Sensing Light by Mark A. Jacobson

Author:Mark A. Jacobson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781612435886
Publisher: Ulysses Press
Published: 2016-05-13T04:00:00+00:00

XII

BECAUSE RAY HERNANDEZ WAS about to leave for a sabbatical in Argentina, his annual holiday party was early this year, on a Sunday in late September. The day started out hot and windless. By four in the afternoon, the temperature had reached one hundred degrees. Like most houses in sight of the bay, Ray’s didn’t have air conditioning, so the party moved outdoors.

Kevin, Gwen, and Herb, all barefoot and wearing shorts, sat on collapsible beach chairs. It was pleasant to drink chilled white wine under the shade of fir trees while Ray’s children, armed with spray bottles, showered mist on them.

“This is the first time in a month I’ve been able to sit down and relax for a couple of hours,” complained Gwen. “It took me forever to catch up with the backlog I had after the Paris meeting.”

“Me too,” said Kevin.

“Me three,” Herb chuckled.

Gwen and Kevin looked dourly at him.

“It wasn’t my idea to have an international AIDS conference in Paris.”

“That’s what I thought,” growled Kevin. “The mentors around here only take credit for the productivity they spawn, not the misery.”

“It’s not Herb’s fault,” Gwen said, her words beginning to slur. “You remember what he said to you, right here, a few years ago?”

“In there,” she corrected herself, pointing at Ray’s house. “He said you’d never be able to stop working. It was already out of control.”

“I’ve been exonerated,” Herb sang with gleeful satisfaction. “She’s right. I warned you. You could have bailed out then.”

“I’m not blaming you, Herb. I’m just stating a fact. Between work-related travel, work at home, and work at work, I have no social life.”

“Same here. It’s what happens in a crisis.”

“There’s the empathy I was looking for.”

Gwen giggled.

“OK, then how about this?” Herb suggested, “It would be God’s work…”

“If any of us believed in God,” said Kevin and Gwen together.

“I must be repeating myself. When did I say that? Not today. But it was at one of Ray’s parties, wasn’t it? Yes, years ago. And you guys remember?”

“Of course we remember,” said Gwen.

“It’s our ethos,” Kevin chimed in. “That’s the best thing about working at City Hospital. We’ve got this rational, humanistic, shared belief system. We don’t need religion. What a fucking relief.”

“I’m impressed, Kevin,” said Herb sincerely. “That’s a perfect way to put it.”

“A fucking relief?”

“No, our ethos—a rational, humanistic, shared belief system. Somebody should write it down. I want to quote you.”

Gwen turned glum and said, “Living up to those beliefs is a bear and a half. We have to be saints.”

“Saints?” asked Kevin.

“You know, rise to every occasion with thoughtful compassion. No matter what shit people throw at us.”

“The bar isn’t that high,” said Herb. “We just have to be honest, benevolent, and fair. That’s no more than exhibiting plain human decency. It’s hardly sainthood.”

“Thanks, Herb,” Kevin said, slapping himself on one cheek then the other. “I needed to hear that.”

Herb giggled, which tickled Gwen. Her hilarity became a coughing spasm, which seemed the height of silliness to Kevin. He shook with laughter.

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