Nothing Lasts Forever

by Sidney Sheldon

Chapter Nine

  Time had lost all meaning for Paige. There was no beginning and no end, and the days and nights flowed into one another in a seamless rhythm. The hospital had become her whole life. The outside world was a foreign, faraway planet.

  Christmas came and went, and a new year began. In the world outside, U. S. troops liberated Kuwait from Iraq.

  There was no word from Alfred. He'll find out he made a mistake, Paige thought. He'll come back to me.

  The early morning crank telephone calls had stopped as suddenly as they had started. Paige was relieved that no new mysterious or threatening incidents had befallen her. It was almost as if they had all been a bad dream . . . except, of course, they hadn't been.

  The routine continued to be frantic. There was no time to know patients. They were simply gallbladders and ruptured livers, fractured femurs and broken backs.

  The hospital was a jungle filled with mechanical demons - respirators, heart rate monitors, CAT scan equipment, X-ray machines. And each had its own peculiar sound. There were whistles, and buzzers, and the constant chatter on the PA system, and they all blended into a loud, insane cacophony.

  The second year of residency was a rite of passage. The residents moved up to more demanding duties and watched the new group come in, feeling a mixture of scorn and arrogance toward them.

  "Those poor devils," Kat said to Paige. "They have no idea what they're in for. "

  "They'll find out soon enough. "

  Paige and Honey were becoming worried about Kat. She was losing weight, and seemed depressed. In the middle of conversations, they would find Kat looking off into space, her mind preoccupied. From time to time, she would receive a mysterious phone call, and after each one her depression seemed to worsen.

  Paige and Honey sat down to have a talk with her.

  "Is everything all right?" Paige asked. "You know we love you, and if there's a problem, we'd like to help. "

  "Thanks. I appreciate it, but there's nothing you can do. It's a money problem. "

  Honey looked at her in surprise. "What do you need money for? We never go anyplace. We haven't any time to buy anything. We - "

  "It's not for me. It's for my brother. " Kat had not mentioned her brother before.

  "I didn't know you had a brother," Paige said.

  "Does he live in San Francisco?" Honey asked.

  Kat was hesitant. "No. He lives back East. In Detroit. You'll have to meet him one day. "

  "We'd like to. What does he do?"

  "He's kind of an entrepreneur," Kat said vaguely. "He's a little down on his luck right now, but Mike will bounce back. He always does. " I hope to God I'm right, Kat thought.

  Harry Bowman had transferred from a residency program in Iowa. He was a good-humored, happy-go-lucky fellow who went out of his way to be pleasant to everyone.

  One day, he said to Paige, "I'm giving a little party tomorrow night. If you and Dr. Hunter and Dr. Taft are free, why don't you come? I think you'll have a good time. "

  "Fine," Paige said. "What shall we bring?"

  Bowman laughed. "Don't bring anything. "

  "Are you sure?" Paige asked. "A bottle of wine, or. . . "

  "Forget it! It's going to be at my little apartment. "

  Bowman's little apartment turned out to be a ten-room penthouse, filled with antique furniture.

  The three women walked in and stared in amazement.

  "My God!" Kat said. "Where did all this come from?"

  "I was smart enough to have a clever father," Bowman said. "He left all his money to me. "

  "And you're working?" Kat marveled.

  Bowman smiled. "I like being a doctor. "

  The buffet consisted of Beluga Malossol caviar, pate de campagne, smoked Scottish salmon, oysters on the half shell, backfin lump crabmeat, crudites with a shallot vinaigrette dressing, and Cristal champagne.

  Bowman had been right. The three of them did have a wonderful time.

  "I can't thank you enough," Paige told Bowman at the end of the evening when they were leaving.

  "Are you free Saturday?" he asked.

  "Yes. "

  "I have a little motorboat. I'll take you out for a spin. Sounds great. "

  At four o'clock in the morning, Kat was awakened out of a deep sleep in the on-call room. "Dr. Hunter, Emergency Room Three. . . . Dr. Hunter, Emergency Three. "

  Kat got out of bed, fighting exhaustion. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she took the elevator down to the ER.

  An orderly greeted her at the door. "He's over on the gurney in the corner. He's in a lot of pain. "

  Kat walked over to him. "I'm Dr. Hunter," she said sleepily.

  He groaned. "Jesus, doc. You've got to do somethin'. My back is killin' me. "

  Kat stifled a yawn. "How long have you been in pain?"

  "About two weeks. "

  Kat was looking at him, puzzled. "Two weeks? Why didn't you come in sooner?"

  He tried to move, and winced. "To tell you the truth, I hate hospitals. "

  "Then why are you coming in now?"

  He brightened. "There's a big golf tournament coming up, and if you don't fix my back, I won't be able to enjoy it. "

  Kat took a deep breath. "A golf tournament. "

  "Yeah. "

  She was fighting to control herself. "I'll tell you what. Go home. Take two aspirins, and if you aren't feeling better in the morning give me a call. " She turned and stormed out of the room, leaving him gaping after her.

  Harry Bowman's little motorboat was a sleek fifty-foot motor cruiser.

  "Welcome aboard!" he said as he greeted Paige, Kat, and Honey at the dock.

  Honey looked at the boat admiringly.

  "It's beautiful," Paige said.

  They cruised around the bay for three hours, enjoying the warm, sunny day. It was the first time any of them had relaxed in weeks.

  While they were anchored off Angel Island, eating a delicious lunch, Kat said, "This is the life. Let's not go back to shore. "

  "Good thinking," Honey said.

  All in all, it was a heavenly day.

  When they returned to the dock, Paige said, "I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed this. "

  "It's been my pleasure. " Bowman patted her arm.

  "We'll do it again. Anytime. You three are always welcome. " What a lovely man, Paige thought.

  Honey liked working in obstetrics. It was a ward filled with new life and new hope, in a timeless, joyful ritual.

  The first-time mothers were eager and apprehensive. The veterans could not wait to get it over with.

  One of the women who was about to deliver said to Honey, "Thank God! I'll be able to see my toes again. "

  If Paige had kept a diary, she would have marked the fifteenth of August as a red-letter day. That was the day Jimmy Ford came into her life.

  Jimmy was a hospital orderly, with the brightest smile and the sunniest disposition Paige had ever seen. He was small and thin, and looked seventeen. He was twenty-five, and moved around the hospital corridors like a cheerful tornado. Nothing was too much trouble for him.

  He was constantly running errands for everyone. He had absolutely no sense of status and treated doctors, nurses, and janitors alike.

  Jimmy Ford loved to tell jokes.

  "Did you hear about the patient in a body cast? The fellow in the bed next to him asked him what he did for a living".

  He said, "I was a window washer at the Empire State Building. "

  The other fellow said, "When did you quit?"

  "Halfway down. "

  And Jimmy would grin and hurry off to help somebody.

  He adored Paige. "I'm going to be a doctor one day. I want to be like you. "

  He would bring her little presents - candy bars, and stuffed toys. A joke went with each gift.

  "In Houston, a man stopped a pedestrian and asked, 'What's the quickest way to
the hospital?"

  "Say something bad about Texas. "

  The jokes were terrible, but Jimmy made them sound funny.

  He would arrive at the hospital the same time as Paige, and he would race up to her on his motorcycle.

  "The patient asked, 'Will my operation be dangerous?'"

  "And the surgeon said, 'No. You can't get a dangerous operation for two hundred dollars. '"

  And he would be gone.

  Whenever Paige, Kat, and Honey were free on the same day, they went out exploring San Francisco. They visited the Dutch Mill and the Japanese Tea Garden. They went to Fisherman's Wharf and rode the cable car. They went to see plays at the Curran Theater, and had dinner at the Maharani on Post Street. All the waiters were Indian, and to the astonishment of Kat and Honey, Paige addressed them in Hindi.

  "Hum Hindustani bant bahut ocho bolta hi. " And from that moment, the restaurant was theirs.

  "Where in the world did you learn to talk Indian?" Honey asked.

  "Hindi," Paige said. She hesitated. "We . . . I lived in India for a while. " It was still so vivid. She and Alfred were at Agra, staring at the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan built that for his wife. It took twenty years, Alfred.

  I'm going to build you a Taj Mahal. I don't care how long it takes!

  This is Karen Turner. My wife.

  She heard her name called, and turned.

  "Paige . . . " There was a look of concern on Kat's face. "Are you all right?"

  "Fine. I'm fine. "

  The impossible hours continued. Another New Year's Eve came and went, and the second year slid into the third, and nothing had changed. The hospital was untouched by the outside world. The wars and famines and disasters of far-off countries paled by comparison with the life-and-death crises they coped with twenty-four hours a day.

  Whenever Kat and Paige met in the hospital corridors, Kat would grin and say, "Having a good time?"

  "When did you sleep last?" Paige asked.

  Kat sighed. "Who can remember?"

  They stumbled through the long days and nights, trying to keep up with the incessant, demanding pressure, grabbing sandwiches when they had time, and drinking cold coffee out of paper cups.

  The sexual harassment seemed to have become a part of Kat's life. There were the constant innuendos not only from the doctors, but also from patients who tried to get her into bed. They got the same response as the doctors. There's not a man in the world I'll let touch me.

  And she really believed it.

  In the middle of a busy morning, there was another telephone call from Mike.

  "Hi, sis. "

  And Kat knew what was coming. She had sent him all the money she could spare, but deep down inside, she knew that whatever she sent would never be enough.

  "I hate like hell to bother you, Kat. I really do. But I got into a small jam. " His voice sounded strained.

  "Mike . . . are you all right?"

  "Oh, yeah. It's nothing serious. It's just that I owe somebody who needs his money back right away, and I was wondering . . . "

  "I'll see what I can do," Kat said wearily.

  "Thanks. I can always count on you, can't I, sis? I love you. "

  "I love you, too, Mike. "

  One day, Kat said to Paige and Honey, "Do you know what we all need?"

  "A month's sleep?"

  "A vacation. That's where we should be, strolling down the Champs Elysees, looking in all those expensive shop windows. "

  "Right. First-class all the way!" Paige giggled. "We'll sleep all day and play all night. "

  Honey laughed. "Sounds good. "

  "We have some vacation time coming up in a few months," Paige observed. "Why don't we make some plans for the three of us to go away somewhere?"

  "That's a great idea," Kat said enthusiastically. "Saturday, let's stop in at a travel agency. "

  They „ spent the next three days excitedly making plans.

  "I'm dying to see London. Maybe we'll run into the queen. "

  "Paris is where I want to go. It's supposed to be the most romantic city in the world. "

  "I want to ride a gondola in the moonlight in Venice. "

  Maybe we'll go to Venice on our honeymoon, Paige, Alfred had said. Would you like that?

  Oh, yes!

  She wondered if Alfred had taken Karen to Venice on their honeymoon.

  Saturday morning the three of them stopped in at the Corniche Travel Agency on Powell Street.

  The woman behind the counter was polite. "What kind of trip are you interested in?"

  "We'd like to go to Europe - London, Paris, Venice . . . "

  "Lovely. We have some economical package tours that - "

  "No, no, no. " Paige looked at Honey and grinned. "First-class. "

  "Right. First-class air travel," Kat chimed in.

  "First-class hotels," Honey added.

  "Well, I can recommend the Ritz in London, the Crillon in Paris, the Cipriani in Venice, and - "

  Paige said, "Why don't we just take some brochures with us? We can study them and make up our minds. "

  "That will be fine," the travel agent said.

  Paige was looking at a brochure. "You arrange yacht charters, too?"

  "Yes. "

  "Good. We may be chartering one. "

  "Excellent. " The travel agent collected a handful of brochures and handed them to Paige. "Whenever you're ready, just let me know and I'll be happy to make your reservations. "

  "You'll hear from us," Honey promised.

  When they got outside, Kat laughed and said, "Nothing like dreaming big, is there?"

  "Don't worry," Paige assured her. "One day we'll be able to go to all those places. "