“Any idea what might be wrong? How do you feel?” their family doctor asked her pleasantly. He was a middle-aged man with an intelligent face and an easy disposition. He knew nothing of Grace's past, or her dislike for doctors.
“I feel fine. I'm just tired, and Charles is hysterical.” She smiled.
“He's right to be concerned. Anything else except fatigue?” She thought about it and shrugged.
“Nothing much. A little dizziness, some headaches.” She made light of it, but the truth was she had been very dizzy more than once lately, and several times she had been sick to her stomach. She thought it was nervous tension over their fund drive. “I've been pretty busy.”
“Maybe you need some time off.” He smiled. He gave her some vitamins, checked her blood count and it was fine. He didn't want to run any serious tests. She was obviously young and healthy, and her blood pressure was low, which accounted for the dizziness and headaches. “Eat lots of red meat,” he advised, “and eat your spinach.” He said to say hello to Charles, and she called from the phone outside to tell Charles she was fine. And then feeling better than she had in a while, she walked home in the brisk January air. It was cold and crisp and sunny, and she felt wonderful and strong as she walked along, feeling stupid for even having gone to see the doctor. She smiled thinking of what good care Charles took of her and how lucky she was, as she turned the corner and walked toward their town house. She felt a little light-headed as she did, but it was no worse than it had been before, until she reached their front door, and she suddenly found she was so dizzy, she could hardly stand. She reached out to steady herself, and found herself clutching an elderly man who stared at her strangely. She looked at him as though she didn't see him at all, and then she took two steps toward her house, said something unintelligible, and collapsed, unconscious, to the sidewalk.
Chapter 14
When Grace came to on the street outside their house, there were three people standing over her, and two policemen. The old man she had almost pulled down with her had gone to a phone booth and dialed 911, but she was conscious again by the time they came, and she was sitting on the sidewalk. She was embarrassed more than hurt, and still too dizzy to get up.
“What happened here?” the first policeman asked amiably. He was a big friendly man, and he had keen eyes as he took in the situation. She wasn't drunk or on drugs, from what he could see, and she was very pretty and well dressed. “Would you like us to call an ambulance for you? Or your doctor?”
“No, really, I'm fine,” she said, getting up. “I don't know what happened. I just got light-headed.” She had skipped breakfast that day, but she'd been feeling fine.
“You really should go to a doctor, ma'am. We'll be happy to take you to New York Hospital. It's straight down the street here,” he said kindly.
“Really. I'm fine. I live right here.” She pointed at the town house only a few feet away from them. She had almost made it. And she thanked the old man and apologized for almost knocking him down. He patted her hand and told her to have a nap and eat a good lunch, and then the policemen escorted her into her house, and looked around at the attractive surroundings.
“Do you want us to call anyone? Your husband? A friend? A neighbor?”
“No … I …” The phone interrupted them, and she picked it up as they stood in the hallway. It was Charles.
“What did he say?”
“I'm fine,” she said sheepishly, except for the fact that she had just keeled over on the sidewalk.
“Do you want us to stay for a few minutes?” the policeman in charge asked and she shook her head.
“Who was that? Is someone there?” She was afraid to tell him what had happened.
“It's nothing, I just … the doctor said I'm in great shape. And …”
“Who was that talking to you?” He had a sixth sense about her, and he knew something was wrong as he listened.
“It's a policeman, Charles,” she sighed, feeling foolish, but also feeling sick again, and the policeman watched her turn green and then swoon again as he caught her with one arm. She had no idea what was happening, but she felt awful. She actually felt too sick to talk to him, as she set down the phone, and sat down on the floor and put her head down between her knees. One of the policemen went to get a glass of water for her, and the other picked up the phone where she'd left it on the floor beside her.
“Hello? Hello? What's going on there?” Charles was frantic.
“This is Officer Mason. Who is this?” he said calmly, as Grace looked up at him in helpless mortification.
“My name is Charles Mackenzie and that's my wife there with you. What's wrong?”
“She's fine, sir. She had a little problem … she passed out just outside your house. We brought her inside, and I think she's feeling a little woozy again. Probably stomach flu, there's a lot of it going around.”
“Is she all right?” Charles looked ghastly, as he stood up and grabbed his coat while he was still talking to the officer at his house.
“I think she's fine. She didn't want to go to the hospital. We asked her.”
“Never mind that. Can you take her to Lenox Hill?”
“We'd be glad to.”
“I'll meet you there in ten minutes.”
The policeman looked down at her with a smile after he hung up. “Your husband wants us to take you to Lenox Hill, Mrs. Mackenzie.”
“I don't want to go.” She sounded like a child and he smiled at her.
“He was pretty definite about it. He's going to meet you there.”
“I'm okay. Really.”
“I'm sure you are. But it doesn't hurt to get it checked out. There's a lot of nasty bugs around. A woman passed out at Bloomingdale's yesterday with that Hong Kong flu. You been sick long?” he asked while he helped her toward the door as they chatted, and his partner joined them.
“Really, I'm fine,” she said, as the police locked her door and put her in the squad car. And then suddenly she realized what it must have looked like, as though she were being arrested. It would have seemed funny to her except that suddenly it reminded her of the night she had killed her father, and by the time they got to Lenox Hill, she was having an asthma attack, the first she'd had in two years. And she wasn't even carrying her inhaler. She had gotten so confident, she left it home most of the time now.
They took her inside, and she explained to the nurse in the emergency room about her asthma, and they were quick to bring her an inhaler. But by the time Charles arrived, she was still deathly pale from the asthma and the medication, and her hands were shaking.
“What, happened?” He looked horrified, and she spoke in an undertone.
“The police car made me nervous.”
“That's why you fainted?” He looked confused by what was happening, and she shook her head.
“That's why I have asthma.”
“But why did you faint?” ‘I don't know that.’
The policemen left them then, and it was another hour before they could be seen by one of the emergency room doctors. And she was much better by then, her breathing was almost normal, and she was no longer dizzy. He had brought her some chicken soup from a machine, and some candy and a sandwich. Her appetite was good, she explained to the doctor who examined her.
“Excellent,” Charles confirmed.
The doctor checked her over carefully, and then asked a pointed question. He said it was probably the flu, but he had one other idea. “Gould you be pregnant?”
“I don't think so.” She hadn't used birth control since Abby was born, and she was going to be six in July. And Grace had never gotten pregnant again. “I doubt it”