Into the Inferno - Earl Emerson [66]
“What we have is, we have a couple of dead firefighters up here.”
“Dead?”
“A couple more who are brain-dead.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean their central nervous systems are shot. They can’t walk, talk, or feed themselves. They’re incontinent.”
“I can assure you, Lieutenant . . .”
“Swope.”
“Lieutenant Swope . . . that Jane’s does not manufacture or ship anything that would cause symptoms like the ones you’re describing.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. Just out of curiosity, what symptoms were your people showing? I mean early on.”
“Why do you want to know, if you don’t ship anything that might cause a problem?”
“Just thinking out loud. Let me get back to you. I’ve got a meeting I’m late for.”
I gave him the phone number at the station.
I was helping the nurse’s aide change my father’s diaper, a messy business at best, as well as a benchmark I was determined to get past, when a woman’s voice called, “Jim?”
I turned around and found Stephanie Riggs staring at me from the doorway.
29. ALL THE WOMEN IN MY LIFE
We’d been pulling his trousers back on, were in the process of sitting him up, feats the diminutive nurse was ill-equipped to accomplish alone. Stephanie rushed in to help situate him in his wheelchair, then watched as the nurse left the room carrying a plastic sack. The odor of human shit lingered long after I found a citrus spray bottle in the bathroom and misted the room.
“I left messages, but you never got back to me.”
“I didn’t get them. I drove up, but I couldn’t find anybody in the station. Finally a volunteer who was hanging around said somebody saw you over here. He also said somebody died at a fire today? Not another firefighter I hope.”
“A civilian. By the way. Phone tag is something you play with people who have more than four days to live.”
“I was working on your problem. I didn’t think you needed the reassurance of knowing that.”
“It looks like I did.”
“I’m here now. I’m here for you. I’m sorry that wasn’t clear.”
I was annoyed that Max Caputo’s bizarre death had stolen so much time from my own impending finish. I was annoyed also that Stephanie hadn’t hooked up with me sooner, as promised. Or maybe I was just annoyed. “What did my tests show?” Stephanie took a deep breath and looked down at my father. It took me a minute to realize she wasn’t going to reply, at least not right away. “Dad, this is Stephanie Riggs. Stephanie, my father, James Swope, Sr.”
“CVA?”
“Little over two years ago.”
“Same condition as Holly.”
“The thought has occurred to me.”
“You’re a good son.”
“That’s one thing I’m not.”
“No, you are. I saw you working with the nurse before you knew I was here. And you’ve kept him close to home. A lot of people would just ship someone in his condition out and never think twice about it.”
That was exactly what I’d done and I felt lower than whale shit because of it, yet I could hardly point out my crimes to Stephanie. She already hated me.
“I’d rather be dead than have a stranger changing my diapers,” I said.
“Don’t say that.”
“You haven’t thought about that with Holly?”
“I don’t even want to talk about this.”
“Fine. Tell me about the tests.”
She moved past me to the window, folding her arms across her breasts and gazing out at the sunshine. I’d read once that in wartime people were like rabbits, the proximity to death heightening their sexual awareness, exponentially increasing their drive to mate. I was beginning to feel that way myself. Stephanie was wearing Holly’s perfume again, and that subtle aroma never failed to make me think of sex.
“The tests weren’t conclusive. So far everything looks normal, same as Holly. That’s what’s so baffling. It’s all so damn normal. Anything changed with you?”
“I’ve had a headache all day. I fell twice. It’s pretty much what Stan and your sister reported.”
She thought about that while I looked out the window over her shoulder. “You frightened?