Read Online Devil's Waltz by Jonathan Kellerman - Free Book Online Page A

me. “Ready if you are, Doctor.”
     
     
    We walked through the teak doors into the hustle of Five East. A child being wheeled somewhere was crying, a little boy hooked to an I.V. and turbaned with bandages. Chip took it in, frowning but not talking.
    As we approached the elevators he shook his head and said, “Good old Vicki. What a shameless brownnoser. But she got kind of uppity with you back there, didn’t she?”
    “I’m not her favorite person.”
    “Why?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Ever have any hassles with her before?”
    “Nope. Never met her before.”
    He shook his head. “Well, I’m sorry for you, but she seems to be taking really good care of Cassie. And Cindy likes her. I think she reminds Cindy of her aunt — she had an aunt who raised her. Also a nurse, real tough egg.”
    After we passed a gaggle of dazed-looking medical students, he said, “It’s probably territorial — Vicki’s reaction to you. Some kind of turf battle, wouldn’t you say?”
    “Could be.”
    “I notice a lot of that kind of thing around here. Possessiveness over patients. As if they’re commodities.”
    “Have you experienced that personally?”
    “Oh, sure. Plus, our situation heightens the tension. People think that we’re worth kissing up to, because we’ve got some sort of direct line to the power structure. I assume you know who my dad is.”
    I nodded.
    He said, “It rubs me the wrong way, being treated differently. I worry about it leading to substandard care for Cassie.”
    “In what way?”
    “I don’t know, nothing specific — I guess I’m just not comfortable with being an exception. I don’t want anyone missing something important because they hung back or broke routine out of fear of offending our family. Not that Dr. Eves isn’t great — I have nothing but respect for her. It’s more the whole system — a feeling I get when I’m here.”
    He slowed his pace. “Maybe I’m just talking through my hat. The frustration. Cassie’s been sick with one thing or another for virtually her whole life and no one’s figured out what’s wrong yet, and we also… What I’m saying is that this hospital’s a highly formalized structure and whenever the rules change in a formalized structure, you run the risk of structural cracks. That’s my field of interest: Formal Org — Formal Organizations. And let me tell you, this is some organization.”
    We reached the elevators. He punched the button and said, “I hope you can help Cassie with the shots — she’s gone through an absolute nightmare. Cindy, too. She’s a fantastic mother, but with this kind of thing, self-doubts are inevitable.”
    “Is she blaming herself?” I said.
    “Sometimes. Even though it’s totally unjustified. I try to tell her, but…”
    He shook his head and put his hands together. The knuckles were white. Reaching up, he rotated his earring.
    “The strain on her’s been incredible.”
    “Must be rough on you, too,” I said.
    “It hasn’t been fun, that’s for sure. But the worst of it falls on Cindy. To be honest, we’ve got your basic, traditional, sex role-stereotyped marriage — I work; she takes care of things at home. It’s by mutual choice — what
Cindy
really wanted. I’m involved at home to some extent — probably not as much as I should be — but child rearing’s really Cindy’s domain. God knows she’s a hell of a lot better at it than I am. So when something goes wrong in that sphere, she takes all the responsibility on her shoulders.”
    He stroked his beard and shook his head. “Now,
that
was an impressive bit of defensive pedantry, wasn’t it? Yes, sure, it’s been
damned
rough on me. Seeing someone you love… I assume you know about Chad — our first baby?”
    I nodded.
    “We hit
bottom
with that, Dr. Delaware. There’s just no way to…” Closing his eyes, he shook his head again. Hard, as if trying to dislodge mental burrs.
    “Let’s just say it wasn’t anything I’d wish on