Moments later, Cam sat on the edge of the exam table with his parents nearby. He was understandably edgy.
“Do you know a girl named Susie Banks from the TPI, a violin player, a good one at that?” Lee asked.
Cam thought it over and gave a nod. “Yeah, I know her,” he said. “Not well. She’s older. But I’ve seen her around.”
Lee explained what he’d seen in Susie’s eyes and how her medical situation could be connected to his. To answer that question he’d need to take a look in Cam’s eyes.
“Is it going to hurt?”
“No,” Lee said, “but I do have to dilate your eyes to get a better look at the retina.”
“What if there is a spot?” Cam’s voice quavered a little.
“One step at a time,” Lee said. But what would happen? He shuddered at the thought. Lee would be proven right, Gleason proven wrong, the president would have a compelling reason to act, and Susie Banks would be taken into the protective care of the same people who watched after the first family. What will happen if there’s a red spot?
Everything.
In his peripheral vision, Lee saw Ellen bite her lower lip. She was holding her husband’s hand, and Lee wondered if she might be holding her breath as well.
Lee had brought the eye drops he needed from the hospital, even though chances were Dr. Gleason kept a stock at the clinic, stored in the same glass-fronted medicine cabinets where he kept those suspect TPI nootropics.
Dr. Gleason, perhaps tired of his backseat role, stepped forward. He placed a hand on Cam’s shoulder.
“It will be a few hours of blurry vision and sensitivity to light because your pupils will be dilated from the drops,” Gleason said.
Cam signaled his consent with a slight nod, but then did something rather odd. He shot Dr. Gleason a strange look, as if he knew something sinister about the man. Dr. Gleason’s demeanor instantly turned frosty. What’s going on between him and Cam? Lee wondered. Was Gleason angry because he thought the dilation was unnecessary, or was he worried about what it might reveal?
Lee cleared his throat and Gleason backed away.
“Look up,” Lee said to Cam. He tugged at the skin below the right eyelid with a gloved hand, and placed the drops, phenylephrine hydrochloride, into Cam’s eye. Cam winced. There was always some stinging, but nothing that lingered. Lee did the same to Cam’s left eye.
“No online chess for a bit,” said Lee.
Cam looked around the room, blinking rapidly as if trying to clear his vision. Lee retrieved the ophthalmoscope, a metal tube with an attached Xenon lamp, from the wall holder, and brought the instrument up to Cam’s eye. Using an ophthalmoscope was one of the basics of clinical examination, so Lee was more than comfortable doing the procedure. First, he examined the optic nerve and great vessels, which all appeared normal.
“Look into the light, Cam.”
He did so, and this brought the macula into sharp focus. Lee searched for an amorphous cherry-red area. He repeated the procedure in the other eye, moving the light around, probing—searching—but it was clear. No questioning his findings.
Lee moved the light away. He locked eyes with the president and first lady, his manner almost penitent.
“Well?” President Hilliard studied Lee intently.
Lee pursed his lips. Time to break the news.
“His eyes are good,” Lee said. “All clear. No red spots.”
A faint smile came to Dr. Gleason’s face. Ellen and President Hilliard were clearly relieved. Part of Lee was relieved as well, because no doctor wanted their patient to be even sicker.
Unfortunately, the news also meant that Lee had just lost his best chance for protecting Susie Banks.
* * *
KAREN READ the mixed emotion on Lee’s face. She understood the exam had changed everything.
“So, I’m okay?” Cam sounded relieved.
Even though his vision was blurred, he turned to Lee expectantly; he’d placed trust there, formed a relationship. This was what Lee did best: connect with his patients, make them feel valued and heard, take the time to listen, to show he cared. It was for this reason Karen had reached out to Lee in the first place.
“Buddy, I don’t know,” Lee said. “It’s going to be up to Dr. Gleason to guide your care from here on out. I’ll be available as consult anytime.”
Cam leaned forward and whispered something in Lee’s ear as Karen called Lapham and Duffy into the exam room.
“You need to bring Cam upstairs,” she said. “He’s had drops put in his eyes and can’t see well.”
Duffy helped Cam off the exam table. “Shaman fix you all up?” he asked.
“Shaman’s my code name,” Lee said, clarifying.
“I’m Bishop,” said Cam.
Lee chuckled and his smile showed off the dimples Karen had fallen for so many years ago.
“Yeah, I know,” Lee said. “I’ll miss you, Bishop. If you’re ever looking for a game of chess, you know how to reach me.”
Karen heard it in Lee’s voice—a little ache from knowing that most likely this would be the last time he and Cam ever spoke. In such a short time, Lee had grown fond of Bishop, which was no surprise. Cam was such a sweet, kindhearted boy. And yet, something was off between Cam and Dr. Gleason. Karen had noticed an odd exchange between them right before Lee’s exam.
What did Cam whisper to Lee? Karen wondered.
Lee said his good-byes to the president and Dr. Gleason, with handshakes all around. Gleason gloated like a conquering gladiator, missing only a bloodstained sword clutched in his hand.
“Lee, you understand our need to put Cam under the care of a single person,” the president said. “It’s best for us all.”
“Of course,” said Lee. “It’s been my pleasure to be of service, and as I said, I’m not going anywhere. I’m here for Dr. Gleason, if you’re ever in need of a consult.”
More handshaking, thanking, and that was it. It was done. Karen was asked to escort Lee out of the White House. Duffy and Lapham brought Cam back to his room. The president and first lady retreated to Gleason’s office, where conversations about Cam’s health would take place.
As for the TPI? There was one car accident and one girl being targeted by some mysterious assailant for unknown reasons, but there were no clear connections to Cam, nothing for anyone to latch onto. Unless, of course, the analysis of the compounds in those nootropics revealed something of consequence; something to tie all these disparate threads together.
Lee and Karen had just made it to the colonnade, walking together in silence, when the sound of footsteps from behind drew their attention. Ellen Hilliard came toward them, unaccompanied, in a hurry. Even though Cam had no red spot in his eyes, a worried look remained in hers.
“I’m glad I caught you,” Ellen said to Lee, her breathing a bit labored. “You’ve done a lot for us, and I wanted to ask you something before you left.”
“Anything, Mrs. Hilliard,” Lee said. He caught himself. “Ellen.”
“You don’t think Cam not having those red spots in his eyes is conclusive proof of anything, do you?”
Karen could have guessed Lee’s answer.
“No, I don’t,” Lee said. “But unless you can change your husband’s mind, I don’t think I’m someone he and Dr. Gleason wish to consult anymore.”
“I can’t change my husband’s mind about much of anything. He plays it safe, Lee. You should know this about him. Dr. Gleason is safe. He’s the known commodity, and well, your wild stories of murdered TPI students didn’t help your case. I’m not saying I believe in your murder conspiracy theory, but I’m not willing to disbelieve it either. No matter how it seems, I’ve come to trust you as much as I’ve come to like you. There are too many strange coincidences for this to be nothing.”
“What would you like me to do, Ellen? Your son is a fabulous kid, but he’s not like my other patients. I can’t just have my office manager call and make an appointment.”
“What I want is for you to keep that girl safe,” Ellen said. “If something happens to her, it could mean we lose a vital link to what’s happening to Cam. I know that sounds cold, and judge me as you will, but if you think she’s connected to what’s wrong with my son, we can’t let anything happen to her.”
“If the president would help—”
“You heard Geoffrey just now. In his mind this is a local issue. But the girl needs an advocate, and unfortunately her parents can’t do that job.”
“What are you asking of me, Ellen?”
“I’m asking you to protect her the way a father would.”