A slight smile appeared on Daniel’s face. Suddenly he had more optimism about the outcome of treating Ashley than he had since the seizure in the operating room and more optimism than he thought possible after seeing the CAT scan. He began to think there was something of a miracle involved.
“Senator!” Daniel called after five minutes had passed and Ashley had not moved a muscle. “I don’t mean to bother you, but I think I will go to my own room.”
Ashley turned around and acted as if he was surprised to see Daniel standing there. “Why, Dr. Lowell!” he called out. “How nice to see you!” He pushed away from the balustrade and walked directly up to Daniel. Before Daniel knew what was happening, he was enveloped in a bear hug that kept his own arms pinned to his sides.
Self-consciously, Daniel allowed himself to be hugged, although he wondered if he had any choice in the matter. It was a testament to how much bigger and heavier the stocky Ashley was in comparison to Daniel’s spare and comparatively bony frame. The hugging continued beyond what Daniel thought reasonable, and just when he was about to voice impatience, Ashley let up and stepped back but kept one hand gripping Daniel’s shoulder.
“My dear, dear friend,” Ashley oozed. “I want to thank you for all you have done from the bottom of my heart. You are a tribute to your profession.”
“Well, thank you for saying so,” Daniel murmured. Feeling himself blush, he was embarrassed.
Carol reappeared from her bedroom and her presence rescued Daniel from Ashley’s clutches. “I’m on my way back to my room,” Daniel called out to her.
“You get a good rest!” Ashley ordered, as if he were the doctor. He gave Daniel a pat on the back, which was strong enough to cause Daniel to take a step forward to keep from losing his balance. Ashley then turned around to retreat back to his place at the balustrade, where he assumed the same meditative pose he’d struck earlier.
Carol accompanied Daniel to the door. “Is there anything I should know or do?” she asked.
“Not that I haven’t already told you,” Daniel said. “He seems to be doing okay, and certainly better than I expected.”
“You should be very proud.”
“Well, yeah, I suppose,” Daniel stammered. He wasn’t sure if she was referring to how Ashley was doing at the moment or sarcastically to the complication. Her tone, like her broad expressionless face, was hard to read.
“What exactly should I be watching for?” Carol asked.
“Any change in his health status or his behavior. I know you have no medical training, so you’ll just have to do the best you can. I would have preferred he stay in the clinic tonight so his vital signs could have been checked through the night, but that didn’t happen. He’s a strong-willed individual.”
“That is an understatement,” Carol said. “I’ll watch over him as I usually do. Am I supposed to wake him during the night? Anything like that?”
“No, I don’t think that is necessary, with him doing as well as he is. But if there is any problem whatsoever or you have any questions, call me, no matter what the time.”
Carol opened the door for Daniel and then closed it behind him without another word. For a moment, Daniel stared at the carved mermaids. Trained as a hard scientist, he knew psychology was far from his forte, and people like Carol Manning confirmed it. She confused him. One minute she seemed the perfect, dedicated assistant; the next she seemed as if she was mad about her subservient role. Daniel sighed. At least it wasn’t his problem, provided she watched the senator through the night.
On the short walk to the suite he shared with Stephanie, Daniel’s attention switched back to the shocking improvement in Ashley’s Parkinson’s. He was mystified on many counts but enormously pleased, and he couldn’t wait to share the news with Stephanie. He opened the door and was surprised not to see her, especially when she wasn’t in the bedroom either. Then he heard the shower going.
When Daniel entered the bathroom, he found himself enveloped in a fog as if Stephanie had been in there for a half hour. He put the toilet seat down and sat. With his line of sight at a lower level, he could now make out Stephanie’s form behind the frosted and fogged shower door. It appeared as if she weren’t moving beneath the full force of the spray.
“Are you all right in there?” Daniel yelled out.
“I’m better,” Stephanie answered.
“Better?” Daniel questioned silently. He had no idea what she meant, although it reminded him that she had been rather silent all afternoon. It also reminded him of her seemingly insensitive response to Carol’s offer to ride with her, although he admitted if the situation had been reversed, he would have responded similarly. The difference was, in contrast to him, Stephanie ordinarily concerned herself about other people’s feelings. Daniel didn’t consider himself base or even rude, but rather he just couldn’t be bothered. People had to understand that there were too many more important things for him to think about than social niceties.
Daniel debated with himself whether or not to go out to the minibar to get something to drink. In many ways, it had been one of the most stressful days of his life. Ultimately, he decided to stay put. He was eager to tell Stephanie about Ashley; the drink could wait. But Stephanie didn’t budge.
“Hey, in there!” Daniel yelled at length. “Are you coming out or what?”
Stephanie cracked open the door, and steam billowed out. “I’m sorry. Are you waiting to get in here?”
Daniel waved the vapor away from his face. The bathroom had become a Turkish bath. “No, I’m waiting to talk to you.”
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t wait. I’m not sure I’m up to talking much.”
Daniel felt a wave of irritation course through him. Stephanie’s response was not what he wanted to hear. With the day’s events, he needed and deserved a bit of support, which he certainly did not believe was asking too much. Abruptly, he stood up, left the bathroom, and slammed the door. While he got himself a cold beer, he brooded. He didn’t need any more aggravation. He plopped himself down on the couch and concentrated on sipping his beer. By the time Stephanie appeared, wrapped in a towel, he had recovered.
“I can tell by the way you slammed the door you’re mad,” Stephanie said in a calm voice. She was standing in the doorway to the bedroom. “I just want to let you know I’m emotionally and physically exhausted. I need some sleep. We did wake up at five this morning to make sure everything was ready.”
“I’m tired too,” Daniel said. “I just wanted to tell you that Ashley is doing unbelievably. Most of his Parkinson’s symptoms have already mysteriously improved.”
“That’s nice,” Stephanie said. “Unfortunately, it does not alter the fact that the implantation went awry.”
“Maybe it didn’t go awry!” Daniel responded. “I’m telling you that you will be amazed. He’s a different man.”
“He certainly is a different man. We’ve inadvertently crammed a horde of aberrant dopamine-producing cells someplace into his temporal lobe. An experienced neurosurgeon strongly believes he’ll be saddled with the hell of temporal lobe epilepsy. For Ashley, that will be even worse than the Parkinsonism.”
“But he’s not had a seizure since the one in the OR. I’m telling you, he’s is doing marvelously.”
“He’s not had a seizure yet.”
“If he has a problem, we can deal with it the way I suggested to Dr. Nawaz.”
“You mean with the cytotoxic agent attached to the monoclonal antibody?”
“Exactly.”
“You can do that if you are so inclined and if you can talk Ashley into subjecting himself to such a foolhardy experiment, but it is not going to be ‘we.’ I’ll have no part of it. We haven’t even tried it in cell culture, much less animals, and as such, it is a quantum leap more unethical than what we have already done.”