by David Chill
"You're quite the fountain of wisdom," I remarked, thinking back on my most recent business trip, and the dalliance that was offered up to me by Haley, who was simultaneously comely and predatory. The temptation was there, but so was the feeling that such a tryst would not end well.
"Second marriages can do that to a person. Socrates once said that when a man has a good wife, he becomes very happy. Want to know what he said about a man who has a not-so-good wife?"
"You're going to tell me regardless, aren't you?"
"He becomes a philosopher."
We both smiled. Leslie and I had married right after college. Neither of us dated much, we just blended together nicely, comfortable in the way a fuzzy, old sweater made you feel warm. Leslie was slender and pretty, she had those soft, delicate doe eyes that could tug on my heartstrings as well as light up my heart. We shared the same approach to politics, which is to say we enjoyed the strategy of a campaign more than getting into the nitty-gritty that came later, the wonky aspect of public policies, the actual act of governing.
"So, what's the diagnosis, Doc? Am I going to make it?"
Eli did not answer right away, instead he turned back again and wrote something in his folder. He looked down at it for a few seconds and then jotted down an address on a small slip of paper. Handing it to me, he gave me a long, concerned look.
"I think you need to go in for a chest x-ray," he said.
"Why?"
"I heard some wheezing. And the pain is in an unusual area. Might be something, might be nothing. But you should get it checked out. The imaging center is a block away. It'll only take a few minutes."
I nodded, a bit puzzled, but I didn't inquire further. Eli was telling me all he knew, and like a good doctor and a better friend, he was not going to speculate. I didn't want him to, either. I looked down at my phone and checked my afternoon schedule. Aside from returning a few phone calls, I was free.
"Sold," I said, putting on my shirt before Eli walked me to the exit. I was about to say goodbye and suggest we get together for a family barbecue soon, but one of the nurses came out from her station, phone in hand, a puzzled expression on her face as she addressed me.
"Mr. Baker?"
"Yes?" I said.
"I have this vice president calling you."
Eli looked at me curiously. "You're having your calls forwarded to my office?"
I shook my head. "No. In fact, I didn't think anyone knew my schedule today. Except maybe Wanda, my project director. I just finished a meeting with Garter. Maybe it's their VP of marketing."
"Why would they be calling you here?" Eli asked.
"No clue. I suppose I could have left something behind at her office. But I can't imagine how she could have tracked me here."
"No, sir," the nurse said, a little more emphatically. "That's not it. Not at all."
"What do you mean?"
"I have the vice president on the phone," she said a little more emphatically.
"Which one?" I asked.
"The vice president," she repeated, starting to get annoyed, "of the United States."
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