Spiegelman, Peter - Dr. Knox by Spiegelman Peter

Author:Spiegelman, Peter [Spiegelman, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2016-07-12T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 29

I rode shotgun in the black Escalade that Sutter had conjured from somewhere, but I still had a hard time following the twists and turns and loop-backs he drove from the clinic to the house in El Segundo. Elena and Shelly were quiet in the back seats, as they had been since Lucho had doused the alley lights and we’d taken them out the back door. Their faces were pale against the black leather upholstery, and they both grimaced when we went over bumps.

The house was a tidy stucco ranch, sherbet pink in the Escalade’s headlights, with white trim and a lawn like a swatch of green suede. The furnishings were simple and bright—fresh from the IKEA box—and the floors were shiny oak. The smells of paint and varnish still lingered. Sutter moved from window to window, lowering shades.

“New tenants come in a couple of weeks,” he said, “so you’re good till then.”

Shelly eased herself carefully into an armchair. “Nice,” she said, looking around. “Clean. What do you get for a place like this?”

“Thirty-seven hundred a month. Why—you in the market?”

“Sure,” Shelly said, smiling. “Siggy’s monkeys have probably moved into my old place by now, so I can’t go back there. This is a little out of my way, though. Got anything downtown?” Sutter smiled back and shook his head.

I helped Elena to the sofa, got her feet onto the coffee table, and put the Pleur-evac on the floor by her side. Her eyes roamed around the room, settled on Sutter, and narrowed. “We are close to the airport?” she said.

Sutter nodded. “South runways at LAX are two blocks away.”

“First week in Los Angeles, I was close to the airport,” she said. “An apartment. They move me after that.”

“To another apartment?” I asked. Elena nodded. “In West Hollywood? The one where you met Hoover Mays?”

Her mouth turned sour. “You know Hoover?”

“I spoke to him,” I said.

“I thought maybe he’s killed,” Elena said, sighing. “I hit him hard.” I wasn’t sure if she was relieved or disappointed. Sutter snorted.

“It looked to me like he hit you hard too,” I said.

She nodded minutely. “Where is Alex?”

“He’s fine. He’ll be here in the morning.”

“Not now?” Her voice trembled.

“It’s too late. I didn’t want to wake him in the middle of the night. I didn’t want to scare him.” She looked into my eyes for a while and then nodded. “Let me listen to your lungs again,” I said.

I put my stethoscope on. Both lungs sounded good, and no fluid had drained into the Pleur-evac for over an hour.

I smiled. “You’re doing well.”

Elena looked down and touched a finger to the drainage tube where it snaked from beneath the gown she still wore. “You can take it out?”

“Yep—it’s pretty much done its job.”

“Before Alex comes?” I nodded. Elena studied the edge of her gown. “Is there something else for me?” she asked. “Other clothes?”

I nodded. “My nurse found some clean sweats and a tee shirt for you. Tomorrow morning you can wash up and change.

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