Finally, her mind gave in to fatigue, and she fell asleep.

Almost instantly, it seemed, she was awakened by a voice that said, “Hey there, are you okay?” She opened her eyes and saw Brody sitting on the end of the bed.

She yawned. “What time is it?”

“Almost six.”

“Oh-oh. I’ve got to pick up Sean. Phyllis Santos must be having a fit.”

“I got him,” said Brody. “I figured I’d better, once I couldn’t reach you.”

“You tried to reach me?”

“A couple of times. I tried you at the hospital at around two. They said they thought you’d come home.”

“That’s right. I did. I felt awful. My thyroid pills aren’t doing what they should. So I came home.”

“Then I tried to reach you here.”

“My, it must have been important.”

“No, it was nothing important. If you must know, I was calling to apologize for whatever I did that got you upset last night.”

A twinge of shame struck Ellen, but it passed, and she said, “You’re sweet, but don’t worry. I’d already forgotten about it.”

“Oh,” said Brody. He waited a moment to see if she was going to say anything else, and when it was clear she wasn’t, he said, “So where were you?”

“I told you, here!” The words came out more harshly than she had intended. “I came home and went to bed, and that’s where you found me.”

“And you didn’t hear the phone? It’s right there.” Brody pointed to the bed table near the other side of the bed.

“No, I …” She started to say she had turned the phone off, but then she remembered that this particular phone couldn’t be turned off all the way. “I took a pill. The moaning of the damned won’t wake me after I’ve taken one of those pills.”

Brody shook his head. “I really am going to throw those damn things down the john. You’re turning into a junkie.” He stood and went into the bathroom.

Ellen heard him flip up the toilet seat and begin to urinate—a loud, powerful, steady stream that went on and on and on. She smiled. Until today, she had assumed Brody was some kind of urinary freak: he could go for almost a day without urinating. Then, when he did pee, he seemed to pee forever. Long ago, she had concluded that his bladder was the size of a watermelon. Now she knew that huge bladder capacity was simply a male trait. Now, she said to herself, I am a woman of the world.

“Have you heard from Hooper?” Brody called over the noise of the endless stream.

Ellen thought for a moment about her response, then said, “He called this morning, just to say thank you. Why?”

“I tried to get hold of him today, too. Around midday and a couple of times during the afternoon. The hotel said they didn’t know where he was. What time did he call here?”

“Just after you left for work.”