The Nurse Novel

by Alice Brennan

  “Four, please,” she said as he reached for the button.

  “Four it is.”

  He gazed down at her reflectively as the cage started its upward journey. “Would you by any chance be free this evening, Miss Raleigh? I might see what kind of seats I can get for that new musical everyone’s raving about.”

  “Why—why—” She sounded suddenly breathless. “That would be lovely!”

  For over a week he stalled each time Coralee phoned to invite him to dinner, saying he had a date with Janet. And Janet obligingly kept him from being a liar as they found interesting little cafés, sometimes dancing, or going to movies afterward.

  But one evening, before he had an excuse ready to stall him off, Graham insisted on taking him home to dinner.

  “Coralee will have my scalp if I don’t bring you home soon,” he stated flatly. “She’s anxious to make amends, too.”

  “There’s nothing to amend,” David protested, but he saw that his friend would be offended if he refused.

  The evening was without incident until Coralee began to insist that he must give a housewarming to initiate his new apartment.

  “I’ll be glad to help you,” she offered cordially.

  “You’d better take her up on that,” Graham chimed in. “She’s an expert in the field.”

  “I’m sorry,” David said stiffly, keeping his fingers crossed and hoping that once again Janet would change his lie into the truth. “I’ve made all my plans and Janet Raleigh has promised to help. You’ll be getting your invitation soon.”

  The next morning Janet responded eagerly to his hasty request, and they had fun making plans together. She confessed to very little cooking experience, so she looked up a good catering service. Her capable handling of the rest of the hostess duties did more to make it a good party than if she’d been the best cook in the world.

  At the end of the gala evening, while other guests were leaving, Coralee congratulated David and Janet on the party’s success. But her eyes had been hard as marbles as she watched Janet play the role she’d wanted herself.

  “How about you two playing golf with us some Sunday morning?” she invited, linking her arm in Graham’s as she faced Janet and David. “How about next Sunday?” David and Janet agreed.

  It was a warm March morning and the Lomacita golf course was crowded. So was the shady terrace in front of the clubhouse where players waiting their turn to tee off sat drinking at the small tables.

  “Ye gods, it certainly should be our turn soon,” Coralee grumbled as the foursome at the next table got up in answer to a name called over the loudspeaker. “We’ve been waiting almost an hour.”

  “Maybe we’ll be up next,” Graham said, patting her hand. “At least we have a pleasant place to wait.”

  Janet hadn’t been talking much. She seemed content to sip strong black coffee and let her gaze roam over the hills studded with golfers and their carts.

  Janet was an easy girl to be with, David reflected. She didn’t make demands, and was at ease in any social situation.

  It’s her poise that makes her so darned attractive, he thought, watching her. Of course, the red curls helped, and that cute, freckled nose. But she wasn’t seductively beautiful like Coralee who was exciting even when she fidgeted and fussed as she was doing now.

  There was a typical difference in the way they dressed, though they both wore sports clothes. Coralee’s lime green skirt and sweater molded the contours of her slim body. She wore large disc earrings of the same color, and a heavy jangling bracelet that she’d probably dump in Graham’s pocket after her first swing with a club.

  Janet’s gray jersey outfit was more loose-fitting, but faultlessly tailored, with an inconspicuous elegance that indicated she was more interested in value than display. Her discrimination in clothes seemed a part of her poise, though she didn’t lose it when garbed in the uniform of a student nurse. That is, he hadn’t seen her lose her poise since that day, about six weeks ago, when something Miss Andrews had said was more than she could take.

  The thought of Miss Andrews reminded him of a rumor that had been going around.

  “Say, Graham, what’s this I hear about Daisy Andrews being transferred to surgery?” He gave Janet a teasing grin. “That should be good news for you.”

  “Is it true?” she asked, looking startled.

  “I’ve heard it’s pretty definite,” Graham admitted thoughtfully. “She’s to assist Ann Preston, beginning a week from tomorrow. I can’t imagine Daisy’s very happy about it. She doesn’t hanker to be anybody’s assistant—she likes to be the whole cheese. But I think Mildred has finally concluded that the old gal hasn’t the right temperament for a supervisor.”

  “I hope I wasn’t the cause of her transfer,” Janet said in a small, uneasy voice.

  “Don’t worry about it,” David told her. “She can’t hurt you in surgery, and it will take the pressure off for a while.”

  “For a while, yes—but I’ll be working in surgery someday, if I last that long.”

  “Well, by that time…” Graham began, stopping short as the loudspeaker squawked his name.

  “Dr. Burns… Dr. Graham Burns…”

  They gulped the last of their coffee and trundled their carts over to the number one tee. The girls played first, both of them driving fairly straight. The men outdistanced them, Graham slicing to the left, David hooking far to the right.

  “I’ll meet you all on the green some day,” David chuckled as they started down the fairway.

  They paused for Janet to play her ball, which headed for the green. A few feet further Coralee took her second shot, which veered sharply to the right.

  Coralee laughed. “David’s hook must be contagious! We’ll see you folks later.”

  That was no hook, David told himself grimly. He could be mistaken, but he had a sneaking hunch she had deliberately aimed her ball that way.

  He hoped he was mistaken. They hadn’t been alone together since her tantrum the day he moved into his apartment.

  For a while she said nothing as they walked together toward their balls. Then she sighed deeply and said, “This is like old times, David—like that first week, when we looked at houses all morning and—well, before anything happened. I wish it was still like that.”

  “So do I!” he agreed fervently. “I’m as sorry for what happened as you are.”

  “Could we pretend it never happened?”

  “Sure!” He grinned down at her. “That’s fine with me.”

  Her flashing smile answered his grin. “You mean we can go back to playing golf, swimming, going places…”

  “I don’t mean anything of the sort! Not unless Graham’s along, of course.”

  “Oh.” The old flatness was back in her voice.

  They found his ball first and he lofted it with a good shot toward the green. When they came to hers she took a practice swing, then paused with her club resting behind the ball.

  “You like that little nurse pretty well, don’t you?” she asked, her eyes narrowed slightly.

  “She’s a nice kid. We have fun together.”

  “She’s the one with all the money, isn’t she?”

  “I’ve no idea. We haven’t discussed finances. Go ahead and play.”

  “Are you in love with her, David?”

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake! I haven’t considered the subject! Will you please take your shot, Coralee? Graham and Janet are watching, and there’s another foursome waiting to tee off.”

  She took an easy swing that sent her ball after his. She was a good golfer, especially her short game. She could control her ball like a pro.

  For the next half a dozen holes her ball control was too good for David’s peace of mind. And even when she dubbed a shot, it was becoming increasingly clear what she was trying to do. Her drive from the tee was never as l
ong as his, but her second or third shot was deliberately aimed at the spot where his ball had landed. Then she’d stall and chat while he politely waited for her to play on.

  It was when they both had to blast out of a sand trap that he finally called her on it.

  “Look, Coralee, you’re being pretty obvious, don’t you think? From your last lie, a simple shot with your seven-iron should have taken you to the green. So why did you deliberately aim for this trap?”

  She smiled up at him provocatively, making no move to play her ball. “You said it’s obvious, Dave, so why ask?”

  “Can’t you see how it’s irritating Graham?”

  Her eyes darkened reproachfully and she thrust her lower lip into a pout. “If you’d spend a little time with me now and then when he isn’t around, he wouldn’t be irritated.”

  “That would be worse! Coralee, you promised…”

  “I didn’t promise to let a mistake ruin my whole life! David, I told you this marriage was a mistake, and it gets worse all the time. I can’t go on any longer. I’ve made up my mind to give Graham back to Mildred. That’s where he belongs!”

  “Coralee, no! A man can’t be handed back and forth like property! You married for better or worse, and it’s up to you to make him happy! Now go ahead and blast your ball out of this sand before Graham comes over to see what’s holding us up. He’s watching now—can’t you see?”

  She took a tense grip on her club, addressed the ball for a long moment, then relaxed and raised a tear-drenched gaze to him.

  “David, if I were free… I mean, when I’m free, because I’ve got to have my freedom! Will you wait for me, Dave? Will I have a chance with you?”

  He’d better end this once and for all, he thought grimly, alarm over the situation making his voice harsh as he said, “Coralee, get this straight! You wouldn’t have a chance in the world! I’m not in the market, and I wouldn’t want you anyway! I don’t like girls who throw themselves at me. So cut out this monkey business and be a decent wife to the man you…”

  He didn’t see the club start its swing. He was so startled by the ugliness of the rage that twisted her face he almost didn’t sidestep in time to dodge the swinging clubhead aimed straight for his temple.

  He caught the shaft of the club and wrenched it from her grasp to slam it to the ground. Sobbing, she flew at him, slapping him wildly first on one cheek then the other before he could grasp her flailing arms and pinion them.

  “For God’s sake, stop it, Coralee! You’re making a scene, and people are waiting for us!”

  “You—you brute!” she sobbed, struggling to free her arms. “I hate you!”

  “That’s fine!” He released her so abruptly she staggered back and almost fell. “Just keep on hating me—then maybe you won’t make a mess of everything!”

  He turned to look for her club just as Graham came striding up, bewilderment and exasperation furrowing his brow.

  “What the devil’s going on over here?” he demanded.

  Coralee whirled about and flung herself in his arms. “Graham, darling!” she gasped on a sobbing breath. “He insulted me! I’ll never speak to him again!”

  “What’s this all about?” Graham asked, scowling at David over Coralee’s head as he held her close.

  “You’ll have to ask Coralee,” David said stiffly. “I meant no insult.”

  “He’s lying!” Coralee sobbed. Then, lifting tearful, beseeching eyes, she said, “Graham, darling, let’s play on by ourselves. I can’t stand being with him now.”

  “Of course, dear.”

  Giving David a hard, suspicious, but still bewildered glance, he picked up Coralee’s club and ball, carried them back to her cart, then on to the green where he was ready to putt out. Coralee clung to his arm, chatting nervously all the way.

  David wondered how she was reporting the incident. He couldn’t very well hurt Graham by telling him the truth, so he supposed their friendship would be strained from now on.

  But remembering the night after Coralee’s drunken tantrum, when Graham had persisted in confiding how very much his wife meant to him, it seemed better to sacrifice their friendship than to endanger his marriage.

  David waited until Graham and Coralee had putted out and replaced the flag. Then he exploded his ball out of the trap, up onto the green.

  Janet was waiting for him, her ball lying on the apron.

  “Dr. Burns says we’re continuing as twosomes,” she said wonderingly. “What on earth happened?”

  “Coralee took exception to something I said,” he told her wryly. “Sometimes she’s rather hard to get along with.”

  “I had an idea she might be,” Janet said sympathetically. “It’s too bad, too. Dr. Burns seems like such a wonderful person. I hope this won’t spoil your friendship.”

  She took a nice shot that sent her ball near his, both so close to the cup they conceded the putts, for players behind were waiting.

  He was glad that Janet asked no more questions about the incident, for he didn’t want to explain.

  Graham and Coralee kept just ahead of them all the rest of the way, often making them wait to putt or drive. No words were spoken, the couple ignoring them as if they weren’t there.

  The seventeenth was a short par, three hole, with the tee on a hill above the green. Graham and Coralee were still waiting for the foursome ahead to putt when David and Janet arrived at the tee. The foursome following had joined them behind the bench when Coralee got up to drive. Her ball landed neatly on the green, and Graham took his place at the tee.

  Something about Graham’s stance alarmed David immediately. The man didn’t seem quite steady on his legs as he shuffled his feet about, and he was definitely off balance as he brought his club up for the backswing.

  He stood there for a long, insecure moment, as if posing for a photograph, then the clubhead began to shake. He brought it down in a swift but uncertain arc, missed the ball completely and sent his club hurtling down the hillside as he collapsed in an unconscious heap on the tee.

  “Phone for an ambulance, quick!” David told Janet as he rushed to his stricken friend. “Get someone with a motored cart to drive you to the clubhouse!”

  Janet was gone before he’d finished speaking. Coralee was gasping beside him as he bent over Graham and felt for a pulse.

  “Is he dead?” she moaned on a sobbing breath. “Oh, David, have I killed him?”

  “He’s not dead,” David said, feeling the strong but irregular beat of the pulse. Noting the whiteness of his skin, however, the blue lips and purple-tinged eyelids, David added shakily, “He’s not dead—but it looks like one hell of a coronary!”

  Chapter 11

  Coralee was waiting for him in the solarium when he came from Graham’s room.

  “Oh, David, how is he?” she cried, starting to fling herself upon him, then holding back. “Is he going to be all right?” Her lashes were still damp, her face was pale, her full lips red with weeping, and she was wringing her hands in anguish that looked genuine.

  David’s voice was gentle as he answered, “I really don’t know, Coralee. He seems to be pulling out of it okay. Dr. Claibourne thinks it’s heart block, but I’m not sure.”

  “Don’t be technical, Dave, please! Just tell me—was I the cause of his—his heart attack?”

  He sighed and regarded her with helpless compassion. “I can’t answer that either, Coralee. You should be able to judge better than I. Emotions are often a factor in heart disease, but there are others, some may even be congenital. However, a strong emotion added to the factors already present is often the precipitating cause.”

  “I said don’t get technical!” Her voice had risen, but she controlled it as she went on unhappily, “Dave, I’m sorry about my lousy behavior this morning. I’d apologize all over the place if it would do any good. I want you to know I’m so
rry, anyway.”

  “Okay. If you really mean that, we’ll forget it.”

  “I do mean it, Dave. I’m afraid I helped bring on his attack—fouling up your friendship. Though I’m sure the real trouble is in our marriage itself. We just aren’t suited to each other. He’d be a lot better off with Mildred—but here I am trapped with him now because he’s sick!”

  “Trapped?” he chided, anger stirring in him again.

  “I can’t help it, Dave!” Her tears spilled over once more. “That’s the way I feel. I’d made up my mind to ask for a divorce, but how can I now? Not till he’s all well—and no one will tell how long that will take!”

  “Is that all you’re concerned about? How long before he’s well enough for you to get a divorce?”

  She shook her head. “No, Dave, I’m not that callous. I told you I’m fond of him—that’s why I didn’t break up our marriage long ago. It would be better if I had, better for him, too. Because even if Mildred wouldn’t take him back before, this illness would bring her around, and she’d mother him and care for him the way I—I just can’t.”

  “You can try.”

  “I will, David! Believe me, I’ll do my best! I’ll do everything I can to make up for our terrible mistake. And when I say our marriage was a mistake, I mean it was my fault. I came between him and the wife who is right for him. She helped him become a success. She bore his children…” Covering her face with her hands to stifle a sob, she drew a shuddering sigh and gazed up at him with such misery in her tear-drenched eyes he couldn’t help feeling sorry for her.

  “David, you don’t know how horrible it is to realize you’ve done a terrible thing, and not know how to undo it. Sometimes I despise myself so bitterly I don’t see how I can go on. If I had the courage I’d blow my brains out or—”

  “Coralee! Don’t talk like that!”

  “I would!” Once again she covered her face with her trembling hands and sobbed, swaying as if she might fall.

  He took her shoulders in a stern grasp. “I know it’s tough, Coralee, but this is your chance to prove what you’re made of. Do what you know is right; help Graham get well by behaving like an adoring wife. Treat him as if he’s the most precious person in the world to you, and by the time he’s well, maybe you’ll find that he is.”