Devil's Waltz: An Alex Delaware Novel by Jonathan Kellerman

Author:Jonathan Kellerman [Kellerman, Jonathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Suspense, Fiction, General, Mystery & Detective, Thrillers
ISBN: 9780345463791
Amazon: B000FBF7XE
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Published: 2003-05-20T05:00:00+00:00

18

Can I go now?” she said. “I’d like to wash my face.”

Unable to think of a reason to keep her there, I said, “Sure.”

She righted her cap. “Listen, I don’t need any more grief, okay? The main thing is for Cassie to get better. Not that …” She colored and began walking to the door.

“Not that I can do any good in that department?” I said.

“I meant, not that it’s gonna be easy. If you’re the one ends up diagnosing her, hats off to you.”

“What do you think about the fact that the doctors can’t find anything?”

Her hand rested on the doorknob. “Doctors can’t find lots of things. If patients knew how much guessing goes on, they’d …” She stopped. “I keep on, I’m gonna get myself in trouble again.”

“Why are you so certain it’s organic?”

“Because what else could it be? These aren’t abusers. Cindy’s one of the best mothers I’ve ever seen, and Dr. Jones is a real gentleman. And despite who they are, you’d never know it, because they don’t lord it over anyone, okay? That’s real class, far as I’m concerned. Go out and see for yourself—they love that little girl. It’s just a matter of time.”

“Before what?”

“Before someone figures out what’s wrong. I’ve seen it lots of times. Doctors can’t figure things out so they call it psychosomatic. Then poof, all of a sudden someone finds something that hasn’t been looked for before and you’ve got yourself a new disease. They call that medical progress.”

“What do you call it?”

She stared at me. “I call it progress too.”

She walked away and I stayed behind, thinking. I’d gotten her to talk but had I learned anything?

My thoughts shifted to the cruel gift her son had given her. Pure spite? Or had he been telling her something?

Had she told me about it as part of a game? Told me just what she wanted me to know?

I stayed with it a while and came up with nothing. Cleared my head and walked to 505W.

Cassie sat propped up in bed, wearing red floral pajamas with white collar and cuffs. Her cheeks were raspberry-pink and her hair was gathered in a topknot tied with a white bow. The I.V. had been disconnected and it stood in the corner, like a metal scarecrow. Depleted glucose bags hung from the arms. The only evidence her veins had been punctured was a small round Band-Aid atop one hand and the yellow Betadine stain below it. Her eyes glistened as they followed me.

Cindy sat near her on the bed, spoon-feeding her cereal. She wore a SAVE THE OCEANS T-shirt over a denim skirt and sandals. Dolphins cavorted across her bustline. She and Cassie looked more similar than ever.

As I approached, Cassie opened a mouth full of cereal-mush. A stray speck dotted her upper lip.

Cindy picked it off. “Swallow, honey. Hi, Dr. Delaware. We didn’t expect to see you today.”

I put my briefcase down and sat on the foot of the bed. Cassie looked confused but not fearful.

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