Chapters (109)
- Part One
- ONE
- One day earlier
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- PART TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- EIGHTY
- EIGHTY-ONE
- EIGHTY-TWO
- EIGHTY-THREE
- EIGHTY-FOUR
- EIGHTY-FIVE
- EIGHTY-SIX
- EIGHTY-SEVEN
- EIGHTY-EIGHT
- EIGHTY-NINE
- NINETY
- NINETY-ONE
- NINETY-TWO
- NINETY-THREE
- NINETY-FOUR
- NINETY-FIVE
- NINETY-SIX
- NINETY-SEVEN
- NINETY-EIGHT
- NINETY-NINE
- GLOSSARY
- Acknowledgments
- Continue reading
- Part One
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
“Should I take you to the ER?” Derek suggested.
Cas shook his head, trying to get through another fit of hacking. “It’s just a cold,” he managed to get out. “What’s the doctor going to say? Rest, drink plenty of fluids.”
“The results of Dad’s autopsy should be ready this week,” Derek said when Cas managed to quiet the paroxysms for a while.
Derek was sitting opposite him in the sitting room. Outside, even before the official start of summer, DC’s heat and humidity were already brutal.
Cas grabbed a handful of tissues and dabbed at his eyes. “It’s tough to lose a friend.” His voice quivered. He looked at Derek and smiled wanly. “And a father, of course.”
“Yes. Thank you, Cas. This isn’t easy for either of us.”
“I’m sorry, Derek. I’ve done an awful thing.”
“How do you mean?”
But Cas had doubled over in another fit, so violent that it sent him to the floor.
“Cas?” Derek got to his feet. “Cas?”
Cas tried to sit upright. “I shouldn’t have—”
But there was no point his trying to talk any further. As the paroxysm worsened, he slumped forward with a kind of whimper, his face now ashen and lips slightly blue.
“Oh, fuck,” Derek said.
It had been a long wait outside in the ER waiting room at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital. Derek had called 911 and after getting to the hospital had to explain his relationship to Cas. They asked, did Cas have any next of kin?
“You’re looking at him,” Derek said. “His wife’s in a nursing home with dementia, his only child hasn’t spoken to him in thirty years, and neither he nor I know where the hell she is. So whatever policies and procedures you have regarding next of kin, you better make this work.”
For two hours, Derek had no idea what was going on in there. Staff came and went, people got called, patients went in and came out. Derek’s butt got so sore from sitting he had to get up and walk. He was numb with misery. His father dead, his father’s friend sick with only God knew what.
Finally, a young—very young—female doctor came out to Derek. Was he getting old or was this a child prodigy?
“We had to intubate Mr. Guttenberg,” she explained. “He was hypoxic breathing on his own. Looks like he has pneumonia, or it could be lung cancer, or both. He’ll be going up to the ICU as soon as we get a bed.”
“Is he going to be okay?” Derek asked. “In other words, should I stick around for a while?”