An Unholy Mission (18 page)

Olympia nodded in grim agreement.

“I am your supervisor, so confiding in you on a matter of this nature is probably against the rules.” She threw up her hands in a gesture of anguish. “But in a situation like this, what are the rules? You absolutely did the right thing by coming to me, and I believe you, so I’ve taken you into my confidence. I cannot have even a hint of one of my chaplains behaving in an unprofessional manner. When I confronted him, he denied it and went on to accuse you of making it up because he felt you were defending your territory on the Transitional Unit.”

“What?” Olympia started forward in her chair and almost dropped her cup.

Sister Patrick waved her back down. “It’s possible the cancer may have already traveled to the brain, and he’s exhibiting classic paranoia.” She shook her head. “I just don’t know.”

“What did Jim say about all this?”

The nun smiled. “I’ll get to that in a minute. He hasn’t changed. He’s a bright man, but there’s a sadness about him. He didn’t say anything, but I could feel it.”

Olympia said nothing. If this was an invitation to talk about Jim’s personal life, she wasn’t going there.

 “It was good to have someone to talk it over with, someone not directly involved with the hospital. He’s a good sounding board.”

“He’s one of my best friends, Sister. I’d trust him with anything.”

“He said much the same about you. We decided that the obvious first step is to get more information, and here is where you have to withdraw from the action.”

“What do you mean?” asked Olympia.

“As I said, I got a letter from Luther saying he’s withdrawing from the program. I think he’s a very troubled man and a very sick one, unless, of course, even the cancer is something he’s invented to draw attention to himself. I’ve done some psych nursing in my time, and I’ve encountered people like that before. That’s why I want you to leave anything that happens from now on to me and possibly Jim.”

“Jim?”

“You’re a threat to Luther now. Jim isn’t. But since I have no idea what’s going to happen next, all I can say is that if I need assistance, I might have to call him in. This isn’t a matter for the police, not yet anyway, and I sincerely hope it never gets to that point. I’m going to call Luther and see if I can talk him into coming in for an exit interview. That kind of thing is standard procedure, so he might, or he might not. I’m not sure whether he’s a wild card or a loose cannon, but either way he bears watching.”

“But if he’s not here, then it’s a non-issue, isn’t it?”

Sister Patrick shook her head. “Just because he withdrew from the program doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of him. Until I’ve had a chance to talk with him and make my own decision about whether he’s a threat to anyone but himself, I don’t want you taking any chances. In fact, I think I’d like you to either start taking public transportation or find a less isolated parking space. The staff parking area is in the far corner of the bottom level of the garage. Anybody could be lurking down there.”

Olympia remembered the dead rat and didn’t like the sound of what she was hearing. While it was true that Luther made her uncomfortable, surely he wasn’t a threat. On the other hand, if someone as savvy as Sister Patrick was telling her to be cautious and aware, maybe she should listen.

“You’ve made your case, Sister. I can park my car in Braintree and take the train. When I think about it, with winter coming on, I might even start taking the bus from home. It might be easier and less stressful. My van has been acting up lately. I’m trying to keep it going for as long as I can.”

“I don’t want to alarm you unduly, Olympia, but if we are dealing with an unbalanced person, neither of us should take chances. I’m going to share one more piece of confidential information with you. Luther didn’t withdraw from his previous CPE program of his own volition. He was dismissed for inappropriate behavior involving a patient. When he was confronted in that situation, he became abusive. I just learned that yesterday. Somehow he managed to get that particular detail taken out of his record, but I called the Interfaith Ministry place in New York and found what I was looking for. Let me put it this way. There could be cause for alarm, and that’s what I intend to find out. Besides supervising you chaplains, I’m also responsible for your health and safety.”

Olympia shivered. “Thank you, Sister.”

 “Jim told me a little about of some of your past adventures with him. For a minister you’re quite the determined little sleuth, aren’t you?”

Olympia acknowledged the truth of the statement with a tight smile.

“However, much as you might like to, this time Jim and I do the actual investigating, and you go back to the TU and the Maternity Unit and be a model chaplain.”

“Sister …”

The nun folded her arms. “It has to be this way, Olympia. The man is an unknown quantity, and I can’t involve you any more than you already are.”

Olympia raised her chin. “I understand your need to warn me, Sister, but I think I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for some time now.”

“From what I hear from Jim, you certainly can, but right now, you are to do as I ask and no more. You can trust that we’ll tell you anything you need to know.”

“And no more,” said Olympia.

“That’s right,” said Sister Patrick, “and no more.”

Luther Stuart was leaning against the wall in the corridor that led to the Maternity Unit as Olympia rounded the corner and walked onto the floor. When he spotted her, he straightened up, smoothed his jacket and walked toward her.

What the hell do I do now? Answer: act natural.

Hello, Luther. We missed you at the meeting. You okay?”

“Sister Patrick called me into her office yesterday, and I think you know why.”

 “Luther, I …” Olympia felt acutely awkward and was desperately fishing for words as he fell in step close beside her. Too close. He slipped his hand under her elbow and held on hard enough to make his point, but not enough to leave a mark. Olympia tried to pull out of his grip, but he hung on.

 “Olympia,” he said, speaking in a low voice, “I can’t believe you’d spread lies like that about me. I didn’t think you were that kind of a person.”

Olympia kept her voice level as she answered.

“I already said that Nancy Farwell told me what you were doing when you visited with her. When I talked to you about it last week, you said it was true, and you’d keep right on because that’s what you believe God wants you to do. You can’t deny that you said that. We were sitting in the restaurant.”

“I never said that.”

Olympia yanked her arm free and turned to face him. There was an odd look on the man’s face. Olympia felt as though she was caught in a reality warp. Sister Patrick is right, she thought. The man is unbalanced.

“Luther, you did say it. I didn’t want to go to Sister Patrick, but ethically, I had no choice. That is not professional behavior any way you look at it. I tried to warn you.”

“You had no choice but to lie about me?”

He caught his breath and was staring at her. She could see beads of sweat across his forehead. She could tell he was in pain.

Olympia wanted to scream in frustration at the utter circular nonsense of their conversation, but it wasn’t nonsensical, it was terrifying. She stepped back and away from him and held out her hands, palms up.

“I’m not in control of how you see things, Luther, but from where I stand, your behavior with Nancy was questionable. I didn’t want to go to Sister Patrick. I tried to talk with you first, hoping it would stop there, but it obviously didn’t.”

The two turned to see a nurse shepherding a new mother, cradling her baby, coming toward them. The conversation was over.

Luther reached out and put his hand on Olympia’s shoulder. “Let’s just put this behind us, Olympia. Nancy was probably out of her mind at the end. God knows what she said. I know you meant well, and I forgive you.” He then dropped his hand and stood away. “You can’t possibly know this, but yesterday afternoon I left a letter in Sister Patrick’s office telling her that I’ve withdrawn from the program. I can’t continue in a place where there is no trust. You’ll never look at me the same way again, and neither will she. That’s really sad, because I could have made you love me, Olympia. I wanted it so much, but if it wasn’t meant to be, it wasn’t meant to be. I’ve learned to read the handwriting on the wall, so to speak. Take care of yourself, Olympia. I wish you all the best, and God bless you.”

With that Luther turned and left Olympia standing open mouthed in the softly lighted, off-white corridor, wondering what had just happened.

“But …” Olympia raised her hand, then let it drop. She had patients to visit, new babies to admire and a frantically worried mother of twins to visit. She shook her head and started down the hallway, thinking about the speed with which new mothers were rotated through the system. The term
drive-through delivery
was not a joke.

She stopped and leaned against the nursery window as much to admire the new babies as to gather her thoughts. In the soft light she could see a volunteer grandmother rocking a baby swaddled in a blue blanket. Olympia stood for a long moment, trying to think what to do next, continue with her duties on the floor or go to the nearest phone and call Sister Patrick. Just then a baby cried and answered her question. She would tell Patrick later in the day when she got the chance. Right now, she needed to go and visit Grace Mangiani and see if little Giovanni had survived the night, please God.

Sitting alone in the North End Branch of the Boston Public Library, Luther Stuart was hunched over one of the computers. Over the years he’d gotten very good at using them, but he knew that a personal computer could be hacked into, and whatever the owner was doing could possibly be viewed by others. Luther didn't want people to know what he was researching, so by using a generic name and a free Hotmail address, he could go where he wanted on the Internet with no one the wiser. Today he was researching nontraditional, holistic and dietary treatments for pancreatic cancer. None of it looked terribly well researched or documented, but he couldn’t afford to wait. He found a treatment center in Central America offering mail order herbal supplements that promised, if nothing else, a sense of well-being and a healthier body with which to resist the cellular invasion. Luther went to the website and took out the credit card he used for such purchases. He just needed to make it through Christmas. After that, he trusted that God would see to the rest.

Seventeen

That afternoon at the chaplain cohort meeting, Sister Patrick informed them all that Luther had withdrawn from the program for personal reasons.

 “I haven’t been able to reach him by phone, but I’ve written a letter to him, saying that I hope he’ll come back and let us all say farewell the way we did when Alice Whitethorn decided to leave.”

Timothea rumbled under her breath, “He damn sure ain’t no Alice Whitethorn.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t catch that, Timothea.”

“I said something like there is no comparison between the two, Sister. I don’t mind saying it, and it’s probably not politically correct to do so, but I think that man is very troubled. I think he made a wise decision.”

If the situation weren’t so serious, Olympia would have giggled, and it took all the professional control she could muster not to do so, despite the nudge of Timothea’s knee against her own under the table.

Before Sister Patrick could respond, Jenny Abelard added, “Luther and I didn’t have much contact, so I can’t really say one way or the other. But I do know that he’s never once looked me in the eye, and when a person won’t look you in the eye, there’s something he’s not telling you.”

Joel Silverstein put his hand on his chest and said softly, “He’s undoubtedly got his own problems, Sister, but then, we all do, don’t we?  I think we should pray for him.”

“Thank you for reminding us of who we are, Joel. You’re right. We all have our own issues, and I do think we should keep him in our prayers; but until I have a chance to talk with him in person, I think we shouldn’t say any more without him here to respond.”

Through all of this Olympia remained quiet, but when she thought no one would notice, she passed a note to Timothea, asking if she had time for a coffee after the meeting. The woman hummed and nodded yes with her whole body, but she said nothing.

Later, when they were seated at a corner table in the hospital cafeteria, the sounds of voices and the clatter of dishes offered them all the privacy they might need. Olympia wanted to know more about the woman seated across the table from her, but at the same time she didn’t want to pry or overstep her bounds. It was Timothea who dispensed with the social trivialities and got directly to the point.

“I agree with what Joel said this afternoon. Luther may have his personal troubles, Olympia, but I have to say that I’m glad he’s gone. Other than standing way too close to me in the elevator a couple of times and calling me at home the day after Mrs. Farwell passed away, I really have had very little direct contact with him, but I have to tell you it’s enough to make me wonder how in heaven he got into the program. I thought this was supposed to be highly selective.”

Then she grinned and pushed at Olympia’s arm. “’Course, dey let us two in, so I s’pect dey ain’t all dat se-lec-tive.” Then she shook her head, squeezed her eyes shut and laughed heartily at her own joke.

“Wait a minute,” said Olympia, “he called you after Nancy Farwell died?”

Timothea furrowed her eyebrows and nodded. “I thought it was strange then, and I still do. He wanted to know if I knew how she died, and then he wanted to know about the family and what they did when they got there. He actually asked me if they mentioned his name or asked for him. Can you imagine that? I couldn’t figure that one out. Talk about self-importance.” Timothea ended her sentence by biting an enormous chunk out of the apple fritter she’d ordered with her coffee.

Olympia eyed the vanishing fritter and wished she had gotten something more emotionally satisfying than the sensible cup of yogurt she was about to pull open.