Passage. Part 84

"Carl?" she said, bewildered. "But he never even met Joanna. I don't think you understand, my husband was in a semicomatose state until-"

"-the morning of the day Joanna died," Richard said. "She had a conversation with him that morning, just after he regained consciousness."

"Are you sure? Carl didn't say anything about talking to her," she said and then frowned, "but he was dreadfully upset when I told him about her. I thought it was because he'd been so close to death himself, that he was so frightened of it, but... when could she have seen him? I came as soon as they told me he was awake, and I was with him the rest of the day."

"At eleven-thirty," Richard said, hoping he was right.

"Oh," Mrs. Aspinall said, nodding. "That was just before I got there." And just after Carl regained consciousness, Richard thought, when his vision would have been fresh in his memory.

"But I still don't understand," Mrs. Aspinall said. "You say she was on the track of something regarding your research project? Why would she have told Carl about it?"

"We think-" Richard began.

There was a sudden loud banging from the next room, like someone hammering. "That's Carl,"Mrs. Aspinall said apologetically. "He thumps his walking stick when he needs something. I brought a bell up, but I haven't been able to find it." The pounding started again, heavy, rhythmic thumps. "If you'll excuse me," Mrs. Aspinall said, standing up, "I'll be right back." She went out of the room.

The thumps continued a moment and then stopped, and they could hear a man's voice saying querulously, "Who's here? I heard a car in the driveway."

"Some people from the hospital," she said, "but you don't have to see them if you don't feel up to it, I can tell them to come back when you're feeling stronger."

Kit shot an anxious glance at Richard. "I feel fine," the man's voice said. "Dr. Cherikov said I was making excellent progress."

"You are, but I don't want you to overdo. You were very ill."

Richard couldn't hear his answer, but Mrs. Aspinall reappeared. "If you could keep your visit short," she said. "He tires easily. This conversation you think Dr. Lander and Carl had, what did-?"

Whump, the walking stick thumped, louder than before. "We're coming," Mrs. Aspinall said, and led Kit and Richard into a pine-paneled room with a fireplace and wide windows looking out on a calendar view: snow-covered peaks, pine trees, an ice-bound mountain stream. The TV was on, and Richard looked toward the chair in front of it, expecting to see an invalid in a bathrobe with a blanket over his knees, but the chair was empty, and the only person in the room was a tanned, healthy-looking man in a white polo shirt and khaki pants, standing over by the window, looking out.

The doctor? Richard wondered, and then noticed the gnarled walking stick the man held. Dr.

Cherikov was right, he was making excellent progress.

Mrs. Aspinall walked rapidly to a thermostat on the wall, turned up the heat, and went over to the fireplace. "Brr, it's so cold in here," she said, taking a remote off the mantel and pointing it at the fireplace. A fire flamed up.

"Carl," Mrs. Aspinall said, walking over to the chair. She picked up another remote and muted the TV. "This is Dr. Wright and Ms. Gardiner."

"How do you do, Dr. Wright?" Carl said, coming forward to shake hands. He looked just as healthy close up. His face was tanned, and his grip when he shook hands with Richard was strong.

Except for the dark bruises and puncture marks on the back of his hand, Richard wouldn't have believed he'd been in the hospital only three weeks ago, let alone in a coma. "Were you one of the doctors who stuck all those needles and wires and tubes in me?" Carl asked. "Or have we met before? I keep meeting people who know me, and I don't know them from Adam."

"No," Richard said. "We've never met. I'm-"

"And I know I've never met you," Carl said, stepping past him to shake hands with Kit. "I definitely would have remembered that."

"How do you do, Mr. Aspinall?" Kit said, smiling. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Fit as a fiddle," he said. "Good as new.""Sit down, sit down," Mrs. Aspinall said, motioning them toward the couch. They sat down, and so did Carl, leaning his walking stick against the arm of his chair. Mrs. Aspinall remained standing.

Standing guard, Richard thought.

"Mr. Aspinall," he said, "we won't take much of your time. We just want to ask you a few questions about Joanna Lander."

"Do you remember Dr. Lander, Carl?" Mrs. Aspinall asked. "I've told you about so many people, I know it's confusing-"

Don't lead, Richard thought, and looked anxiously at Carl, but he was nodding. "Joanna," he said. "She came to see me. The day I..." His voice trailed off and he looked past them out the window at the icy stream.

At the water, Richard thought. It flowed dark and clear, half under and half over a thin film of ice.

"The day you regained consciousness?" Kit prompted.

"Yes. She died," Carl said, and then after a moment, "Didn't she?"

"Yes," Richard said. "She was killed later that same day."

"I thought so," Carl said. "I get it confused sometimes, what really happened and what..." his voice trailed off again.

"Dr. Cherikov said you'd be a little confused at first," Mrs. Aspinall said, "because of all the medications."

"That's right. The medications," he said. "Are you doing something in Joanna's memory?" he asked. "A charity fund or something? I'd like to contribute."

"No," Richard said, "that isn't why we came-"

"There is something we're trying to do for Joanna," Kit said earnestly, "and we need your help.

We think Joanna found out something important that day about the research she and Dr. Wright were doing. We're trying to find out what it was. We think she may have said something to someone about it."

"And you think she said something to me?" Carl said, already shaking his head. "She didn't say anything about a discovery-"

"No, we don't think she said anything directly," Kit said hastily. "But we thought if we could talk to the people she talked to that day, there might be a clue of some kind." That's why I brought you along, Richard thought, looking at her gratefully. "Can you tell us what you talked about, Carl?"

"Talked about?" He looked past them again at the dark water. His hands fidgeted on the arms of the chair."Yes," Kit was saying. "Can you tell us what you and Joanna talked about?"

"Are you sure you're up to this, Carl?" Mrs. Aspinall asked anxiously, stepping between them.

"I'm sure Dr. Wright and Ms. Gardiner would understand if-"

"I'm fine," he said. "Stop fussing. Why don't you go make us some tea?"

"They said they didn't want any-"

"Well, I do," he said. "Go make me a cup of tea and stop fussing over me like a mother hen."

Mrs. Aspinall left, still looking anxious, and Carl smiled at Kit and said, "Now what were we discussing?"

"What you and Joanna talked about," Kit said.

"Nothing very important," he said. "She asked me how I felt. She told me she was glad to see I was awake and said I should get well. And that's what I've been doing, resting, getting my strength back, doing what Dr. Cherikov says. Focus on the present, Dr. Cherikov says. Don't think about what's past. That's over and done with. Think about getting well."

"You mentioned being in the coma," Richard said. "Did Joanna ask you what happened while you were in the coma? About having dreams?"

"They weren't dreams."

Richard's heart leaped. "What were they?" he asked, his voice and face carefully impa.s.sive.

Mr. Aspinall looked toward the door, as if willing his wife to come back. "Mr. Aspinall, this is important," Richard said. "Joanna tried to tell us something as she was dying. We think it has something to do with something you told her, something about what you saw when you were in the coma," but Carl had stopped listening.

"I thought she died instantly," he said accusingly. "The nurses told me she died instantly."

Richard looked at him in surprise. What was going on here?

"You said she talked to you," Carl said, his voice rising. "You said she tried to tell you something."

"She did, but she didn't live long enough to tell us. She died almost instantly."

"There wasn't anything anyone could have done," Kit said.

He ignored her. "How did she die?"

Richard looked at Kit. She looked as bewildered as he felt. He wondered if they should call Mrs. Aspinall, but if they did, it would be an end to the interview. "How did she die?" Carl demanded."She was stabbed by a patient on drugs," Richard said.

"Stabbed?" Carl said, and his hands clenched uncontrollably in his lap. "With what?"

"A knife," Richard said, and, surprisingly, the answer was the right one. Carl's fists unclenched and he leaned back into his chair. "And she died almost instantly," he murmured. "She was only there a few minutes."

"Where, Carl?" Richard said. "Where were you when you were in the coma?"

Carl's hands clenched again, and his eyes strayed to the muted TV. Like Maisie's when she didn't want to talk. "You said it wasn't a dream," Richard said, leaning forward to put himself between Carl and the TV. "What was it? Was it a place?"

"A place," he said and looked past them, at the dark, icy stream. What was he seeing, staring out at it? The water, creeping up the deck? Or roaring in through the injured side?

"You said Joanna was only there a few minutes," Richard said. "Where? What were you afraid she'd been stabbed with?"

Carl's fists tightened, the skin between the bruises white. His face under the tan had gone white, too. It looked sodden, like something pulled out of the water. "Where were you, Carl?" Richard repeated.

"Richard-" Kit said and put a restraining hand on his arm.

"Where were you?"

"I-" Carl said and took a wavering breath. "It-" This is it, Richard thought. He's going to tell us.

Brring. The sound of the cell phone exploded into the silence like a bomb.

No! Richard thought, watching Kit scramble to get it out of her bag. Not now.

"I'm sorry," Kit said, trying to shut off the ringing. "I didn't know this was on."

"Quite all right," Carl said. His color had come back.

He looks like somebody who's just heard the bugle call of the cavalry coming to rescue him, Richard thought. "Go ahead," Carl said. "Take your call."

Kit sent Richard an agonized glance and put the phone to her ear. "h.e.l.lo?"

It will be Mrs. Gray, wanting to know where the sugar is, Richard thought. Or the mustard.

"Oh, h.e.l.lo, Vielle," Kit said. "Yes, he's here." She handed Richard the cell phone.

"Excuse me," Richard said and walked over to the fireplace. "Vielle-""What's going on? I got this garbled message from one of the interns. Honestly, you'd think they could deliver a simple message-"

"I can't talk now," Richard said, his hand over the receiver. "I'll call you back."

"You'll never get through," Vielle said. "It's a total disaster here. The fog-"

Richard switched the phone off. "Good-bye," he said to the dial tone and handed the phone back to Kit. "Sorry," he said, turning to Carl.

"Perfectly all right," Carl said. "Where were we? Oh, yes, you were asking me what I remember of my coma, and I'm afraid the answer is, nothing at all."

d.a.m.n you, Vielle, Richard thought. He was going to tell us. "The last thing I remember is my wife putting me in the car to go to the hospital," Carl said. His hands on the arms of the chair were relaxed, steady. "She was having trouble getting my seat belt on, and the next thing I know this nurse I never saw before is opening the curtains, and this friend of yours comes in and talks to me for a few minutes, maybe five minutes at the most. She asked me how I was and we chatted a little, and then she stood up and said she had to go." He smiled at Kit again.

"What did you chat about?" Richard said.

"I don't really remember." Carl shrugged. "I'm afraid there's a lot I don't remember about that first couple of days. The medications. I suppose that must be true for the dreams I had while I was in the coma, too."

"You said they weren't dreams," Richard said.

"Did I?" Carl said easily. "I meant I didn't remember having any dreams."

You're lying, Richard thought.

"Here's your tea, Carl," Mrs. Aspinall said, coming into the room. She handed him the mug.

"And after you drink it, I think you should lie down. You look pale." She laid her hand on his forehead. "And it feels like you've got a fever. I'm sure Dr. Wright and Ms. Gardiner will understand."

"Sorry I couldn't help you," Carl said and turned to his wife. "You're right, I am tired. I think I will lie down."

"I'll show Dr. Wright and Ms. Gardiner out," Mrs. Aspinall said, "and then I'll come back and get you settled."

They stood up. "If you remember anything," Kit said, "please call us."

"I doubt if I'll remember anything," Carl said. "Dr. Cherikov said the more time has pa.s.sed, the less I'll remember about the whole thing."

"Which is good," Mrs. Aspinall said. "You need to forget about what's past and concentrate on the present, and the future. Isn't that right, Dr. Wright? I want to thank you for coming."End of interview. Mrs. Aspinall led them quickly down the hall to the front door and helped them into their coats, obviously anxious to get rid of them so she could get back to her husband. "It was so nice of you to come all this way," she said, opening the door.

They went out onto the porch. "I'm sorry my husband couldn't be more help," she said.

"Maybe you can help us," Richard said. "Your husband told Joanna something that put her on the right track. Something he remembered from his coma."

"He told you, he doesn't remember. His memory of his time in the hospital's very hazy-"

"But he might have said something to you," Kit said, "after he woke up. Made some reference to what he saw or-"