"Yes?"
"I"d better explain first what happened, and why it happened. Then if you are willing to send him a line, I think it would help. He saw a girl in white in the car and followed in his own machine. He thought it was you, of course. He didn"t like the idea of your going to Schwitter"s.
Carlotta was taken ill. And Schwitter and--and Wilson took her upstairs to a room."
"Do you believe that, K.?"
"I do. He saw Max coming out and misunderstood. He fired at him then."
"He did it for me. I feel very guilty, K., as if it all comes back to me. I"ll write to him, of course. Poor Joe!"
He watched her go down the hall toward the night nurse"s desk. He would have given everything just then for the right to call her back, to take her in his arms and comfort her. She seemed so alone. He himself had gone through loneliness and heartache, and the shadow was still on him.
He waited until he saw her sit down at the desk and take up a pen. Then he went back into the quiet room.
He stood by the bedside, looking down. Wilson was breathing quietly: his color was coming up, as he rallied from the shock. In K."s mind now was just one thought--to bring him through for Sidney, and then to go away.
He might follow Joe to Cuba. There were chances there. He could do sanitation work, or he might try the Ca.n.a.l.
The Street would go on working out its own salvation. He would have to think of something for the Rosenfelds. And he was worried about Christine. But there again, perhaps it would be better if he went away.
Christine"s story would have to work itself out. His hands were tied.
He was glad in a way that Sidney had asked no questions about him, had accepted his new ident.i.ty so calmly. It had been overshadowed by the night tragedy. It would have pleased him if she had shown more interest, of course. But he understood. It was enough, he told himself, that he had helped her, that she counted on him. But more and more he knew in his heart that it was not enough. "I"d better get away from here," he told himself savagely.
And having taken the first step toward flight, as happens in such cases, he was suddenly panicky with fear, fear that he would get out of hand, and take her in his arms, whether or no; a temptation to run from temptation, to cut everything and go with Joe that night. But there his sense of humor saved him. That would be a sight for the G.o.ds, two defeated lovers flying together under the soft September moon.
Some one entered the room. He thought it was Sidney and turned with the light in his eyes that was only for her. It was Carlotta.
She was not in uniform. She wore a dark skirt and white waist and her high heels tapped as she crossed the room. She came directly to him.
"He is better, isn"t he?"
"He is rallying. Of course it will be a day or two before we are quite sure."
She stood looking down at Wilson"s quiet figure.
"I guess you know I"ve been crazy about him," she said quietly. "Well, that"s all over. He never really cared for me. I played his game and I--lost. I"ve been expelled from the school."
Quite suddenly she dropped on her knees beside the bed, and put her cheek close to the sleeping man"s hand. When after a moment she rose, she was controlled again, calm, very white.
"Will you tell him, Dr. Edwardes, when he is conscious, that I came in and said good-bye?"
"I will, of course. Do you want to leave any other message?"
She hesitated, as if the thought tempted her. Then she shrugged her shoulders.
"What would be the use? He doesn"t want any message from me."
She turned toward the door. But K. could not let her go like that. Her face frightened him. It was too calm, too controlled. He followed her across the room.
"What are your plans?"
"I haven"t any. I"m about through with my training, but I"ve lost my diploma."
"I don"t like to see you going away like this."
She avoided his eyes, but his kindly tone did what neither the Head nor the Executive Committee had done that day. It shook her control.
"What does it matter to you? You don"t owe me anything."
"Perhaps not. One way and another I"ve known you a long time."
"You never knew anything very good."
"I"ll tell you where I live, and--"
"I know where you live."
"Will you come to see me there? We may be able to think of something."
"What is there to think of? This story will follow me wherever I go!
I"ve tried twice for a diploma and failed. What"s the use?"
But in the end he prevailed on her to promise not to leave the city until she had seen him again. It was not until she had gone, a straight figure with haunted eyes, that he reflected whimsically that once again he had defeated his own plans for flight.
In the corridor outside the door Carlotta hesitated. Why not go back?
Why not tell him? He was kind; he was going to do something for her.
But the old instinct of self-preservation prevailed. She went on to her room.
Sidney brought her letter to Joe back to K. She was flushed with the effort and with a new excitement.
"This is the letter, K., and--I haven"t been able to say what I wanted, exactly. You"ll let him know, won"t you, how I feel, and how I blame myself?"
K. promised gravely.
"And the most remarkable thing has happened. What a day this has been!
Somebody has sent Johnny Rosenfeld a lot of money. The ward nurse wants you to come back."
The ward had settled for the night. The well-ordered beds of the daytime were chaotic now, torn apart by tossing figures. The night was hot and an electric fan hummed in a far corner. Under its sporadic breezes, as it turned, the ward was trying to sleep.
Johnny Rosenfeld was not asleep. An incredible thing had happened to him. A fortune lay under his pillow. He was sure it was there, for ever since it came his hot hand had clutched it.
He was quite sure that somehow or other K. had had a hand in it. When he disclaimed it, the boy was bewildered.
"It"ll buy the old lady what she wants for the house, anyhow," he said. "But I hope n.o.body"s took up a collection for me. I don"t want no charity."
"Maybe Mr. Howe sent it."
"You can bet your last match he didn"t."
In some unknown way the news had reached the ward that Johnny"s friend, Mr. Le Moyne, was a great surgeon. Johnny had rejected it scornfully.