Error in Diagnosis by Gary Birken

Author:Gary Birken [Birken, M.D., Gary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gary Birken

Chapter 45

Twenty minutes after they had arrived at Andrews, Jack and Madison were airborne on their way back to West Palm Beach. The much smaller military jet had few of the comforts of Air Force One but it didn’t matter. Both of them were overwhelmed by their encounter with the president and hardly in the mood to discuss it any further.

Madison finished the last sip of her sparkling water and then asked, “How long ago was your divorce?”

“I don’t recall mentioning I’ve ever been divorced.” She looked at him as if he were trying to persuade her the world was flat. He shrugged and said, “Nine months ago.”

“Any children?”

“I have a five-year-old daughter.”

“What’s her name?”

“Annis.”

“Pretty. Do you see her often?”

“Four times.”

“A week or a month?” she asked.

“Since the divorce. My ex-wife’s French. She had an excellent attorney who persuaded the judge to allow her to move back to Paris. So, since our divorce, I’ve made two trips to France, and twice, Nicole’s brought Annis to New York.”

“Which one of you wanted the divorce?”

“I’d say we both did.”

“That’s crap. It’s always one person who wants out more than the other. Let me guess. You were never home and when you were, you had your head glued to your computer screen writing a paper or another chapter for the latest textbook in neurology. Your wife was going through life alone, you were insensitive to her needs and you had long forgotten how to enjoy your marriage.”

“That…and Nicole was sleeping with her boss.”

Madison chuckled but quickly covered her mouth. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh. It was just the way you said it. How did you find out?”

With a slight head shake, he asked, “Are you sure you want to hear this?”

“Pretty sure.”

“We used to eat out a lot, but every Thursday we would stay home and order pizza. Well, I had just finished my third slice and was working on my second glass of Chianti when Nicole took my glass from me and set it down. I thought she was going to tell me how much she adored me but, instead, she used the tender moment to inform me she had never really loved me the way a married person should. Before I could get a rational explanation, she confessed she’d been horribly lonely for a long time and that she was in love with someone else.” He spun the ice cubes in the bottom of his empty glass before going on. “She then told me the best thing for the both of us would be a divorce. The whole thing was very well prepared and took all of two minutes.”

“You really had no clue how unhappy she was?”

“Nope. I guess she viewed being married to me as a little bit worse than residing in the seventh circle of Hell.”

“Did you know him?”

“Her boss?”

“Yeah.”

“No, and, not that it’s important, but him was a her.”

“Actually, that makes things a lot easier. You had what my laser club calls a no-brainer divorce.”

“What’s your laser club?”

“A

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