Found Money - James Grippando [88]
Ryan was still staring at the dark screen, not really focusing.
Norm snapped his fingers. “Hello, Earth to Ryan.”
He looked up, smiled with embarrassment. “Sorry. Spaced out for a second there.”
“Where’d you go?”
He sighed, not sure he wanted to tell. “Little time warp. I was just thinking about that time I came here ten years ago. Back during my residency.”
“Ah, yes. The night you began your descent into Purgatory Springs.”
“You mean Piedmont Springs.”
“No, I mean purgatory. That’s what it is for you, isn’t it? You work for hardly any pay, do good deeds for the needy little people of the world, earn your place back in heaven. Sounds like purgatory to me.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“No, it’s not. You and Liz were on the verge of having it made. Then poof, you walk away from it and go back to Piedmont Springs. I said it before, and I’ll say it again. It’s not your fault that guy’s wife ended up with AIDS. The law prohibited you from telling anyone that your patient was HIV-positive.”
“Yeah,” he said with sarcasm. “I sure played that one right by the book.”
“I don’t know how else you could have played it. You had a duty to your patient.”
Ryan shook his head, exasperated. “Just like I have a duty to my dad, right? A duty of loyalty. I’m supposed to keep my mouth shut and tell no one his dirty little secrets, even the people who have the right to know.”
“I don’t think the two situations are quite the same. But even if they were, you went the other way this time. You told Amy about the rape.”
“Exactly. Last time I followed my technical duty right down the line. Which turned out to be a death sentence for an innocent woman. So this time I crossed the line. I put the victim ahead of my sense of duty. And it blows up in my face. Amy seemed totally shocked to find out her mother had been raped. Her mother obviously had never told her. Presumably, that was the way her mother wanted it. What right did I have to step in and upset her mother’s wishes?”
“These are tough dilemmas, Ryan. Both situations. Very tough.”
“And I made the wrong decision both times.”
“So what are you going to do now? Pack up your clinic in Purgatory Springs and move to Siberia?”
Ryan glared. “You think this is a joke?”
“No. You’re being too hard on yourself. You’re dealing in areas where there are no right answers. I take that back,” he said, raising a finger for a case in point. “There was one option that would have been clearly the wrong decision. Ten years ago, you could have blackmailed that jock after you learned he was HIV-positive.”
“That wasn’t an option,” he said, scowling.
“Your father might have considered it.”
“Go to hell, Norm.”
“Sorry. Let’s just forget I said that, okay?”
“No, let’s not forget it. If you think my old man was a scumbag, just come out and say it.”
“I’m not passing judgment. I suppose sometimes even blackmailers have their reasons.”
“But you can never justify rape.”
He could see the pain in Ryan’s face. “No, you can’t.”
“That’s why I had to tell Amy—or at least try to tell her. It seemed like the right thing at the time. Now when I see the agony this must be causing her, I’m not so sure. Maybe she was better off not knowing.”
“Do yourself a favor, Ryan. Put it behind you. Telling Amy about the rape wasn’t the hard decision anyway. You’ll get a second chance to think this through and do the right thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“We still have to meet with the FBI. The tough question is, do you tell them.”
Ryan looked away, shaking his head. “Another one, huh?”
“Another one what?”
He answered in a hollow voice. “Another situation where there’s no right answer.”
41
Amy called Marilyn Gaslow at her home in Denver, but her housekeeper said she was out of town through Monday. Fortunately, Amy was on the standing short list of people who could reach Marilyn anywhere in case of a true emergency. It was a privilege Amy had never invoked—until tonight.
“Miss Marilyn is staying at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington,” said her housekeeper.
Amy got the number, thanked