We'd reached the Malibu and Jack opened the
passenger door for me, but for a moment I just
stood there looking at him, thunderstruckHadlock got talking at your
reception after the lecture, and DrKamen just
happened to mention that he was concerned because
you still hadn't had the checkup you'd been
promising to getHadlock volunteered to give
you one
"Volunteered," I said
Jack nodded, smiling in the bright Florida
sunshineImpossibly young, with a canary-yellow
copy of Mortuary Science for Dummies tucked under
his armKamen they couldn't let
anything happen to such an important newly624
discovered talentAnd just for the record, I
agree
"Thanks a pantload, Jack"You're a trip, Edgar
"May I assume I'm also chilly?"
"Yup, you're a http://www.ooluxury.com/scategory_2_Chanel.html" target="_blank bad refrigeratorGet in, and let's
get back over the bridge while we still can
iii
As it happened, we got to DrHadlock's Beneva
Road office on the dotFreemantle's Theorem of
Office Waiting states that one must add thirty
minutes to the time of one's appointment to arrive
at the time one is actually seen, but in this case
I was pleasantly surprisedThe receptionist
called my name at only ten past the hour and
ushered me into a cheerful examination room where
a poster to my left depicted a heart drowning in
fat and one to my right showed a lung that looked
charbroiledThe eye-chart directly ahead was a
relief, even though I wasn't much good after the
sixth line
625
A nurse came in, put a thermometer under my tongue,
took my pulse, http://www.ualuxury.com/search_0_0_0_chanel pink_1.html" target="_blank wrapped a blood pressure cuff
around my arm, inflated it, studied the readout
When I asked her how I was doing, she smiled
noncommittally and said, "You pass Then she drew
bloodAfter that I retired to the bathroom with a
plastic cup, sending Kamen bitter vibes as I
unzipped my flyA one-armed man can provide a
urine sample, but the potential for accidents is
greatly magnified
When I returned to the exam room, the nurse was
goneShe had left a folder with my name on it
Beside the folder was a red penMy stump gave a
twingeWithout thinking about what I was doing, I
took the pen and put it in my pants pocketThere
was a blue Bic clipped to my shirt pocketI took
it out and put it where the red pen had been lying
And what are you going to say http://www.ualuxury.com" target="_blank when she comes back?
I asked myselfThat the Pen Fairy came in and
decided to make a swap?
Before I could answer that question - or consider
why I had stolen the red pen to begin with - Gene
Hadlock came in and offered his handwhich in my case was the right oneI
626
found I liked him quite a lot better when he was
divorced from Principe, the goateed neurologist
He was about sixty, a little on the pudgy side,
with a white mustache of the toothbrush variety
and a pleasant examining-table mannerHe had me
strip down to my shorts and examined my right leg
and side at some lengthHe prodded me in several
places, enquiring about the level of painHe
asked me what I was taking for painkillers and
seemed surprised when I told him I was getting http://www.muluxury.com/category_27_Chanel-Watches_1.html" target="_blank by
on aspirin
"I'm going to examine your stump," he said"That
all right?"
"Yes
I sat with my left hand resting on my bare left
thigh, looking at the eye-chart as he grasped my
shoulder with one hand and cupped my stump in the
otherThe seventh line on the chart looked like
AGODSEDA god said what? I wondered
From somewhere, very distant, I felt faint
pressureNo, don't look down, just keep looking
straight aheadDo you feel my hand?"
"Uh-huhWhy
would there be? The arm that was no longer there
had wanted the pen, and the pen was in my pocket,
so now the arm was asleep again
"And how about this, Edgar? May I call you Edgar?"
"Anything but late to dinnerOne hand was still on my shoulder, but
the other was at his sideNowhere near the http://www.muluxury.com/category_5_Dior_1.html" target="_blank stum