Cook, Robin - Toxin by Cook Robin

Author:Cook, Robin
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Published: 2005-01-26T17:29:49+00:00

Tracy shook her head in disbelief of everything that had happened.

She ran her hand through her tangled hair as Marsha Baldwin patted her shoulder. On top of everything else, it was hard to believe she was being consoled by a stranger.

Tracy had responded the opposite of Kim. Instead of flying off in a blind rage, she’d found herself paralyzed, unable to even cry.

Right after Kim’s precipitous departure, Claire and Kathleen had accompanied Tracy to the ICU waiting room. Marsha had followed although at the time Tracy was unaware of her presence. Claire and Kathleen had stayed with Tracy for some time to offer their sympathies and to explain what had happened. They had spared no details in response to Tracy’s questions, including how the E. coli toxin had obviously attacked both Becky’s heart muscle as well as her pericardium, the covering around the heart.

Claire and Kathleen had offered to help get Tracy home, but Tracy had told them that she had her car and that she’d be all right to drive. It wasn’t until the two doctors had left that Tracy realized that Marsha was still there, and the two women had begun a long conversation.

“I want to thank you for staying here all this time.” Tracy said. “You’ve been a wonderful support. I hope I haven’t bored you with all these Becky stories.”

“She sounds like she was a wonderful child.”

“The best.” Tracy said wistfully. Then she took a fortifying breath and sat up straight in her chair. The two women were sitting in the far corner of the room by the window where they’d pulled two chairs close together. Outside the long shadows of a late, wintery afternoon crept ever eastward.

“You know,” Tracy said. “We’ve been talking all this time and haven’t mentioned my ex-husband, the man who’s responsible for your being here.”

Marsha nodded.

“Life is full of surprises,” Tracy said with a sigh. “Here I lose my beloved daughter who was the center of my life, and I surprise myself

by worrying about him. I just hope Becky’s passing doesn’t drive him over the edge.”

“What do you mean?” Marsha asked.

“I’m not sure,” Tracy admitted. “I guess I’m terrified at what he might do. He’s already been arrested for assaulting the manager at the restaurant where he suspects Becky got sick. I just hope he doesn’t do something really crazy and end up hurting someone or himself.”

“He does seem angry,” Marsha said.

“That’s putting it mildly,” Tracy said. “He was always such a perfectionist. It used to be his anger was directed mostly toward himself. It served as a stimulus for achievement, but that’s been changing over the last few years. It’s a big reason why we ended up divorcing.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Marsha said.

“He is basically a good man,” Tracy said. “Egotistical and self-centered, but still a very good doctor. Certainly one of the best surgeons in his field.”

“I’m not surprised,” Marsha said. “One of the things that impressed me about him was that in the middle of all this he was still thinking about other children.

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