The Shroud Codex - Jerome R. Corsi [63]
“Thank you,” Anne said appreciatively. “When we get to the hospital, I promise I will stay out of your way.”
“Father Morelli, you join Anne in the waiting room of the ICU at Beth Israel, if you want, this afternoon,” Castle instructed. “If everything goes well, you and Anne should be able to visit with Father Bartholomew for a few minutes later today, after I examine him.”
“I’ll do that,” Morelli said appreciatively.
Next, Castle turned to apologize to Archbishop Duncan for having to leave the meeting so abruptly. “You will excuse me, your Eminence, but I have to leave immediately,” he explained. Castle wanted to be sure he was properly respectful, especially with Fathers Morelli and Middagh, two representatives of the Vatican, in the room. “I’m sure you will understand, but I want to be the first to talk with Father Bartholomew when he regains consciousness.”
“Certainly,” Archbishop Duncan said graciously, as Castle gathered up his papers to leave. “We are available to you on a twenty-four-hour basis. The pope has made it clear that right now nothing is more important to the Catholic Church than Father Bartholomew and the Shroud of Turin.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Thursday noon
Return to Beth Israel Hospital
Day 15
Castle sat with Anne in the back of the limo headed downtown. He estimated the ride would take about twenty minutes, depending on traffic, and he instructed the driver to get to the hospital as fast as possible.
Riding with Anne, Castle felt conflicted. He had to admit he was physically attracted to Anne, yet he was uncomfortable not knowing who exactly she was and how she fit into the puzzle.
“You’ll have to excuse me,” he began, “but I’m still not sure how your family history fits together. You said your father separated from your mother shortly after you were born.”
“That’s right,” Anne said. She folded her hands quietly in her lap, resolved to tell Dr. Castle the story. “My mother and Jonathan Bartholomew, the man who was Paul’s father, had been high school sweethearts. That was over forty years ago, when the Vietnam War was reaching its height under President Nixon. Jonathan got drafted in the 1970 lottery and was sent off to Vietnam. A few months later, my mother heard he had been killed in combat. She mourned his loss. After that, she met my father. They got married and I was born.”
“So why did Paul tell me he had no siblings?” Castle asked.
“A few months after I was born, Paul’s father-to-be unexpectedly came walking out of the Vietnam bush. Everybody was shocked. Jonathan Bartholomew was treated as a hero. It turns out he had been captured by the Viet Cong and he escaped. But when he came back to the United States, my mother was already married to my father and she was pregnant with me.”
“Okay,” Castle said patiently, used to hearing complicated life stories from his patients. “What happened then?”
“My mother was always in love with Jonathan. When he came home, she began seeing him, even more in love with him than ever. She tried to hide the relationship from my father, Matthew Cassidy, but it didn’t work. When my father found out, he gave my mother a choice.”
“Is that when they got divorced?”
“Not immediately,” Anne said. “My mother said she would try to stay in the marriage. But when I was about one year old, my mother announced she wanted a divorce. My father took it very hard, but granted her the divorce, on the condition that she would agree to give him sole custody over me. My mother agreed. Once the court decree was final, my father moved to Canada with me as an infant. My father never saw my mother again. After that, my mother married Jonathan Bartholomew and Paul was born about a year later.”
“Did you ever reconcile with your mother?”
“No, I didn’t. My father told me my mother had died giving birth to me. When I found out the truth, I learned I had a brother I never knew about. But I didn’t attempt to contact Paul, out of respect for my father.”
“How did you find