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bits. The woman gazed at the floor in disbelief, then raised her stricken face to Jeffrey. Blissfully he spun away. As Billings lunged for him, Jeffrey grabbed another patient and shoved him at the orderly. "DON'T MISS THIS ONCE IN A LIFETIME OFFER..." "I'm getting dizzy!" a heavyset woman wailed as Jeffrey leaped past. "Make him stop." "Five hundred dollars!" an old man shouted suddenly into Cole's ear. "I got five hundred dollars! I'm insured!" Jeffrey paused. "OPPORTUNITY!" he crowed, gazing directly at Cole. "DEFINITELY! A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY! OPENING NOW! NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL GOOD MEN TO SEIZE THE MOMENT!" Cole shook his head. The taste in the back of his throat was enough to make him gag. Jeffrey's words were like some thick syrup dripping slowly into his consciousness. It wasn't until he heard the dayroom door open and saw two more burly orderlies come running in after Jeffrey that it finally struck him that Jeffrey was sending him a message. "YES! YES! MASTERCARD! VISA! THE KEY TO HAPPINESS!" One of the orderlies paused, brandishing a hefty key ring, and quickly locked the door before turning his attention to the raving patient. "SEIZE THE MOMENT!" Jeffrey shrieked, bounding past Billings and the other orderly. Even from across the room, Cole could see his blue eyes glowing madly as Jeffrey waved his hands. "GET RICH! NOW'S THE TIME! GO FOR IT!" "Go for it," Cole repeated. He looked down at the key in his hand and looked up in time to see Billings tripping over a chair as he tried to tackle Jeffrey. "God damn you, Jeffrey, quit playing the fool!" Billings panted. Cole hesitated. He glanced at the door, trying to get his eyes to focus. His hand tightened on the key in his palm as the orderlies finally grabbed Jeffrey and brought him crashing to the floor. "LAST CHANCE! LAST CHANCE! Hey ow!" Before he had a chance to think better of it, Cole staggered to the door. Feebly he stabbed at it with the key, trying vainly to find the hole. He glanced nervously over his shoulder to where the orderlies were swarming Jeffrey. Suddenly the key slid in. "Damn," he whispered thickly: it wouldn't turn. "Hey." Cole jumped, turned to see an elderly man in flannel pajamas watching him with pale watery eyes. "Florida, now that would be the place to go," the man said dreamily. "The Keys are lovely this time of year." Unnerved, Cole desperately tried the key again. It turned. "Be careful," the old man said as Cole slipped through the door and into the echoing hallway. "J. Edgar Hoover isn't really dead." * * * * * Elsewhere in the county hospital, Kathryn Railly headed to her office. As she walked she riffled through the morning's stack of messages: pharmaceutical updates, urgent messages from parents and spouses inquiring after patients, notice of a change in health club hours for members. As she rounded a corner, Dr. Casey's head popped out of his office, waving a page torn from a magazine. "Kathryn! Hang on " She paused as Casey strode up beside her. "This was in my box, but I have a slight suspicion it wasn't meant for me." Kathryn looked at the ragged magazine page in his hand, frowning as he began to read with exaggerated emphasis. "You are the most beetifool woman I have ever sin. You live in a beetifool worl. But you don't know it. You have freedum, sunshine, air you can breeeth." Her pale eyes narrowed and she gave him a sad smile. "Cole. James Cole, right?" Casey held out a hand to silence her, adjusting his glasses as he continued, "I wood do anything to stay her, but I must leave. Pleese, help me." Kathryn's smile faded. "Poor man..." Thudding footsteps made them both turn in time to see Dr. Goodin racing around the corner. "Hey, Kathryn!" he shouted, panting. "James Cole is one of yours, right? Well, he eloped! Last seen, he was up on nine!" Kathryn and Casey stared, dumbfounded, then took off after him. * * * * * A security guard cornered Cole near Radiology, where he was backing out of the CAT-scan chamber. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
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