Read Online On Call: An Original Short Story by Michael Palmer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Michael Palmer
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had other crowds he hung with when he wanted to get rowdy. Sobriety has taught me that my disease does not discriminate. Young or old, rich or poor, black, yellow, or white, anybody with a working brain is at risk for trouble. That included a guy with everything going for him—a guy like Paul Brosnan.
A few days after Paul’s arrest, Lou approached me while I was in line for lunch at the hospital cafeteria. He looked worried about something. Make that totally freaked out.
“Can we talk?” he asked. “I’ve got problems. Big ones.”
“I hope your locker’s clean.”
“Empty as a dodo bird nest. I’ve even put a new lock on it.”
“Does it have anything to do with those gouges on your hand?”
Sweet Lou looked down at the rows of scratches as if he were noticing them for the first time. “Hell no. Those are from the rats I work with. They hate me, probably because they’ve figured out what Dr. Hannah of Radcliffe has me doing to them for our research.”
“So, what, then?”
We sat down at a remote table.
“Kincaid came to see me.”
“And that made you this squirrelly?”
“He asked me to be chief resident.”
“I know. The hospital grapevine is faster than a speeding bullet.”
“Paul isn’t speaking to me anymore.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I was going to talk to you about that as soon as I figured out what I wanted to say. He’s pretty upset.”
“The rumor’s taking root that I planted the drugs in Paul’s locker because I wanted the chief resident job. Now, Paul thinks that it’s true. You’ve got to help me, Gabe. Kincaid wants my answer by the end of today. If I accept, that’s only going to make the rumors worse.”
“Just so you know, I never thought for a minute you had anything to do with the drugs.”
“I know, but thanks for saying it anyway.”
“But you do want the job?”
Lou broke eye contact. “I’m not sure how I feel about that,” he said. “But chief resident is a plum.”
I hadn’t ever known Lou to be overly ambitious, and this was like seeing the dark side of someone’s moon. “I see…,” was all I could manage.
“Over the long haul, it would help,” Lou said. “The job market out there is more competitive than ever.”
“But if you take the job, Paul is going to believe the rumors.”
“Which is why I need you to go and talk to Annabelle.”
“Annabelle? What’s your thinking there?”
“I’m thinking she’s the one spreading the rumors about me.”
I took a bite of my now cold mac and cheese and wished I had gotten the pizza. “What makes you think she’s behind this?” I asked.
Lou took several furtive glances, leaned across the table, and whispered, “We were sleeping together for a while. She wanted to keep it a secret until after the training year was over, but I couldn’t take sneaking around and ended up breaking it off a couple of months ago. I thought she was okay with it.”
“Lou,” I said, “everyone from physical therapy to housekeeping knows that you were seeing Annabelle Stern.”
“Everyone?”
“More powerful than a locomotive.”
“That’s some grapevine. Why didn’t you say anything to me?”
“I respect your privacy. Besides, I didn’t want to jinx your mojo. Annabelle Stern is quite the catch, amigo. A part of me was actually a bit jealous. You can probably guess which part.”
“So you’ll talk to her for me?” Lou asked. “I’ve tried, but all of a sudden she won’t return my calls.”
“Pardon me for saying so, but it’s a little hard to believe that you’d call off an affair with the belle of the hospital. We all think she’s perfect.”
“Go figure, but there was just something about her that didn’t work for me.”
“In bed?”
“No, that worked. Too well, in fact.”
“So what was problem?”
“Just a vibe. It’s hard to explain. There’s something about her and her secrecy that I couldn’t handle.”
“So you think she’s the kind of girl who could
A few days after Paul’s arrest, Lou approached me while I was in line for lunch at the hospital cafeteria. He looked worried about something. Make that totally freaked out.
“Can we talk?” he asked. “I’ve got problems. Big ones.”
“I hope your locker’s clean.”
“Empty as a dodo bird nest. I’ve even put a new lock on it.”
“Does it have anything to do with those gouges on your hand?”
Sweet Lou looked down at the rows of scratches as if he were noticing them for the first time. “Hell no. Those are from the rats I work with. They hate me, probably because they’ve figured out what Dr. Hannah of Radcliffe has me doing to them for our research.”
“So, what, then?”
We sat down at a remote table.
“Kincaid came to see me.”
“And that made you this squirrelly?”
“He asked me to be chief resident.”
“I know. The hospital grapevine is faster than a speeding bullet.”
“Paul isn’t speaking to me anymore.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I was going to talk to you about that as soon as I figured out what I wanted to say. He’s pretty upset.”
“The rumor’s taking root that I planted the drugs in Paul’s locker because I wanted the chief resident job. Now, Paul thinks that it’s true. You’ve got to help me, Gabe. Kincaid wants my answer by the end of today. If I accept, that’s only going to make the rumors worse.”
“Just so you know, I never thought for a minute you had anything to do with the drugs.”
“I know, but thanks for saying it anyway.”
“But you do want the job?”
Lou broke eye contact. “I’m not sure how I feel about that,” he said. “But chief resident is a plum.”
I hadn’t ever known Lou to be overly ambitious, and this was like seeing the dark side of someone’s moon. “I see…,” was all I could manage.
“Over the long haul, it would help,” Lou said. “The job market out there is more competitive than ever.”
“But if you take the job, Paul is going to believe the rumors.”
“Which is why I need you to go and talk to Annabelle.”
“Annabelle? What’s your thinking there?”
“I’m thinking she’s the one spreading the rumors about me.”
I took a bite of my now cold mac and cheese and wished I had gotten the pizza. “What makes you think she’s behind this?” I asked.
Lou took several furtive glances, leaned across the table, and whispered, “We were sleeping together for a while. She wanted to keep it a secret until after the training year was over, but I couldn’t take sneaking around and ended up breaking it off a couple of months ago. I thought she was okay with it.”
“Lou,” I said, “everyone from physical therapy to housekeeping knows that you were seeing Annabelle Stern.”
“Everyone?”
“More powerful than a locomotive.”
“That’s some grapevine. Why didn’t you say anything to me?”
“I respect your privacy. Besides, I didn’t want to jinx your mojo. Annabelle Stern is quite the catch, amigo. A part of me was actually a bit jealous. You can probably guess which part.”
“So you’ll talk to her for me?” Lou asked. “I’ve tried, but all of a sudden she won’t return my calls.”
“Pardon me for saying so, but it’s a little hard to believe that you’d call off an affair with the belle of the hospital. We all think she’s perfect.”
“Go figure, but there was just something about her that didn’t work for me.”
“In bed?”
“No, that worked. Too well, in fact.”
“So what was problem?”
“Just a vibe. It’s hard to explain. There’s something about her and her secrecy that I couldn’t handle.”
“So you think she’s the kind of girl who could
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