeared confused. He turned the plans around again, but there was nothing to read. It was just a blank space. He then shook his head and said: “I don’t know for sure what it is. Maybe it is a space open above and below. Let’s check the fourth floor.” George flipped the page over. “I was right. On the fourth floor it is definitely a room, which is open above, apparently all the way to the roof. That is a hell of a room. It’s got a three-story ceiling.”
Lynn studied the space that now was labeled RECREATION, and a door at each end. Otherwise, the fourth floor looked like the fifth. “What do you think it is?”
George scratched his bald pate, appearing as confused as ever. “If I had to guess, I’d say a gym! If I had to be more specific, I’d say a basketball gym. I know that sounds ridiculous, but the dimensions are about right. But I don’t know what all the wiring is in the floor.”
“There can’t be a gym in a hospital for comatose people,” Lynn said.
“Maybe it’s for the staff. You know, to let off a little steam. You said it is hard to take care of these vegetative patients.”
“I suppose it is possible,” Lynn said. “Let’s see what’s on the other floors.” She flipped a page back to see the third floor. It was just like the fifth floor, with the center space a bank. Same with the second floor. Then the first floor was a mirror image of the fourth, with the center space labeled RECREATION, and with the same wiring in the floor. “Two gyms?” Lynn said in disbelief.
“One for the men and one for the women,” George said with a laugh that suggested he wasn’t serious. “Why are you looking at plans? Are you going to visit?”
“I already have,” Lynn said. She told George of the limited visit given to her and her class. “Unfortunately all we saw was a tiny bit of the fifth floor. Needless to say, we have been curious ever since. That’s why I wanted to look at the plans.”
“Do you want to see anything more in this file?” George said, motioning to the stack.
“Do you think any of the other plans might give us a hint as to what the gym area really might be?”
“Don’t know!” George said. He pulled out the electrical plans and quickly flipped through them. “I don’t have any better idea about the gym, but I can tell you that the whole place must be highly automated. Seems to me there is enough power to run a manufacturing plant.” He tossed aside the electrical plans and pulled out plumbing. After he scanned them he remarked, “Wow! The place also uses a lot of water. The specified intake pipes are huge. Maybe those big rooms aren’t gyms but swimming pools. Just kidding!” Next he looked at the HVAC details. He was again impressed. “This is one interesting hospital, young lady. Look at this!”
George spun around the plans so that Lynn could read the labels.
“What am I looking at?” The plans looked superficially like the floor plans but were overlaid with all sorts of dotted lines, symbols, and labels similar to those on the electrical plans. She had to lean over to read some of the labels, which said things like FLOOR LEVEL RETURN or MAIN INDUCTION.
“This is an impressive HVAC system, which stands for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning,” George said. “Look at the size of these ducts, particularly from the gyms.” He pointed with a stubby index finger. Lynn wasn’t sure what he was pointing to and didn’t really care, but she didn’t want to appear disinterested since he was being so helpful. She was appreciative that he didn’t just hand her the file folder and leave her to her own devices.
“They can probably change the air in those gyms at will,” George said. “I worked for an air-conditioning company before I snared this city job. Much better benefits. You have no idea.”
“Why would they want to change the air in the gyms so quickly?” Lynn asked.
George shrugged his shoulders. “It’s pretty typical for well-designed gyms.”
“So you are saying that by looking at these HVAC plans you think these large rooms really are gyms.”
“I don’t know what I’m saying,” George confessed. “But I do see that the HVAC system is actually tied in with the system in the hospital proper. That’s where the cooling towers are and all the elaborate filter systems hospitals have to have. I bet that saved a bundle.”
“Well, thank you very much,” Lynn said. She felt that she had gotten the basics of what she needed. “You have really been very helpful.”
“It’s not every day that I get to help a good-looking medical student,” George said with a wink.
Good grief, Lynn thought but didn’t say. George was now ruining it by being patronizing. She hoped to hell he wasn’t going to ask her out for a drink.
“Would you like any copies of these plans?” George added, totally unaware of his faux pas.
“Is that possible?” Lynn asked. The idea had not occurred to her.
“Of course it is possible,” George said. “There is a small charge for the copier, but I could run it off for you right away, before lunch.”
“That would be terrific,” Lynn said.
“What plans would you like besides the floor plans?”
Quickly Lynn took another quick glance at the electrical, plumbing, and HVAC plans. She pulled the HVAC ones free of the others. “Maybe these,” she said. All at once a contingency plan sprang into her mind. She didn’t know if she was going to be able to get into the Shapiro, or exactly what she would find, but she was enough of a realist to know the risks, and the idea of having some sort of backup appealed to her.
“I’ll be right back,” George said with another wink.
This time Lynn didn’t mind.
40.
Wednesday, April 8, 12:00 P.M.
The door to the Clinical Engineering Department opened, and Misha Zotov looked up. He always insisted on occupying the workbench closest to the entrance. It gave him an opportunity to monitor who and what came in and out. Although Fyodor Rozovsky was nominally the department head, Misha was responsible for its day-to-day operations, making sure all the computer-driven hospital equipment was running smoothly. Misha knew that Fyodor’s attention was often elsewhere, since he also was the behind-the-scenes coordinator of hospital security.
Misha put down his soldering iron when he saw who had entered. It was Darko Lebedev, who appeared mildly indisposed, with red-rimmed eyes. He was dressed as usual in a hospital security uniform, as he had been advised to wear on the rare occasions he came calling. Misha made a point of staring at his watch for a beat before speaking in Russian: “Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to contact you all fucking morning.”
Darko lowered himself onto a workbench stool next to Misha, wincing, as if he had a headache or a sore back. Like Misha, he spoke in Russian. “It was a late night and a lot of vodka at the Vendue. Leonid and I met up with those Russian babes you people brought over to keep tabs on the two male anesthesiologists. They have been complaining about their charges, claiming they are boring boneheads. Leonid and I felt it was our patriotic duty to show them a proper good time, and a good time it was.”
“According to Sergei Polushin you and Leonid are supposed to be available twenty-four/seven. It is not that we have been overworking you two.”
“I’m here now,” Darko said sardonically. Confident of his reputation and of the demand for his services, he was not about to be intimidated by the likes of Misha. Darko considered the guy a mere apparatchik programmer who sucked up to Fyodor.