Passage (102 page)

She had been falling a very long time. I can’t fall forever, she thought. The
Titanic
hadn’t fallen forever. It had come finally down to the bottom of the sea and settled into the soft mud, surrounded by chamber pots and chandeliers and shoes.

Will I be surrounded by shoes, too? she wondered, and could see them in the darkness: the red tennis shoe, jammed in the door, and Emmett Kelly’s huge, flapping clown shoes and the tiny shoe in the Monopoly game, and the abandoned
shoes of the sailors, lined up along the deck of the
Yorktown.
The
Yorktown
had come to rest, too, and the
Lusitania
and the
Hindenburg
, and Jay Yates and Lorraine Allison and Little Miss 1565, having forgotten everything, even their names. Rest in peace.

What was the Latin for “Rest in peace” ?
“Eloi, eloi, lama sabacthani,”
she thought, but that wasn’t right. That was the Latin for something else. She had forgotten the Latin for “Rest in peace” and the words to “Nearer, My God, to Thee” and “The Wreck of the Hesperus” and “The Sound of Music.”

Everything she had learned by heart fell away from her, line after line, unraveling into the dark water like tape from a broken Blockbuster video, “The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,” and “At a time like this, it’s every man for himself.” “Houston, we have a problem,” and “Oh, don’t you remember, a long time ago, there were two little children whose names I don’t know.”

The words trailed away into the water, carrying memory with them, of trailing electrode wires and lifejacket ties and yellow “Do Not Cross” tape. And yellow afghan yarn, yellow sneakers like the ones Whoopi Goldberg wore in
Jumpin’ Jack Flash
, Jack in the Beanstalk, Jack Phillips.

And that was important. There was something important about Jack Phillips. Something about a lab coat, or a blanket. Or a heater, shutting off. They’re shutting off, she thought, the receptors and transmitters and neurons, and this is just a symbol for it, a . . . but she had forgotten the word for metaphor. And for disaster. And for death.

Had forgotten the taste of Cheetos and the color of blood and the number fifty-eight, forgotten Mercy General and mercy everlasting, zeppelins and kissing, her dress size, her first apartment, where she’d put her car keys, the answer to number fifteen on Mr. Briarley’s final, the sound in the tunnel and her 1040 form.

My taxes. I didn’t send in my 1040. They’re due April fifteenth, she thought, and remembered that the
Titanic
had gone down on the night of the fourteenth. All those people, she thought, they didn’t file their income tax returns either. No, that was wrong. They didn’t have income tax back then.
That was why they were all so rich. But there were other things they hadn’t done that they had intended to do: meet friends at the dock in New York, send a telegram announcing their safe arrival, marry, have children, win the Nobel Prize.

I never learned to play the piano, Joanna thought. I didn’t tell Mr. Wojakowski we couldn’t use him in the project, and now he’ll pester Richard. I didn’t transcribe Mr. Sage’s NDE.

It doesn’t matter, she thought. But I didn’t pay the gas bill, she thought. I forgot to water my Swedish ivy. I didn’t get the book from Kit. I promised I’d go pick it up. I promised I’d go see Maisie.

Maisie! she thought in horror. I didn’t tell Richard, I have to tell him, but could not remember what it was she had wanted to tell him. Something about the
Titanic.
No, not the
Titanic.
Mr. Briarley had been wrong, it wasn’t about the
Titanic.
It was something about Indians. And the Rio Grande. And a dog. Something about a dog.

No, that wasn’t right either. Fog, she thought, and remembered standing in the walkway, looking out at fog. It was cold and diffuse, like the water, like death. It blotted out everything, memory and duty and desire. Let it go, she thought, staring at nothingness. It’s not important. Let it go.

Progress reports and delivering the mail and regret. They aren’t important. Nothing’s important. Not proving it’s the
Titanic
or having a hall pass or avoiding Mr. Mandrake. None of it matters. Not Mr. Wojakowski or Mrs. Haighton’s never returning my calls or Maisie.

That’s a lie, she thought. Maisie does matter. I have to find Richard. I have to tell him. “Richard, listen,” she cried, but her mouth, her throat, her lungs, were full of water.

She kicked frantically, reaching up with her cupped hands, her arms. I have to tell him, she thought, clutching at the water as if it were the railing of a staircase, trying to pull herself up hand over hand. I have to get the message through. For Maisie.

She willed herself upward, kicking, stroking with her arms, trying to reach the surface.

And continued to fall.

B
OY, JUST LIKE ISMAY
,” Maisie said when they told her what had happened with Carl. “How crummy!”

Leave it to Maisie to sum things up. Richard wondered if, clambering into the lifeboat, Ismay’s hands had been as white and clenched as Carl Aspinall’s, his face as sodden-looking.

“So what do we do now?” Vielle asked. She had called them on the way back, demanding to know what they’d found out, and Richard, unable to stand the prospect of telling it twice, had told her to meet them in Maisie’s room.

“We could talk to the lab technician who saw Carl and Joanna,” Richard said. “He may have heard what they were saying.”

“He didn’t,” Maisie said. “I asked him. He said they stopped talking when he came in the room.”

“He may have overheard something as he was coming in,” Richard said, “or leaving. Or he may have seen someone else going in. If there was a lab tech in the room taking blood, there may have been other staff going in to take tests,” he said with a confidence he didn’t feel. “Or nurses. Who was the one Mrs. Aspinall mentioned?”

“Guadalupe,” Kit said.

“I’ll talk to Guadalupe and the rest of the staff on five-east. Vielle, you keep looking for people who might have seen Joanna in the hallways, and don’t limit it to the professional staff. Talk to the volunteers and the kitchen help.”

“That’s supposed to be
my
job!” Maisie said, outraged.

“Your job is to rest and get strong so you’ll be ready for your new heart,” Richard said.

Maisie flung herself back against the pillows. “That’s no
fair!
I was the one who found out about Mr. Aspinall. Besides,” she said, “if I don’t have anything to do or think about, I’ll
start worrying about my heart and how much the operation will hurt, and dying and stuff, and I might code.”

She was good, he had to admit that. “All right,” he said sternly, “you can help Vielle,” and she immediately said, “I had another idea who to ask, Vielle. The painter guys. I bet they see a lot of people. And the breathing therapy lady. Should I page you when I think of other people?”

“No paging Vielle all the time,” Richard jumped in. “She works in the ER, which is very busy. She’ll come see you when she can, and when she does, no stalling.” He turned to Vielle. “If Maisie finds out something, she’s not going to tell you the whole story of
how
she found out, because she knows you have to get back to the ER.”

“But—” Maisie said.

“Promise,” Richard said. “Cross your heart.”

“Okay,”
she said grudgingly. She smiled at Vielle. “I’ll talk to the lady who empties the wastebaskets and the guy who runs the dust vacuum thing,” she said. “And rest,” she added hastily.

“And drink your Ensure,” Richard said. “What if nobody else was in the room and heard them?” Maisie asked.

“Maybe Mrs. Aspinall will change her mind,” Kit said.

“That’s right,” Richard said, though he didn’t believe it for a moment. Her only concern was her husband, and his only concern was survival. And nothing, nothing could make him go back there, not even to save Joanna.

“But what if she doesn’t change her mind?” Maisie said.

“Then we have to hope the lab technician knows something,” Richard said. “Do you know his name, Maisie?”

“Yeah,” Maisie said. “I saw it on his badge thing when he bent over to stick the needle in my IV line, and—”

“Maisie,” Richard said sternly. “No stalling. You promised.”

“I promised
Vielle,”
Maisie said, and at his look,
“Okay.
Rudy Wenck. But what if he doesn’t know anything?”

“Then we’ll find somebody who did,” he said.

“But what if there isn’t anybody?” Maisie persisted. “What if nobody else heard them talking?”

I don’t know, he thought. I don’t know. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he said cheerfully, thinking, You sound just like Maisie’s mother.

And speak of the devil. Here she was, standing in the doorway with a yellow stuffed duck, a beribboned video-shaped package, and a blindingly bright smile. “Dr. Wright!” Mrs. Nellis said. “And Ms. Gardiner. Just the people I needed to see.” She beamed at Vielle. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“This is Nurse Howard,” Richard said.

“She works in the ER,” Maisie said.

“We were just leaving.” Kit and Vielle took the cue and started for the door.

“Oh, but you can’t go yet, Dr. Wright,” Mrs. Nellis said.

Well, now he knew where Maisie had gotten it from. He nodded at Kit and Vielle to keep going and said, “I’m afraid I’ve got a meeting.”

“This will only take a minute,” Mrs. Nellis said, setting the present and duck on the foot of the bed. She began rummaging through her purse. “I’ve got the project release forms and the minor-child permissions for you, all signed and notarized.” She pulled out a manila envelope and handed it to Richard. “My lawyer is working on a living will and resuscitation orders. Has he talked to you?”

“Yes,” Richard said. “I really have to go.”

“Can I open my present now?” Maisie piped up, and Mrs. Nellis, momentarily distracted, moved to get her the package.

Good girl, Richard thought, and ducked out, but not fast enough. Mrs. Nellis caught him just outside the door. “I wanted to ask you about Nurse Howard,” she said eagerly. “You said she worked in the ER, and I assume that means she’s an expert on coding procedures. Is she working with you on the treatment? Does that mean you’ve had a breakthrough?”

“No,” Richard said.

“But you’re getting close, right?”

“Mommy, come here!” Maisie said excitedly. “I can’t get my video open!” Mrs. Nellis glanced toward the room, and then back at Richard, hesitating. “Mommy! I want to watch it right away!”

“Excuse me,” Mrs. Nellis said and hurried into the room.
Richard didn’t hesitate. He hotfooted it down the hall. Behind him he could hear Mrs. Nellis asking, “You like your video, sunbeam?” and Maisie saying, “I love it!
Heidi
is my favoritest movie in the whole world!”

Kit and Vielle were waiting for him outside the CICU. “We thought we were going to have to send the cavalry in after you,” Kit said.

“No, Maisie rescued me. At considerable sacrifice to herself.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Vielle asked.

“Kit, I want you to go through Carl Aspinall’s transcripts again and see if there’s anything in them about a sword or . . . ” he cast around, trying to think of what else you could be stabbed with, “ . . . a letter-opener or something. And then see if there’s any reference to a stabbing the night of the
Titanic.
Vielle, see if you can find out who all was on four-east that day. I’ll talk to Rudy Wenck.”

“I thought Maisie said he didn’t remember hearing anything,” Vielle said.

“She did,” Richard said, “but one thing I learned from Joanna is that people remember more than they think they do. And he has to have heard or seen something.”

But Rudy Wenck, even when pressed, didn’t remember anything. “He was scared of my drawing blood, that’s all I remember, like I was trying to kill him or something. He seemed kind of out of it.”

“Can you be more specific?” Richard asked.

“No, just, you know, kind of wild-eyed and scared.”

“Did he say anything?”

“No.”

“What about Dr. Lander? Did she say anything?”

“Yeah, she asked me if I wanted her to move, and I said, no, I could do it from that side.”

“Did she say anything else?”

“To me?”

“Or to Mr. Aspinall, anything at all.”

He shrugged. “She might have. I wasn’t really listening.”

“If you could try to remember,” Richard said, “it’s very important.”

He shook his head. “People are always talking when I’m in the room. I’ve learned to just shut it out.”

Guadalupe was even less helpful. “I didn’t know Joanna had even been in to see him,” she said.

“But you saw her on the floor that day?” Richard asked.

She nodded. “I’d paged her because we couldn’t find Mr. Aspinall’s wife and I thought Joanna might know where she was. She didn’t, but she came up to the floor, and I talked to her for a couple of minutes. She asked about Mr. Aspinall’s condition, and she suggested a couple of places his wife might be, and then I assumed she left.”