Nana shrugged the whole thing off. “I fell down, went boom, in the kitchen. Always hoped it would be there. Damon and Jannie were just great, Alex. About time they started taking care of me for a change.”

She laughed, and so did Dr. Coles. I was glad they both saw the humor in the situation.

“You're still here. It's past nine,” I said to the doctor.

She smiled. Good bedside manner, or whatever this was. “We were having so much fun I decided to stay for a while. I still have one more stop, but Mr. Bryant doesn't get off work until ten.”

“And,” I said, 'you were waiting for me to get home.“ ”Yes, I thought that would be the best idea. Nana says you work late a lot of nights. Could we talk for a minute?"

Alex Cross 8 - Four Blind Mice

Chapter Eighty-Seven

The two of us stepped out onto the front porch. Heavy rain was pelting down on the overhang and the air was damp and cool. The good doctor pulled a gray car sweater around herself.

“I've already had this chat with your grandmother,” she said. “Nana asked that I talk to you, answer all your questions. I would never go behind her back, or condescend to her in any way.”

“That's a good idea,”I said. “I think you'd find that she's awfully hard to condescend to.”

Kayla suddenly laughed. “OK, I know. I Had your rvarva sorry, Mrs. Regina Hope Cross in eighth grade. She's still probably the most inspirational teacher I've had. That includes undergraduate at Brandeis and medical school at Tufts. Thought I would flash my resume by you.”

“Okay, I'm impressed. So what's the matter with Nana?”

Kayla sighed. “She's getting old, Alex. She admits to eighty-two. The tests we took at St. Anthony's won't come back until some time tomorrow or the next day. The lab boys will call me, then I'll call Nana myself. My concern? She's been having palpitations for several weeks. Dizziness, lightheadedness, shortness of breath. She tell you?”

I shook my head. Suddenly I felt more than a little embarrassed. “I had no idea. She told me she was feeling fine. There was a rough morning a couple of weeks back, but no complaints from her since.”

"She doesn't want you to worry about her. When she was at St. Anthony's we did an EKG, an echocardiogram, routine lab work. As I mentioned, her heartbeat is irregular.

“On the positive side of things, there's no sign of edema. Her lungs are clear. No evidence that she's suffered a stroke, even a slight one. Nana has very good general muscle strength for somebody her age, or even younger.”

“So what happened to her? You have any idea?”

“We'll have the test results in a day. Dr. Redd in the lab was in Nana's class, too. If I was to hazard a guess, I would say atrial fibrillation. This involves the two small upper chambers of the heart, the atria. They seem to be quivering, rather than beating effectively. There's some risk of clotting.”