Part 44 (1/2)
”Do you ever sweat at night while you sleep?”
”No.”
”Ever experience any fever?”
”No.”
”Any blood when you cough?”
”No.”
He continued to write, never once looking up. ”And did the symptoms you mentioned earlier ever lapse?”
She c.o.c.ked her head. ”Not until last week, no.”
His scribbling stopped. ”What happened last week?”
Joe proposed to me. But she knew that wasn't what he was asking. ”The breathing episodes stopped altogether, and the coughing and headaches practically went away. At least until a few moments ago.”
He looked at her over his gla.s.ses. ”A few moments ago?”
”Yes. Almost as soon as I entered the exam room, my head began to pound and I experienced shortness of breath.”
Returning his pen to its holder, he leaned back. ”How did you occupy your time while you were in Seattle?”
”I was an a.s.sistant to the local doctor there.”
He raised his brows. ”You're a nurse?”
She shook her head. ”No, no. I just cleaned his utensils, soothed patients, administered the chloroform. That kind of thing.”
”You went on his calls with him?”
”Only at the very beginning, and then only for about a week. After that, I helped with his scheduled surgeries.”
”In his exam room.”
”Yes.”
”Like mine?”
”One very much like yours.”
”How often?”
”Whenever he had a surgery scheduled.” Anna shrugged. ”Several days throughout each week, I guess.”
”And you administered chloroform during most of those?”
”During all of them.”
”And when did you quit working for this doctor?”
”A week ago.”
”And during that week, your symptoms steadily decreased?”
”They did.”
Removing his gla.s.ses, he tapped them against his lips. ”I think I can say with complete confidence, Mrs. Denton, that you do not have tuberculosis.”
Her lips parted. Surely he was mistaken. A clock on the mantel chimed three times.
Joe slid into the chair beside her. ”How can that be? I've heard her coughs. Witnessed her breathing difficulties.”
”I've seen tuberculosis in every stage of the illness and in patients of all ages and sizes. Many times over. Your wife doesn't have it.”
”But Doc Maynard is very good. Well respected.”
”Many doctors employ the 'better safe than sorry' philosophy. Tuberculosis is dangerous, and the earlier it's caught, the better the chances the patient has. I think he did the right thing by recommending you take Mrs. Denton to drier climes.”
”But not anymore?”
”No. Drier climes won't help cure your wife.”
”What will?”
”Staying away from chloroform.”
Joe frowned. ”What?”
”For whatever reason, your wife's body has a strong aversion to it.”
Anna shook her head in confusion. ”What are you saying, Dr. Shepard?”
”Think back, Mrs. Denton. Were your symptoms worse while you administered the chloroform, or perhaps right after?”
She searched her mind, then turned to Joe in wonder. ”Why, yes. They were.”
”And they began to improve that week you quit a.s.sisting with surgeries, correct?”
”Yes.”
”At least, they did until you entered my exam room, where I performed a surgery requiring chloroform not thirty minutes before you arrived.”
Hope began to wiggle inside her. Joe reached for her hand.