Chapter Eighty-Eight

Leah walked out of the banquet room and left the hotel, randomly choosing a direction based on where her feet took her. She ended up four blocks away at a pay phone. When Albert's machine answered her call, she left a detailed message and hung up, then leaned back against the wall of the booth. After thinking about her situation for a few minutes, he eyes suddenly opened, and she turned in the booth, looking in every direction. When she was satisfied that no one was interested in what she was doing, she stepped out and hurriedly walked back to the hotel.

By the time Angela realized Leah had left the hotel, Leah was long gone. Angela looked up and down the sidewalk, even walking to the corners of the building and looking down the side streets. She rushed over to the cabs waiting for fares in front of the hotel and asked each one if they had seen any of the cabs take a fare from the hotel. The collective answer was 'no.'

Hurrying back into the banquet room, she went directly to Trapper's table, begged the indulgence of those sitting with him, and then whispered into Trapper's ear. "Leah's left the hotel. I can't find her."

After smiling at his fellow diners, his face was anything but genial when he whispered back, "Are you sure?" Angela tightened her lips and nodded, but before Trapper could excuse himself from the table, in marched Leah seemingly back to herself with her head held high and striding confidently across the floor toward her table.

"I apologize," she said as she seated herself while the men around the table stood. "I had gotten a bit dizzy suddenly. The fresh air seems to have done the trick."

As dessert was served, Art Dorman continued to delve into San Francisco Memorial's new system, how she protected it during the recent Xanda crisis, and how she came to install the system at the Children's Hospital. "It's unusual for a technical person such as yourself to successfully step into a management role," observed Art. "Most engineers turn those down."

She had turned away from the rest of the table and faced Art as the others were engrossed in other conversations around the table. "To tell you the truth, Art, not taking the Xanda position was a very difficult decision. The work there is ground-breaking. But because of health considerations, my doctors advised that I lighten my load, and they didn't feel I could do that with the hours I was working as an engineer. They were not happy that I was crawling around underneath the raised floor."

"If you don't mind my asking, what health considerations?"

She looked him dead in the eyes. "I received a new heart almost five years ago, and earlier this year, that heart developed a hole. I had to have open heart surgery again."

Art turned red. "Oh. Well…that certainly is a valid consideration, though looking at you I never would have guessed it."

"Thank you," she replied, smiling. "But don't be embarrassed. It's the stress of the job that my doctors are worried about. So I've eliminated the physical aspect of it and tend to sit behind a desk pushing a pencil."

"But you're here. This whole process is stressful. How are you holding up?"

"Funny you should ask that. I actually went to the hospital earlier today. My blood pressure has been a little high while I've been here. But I've adjusted my medication, so I'm fine now," she said, patting his hand. "In fact, that's probably where the dizziness came from."

As people started leaving the dining hall, Art stood and held his arm out to her. "It appears we're moving to the other hall. Would you care to dance?"

With a wide grin, she asked, "Don't you have to mingle with the other technical folks here?"

"There aren't that many here, and I've already spoken to the others extensively. That's why you were slated to sit with me this evening."

"Oh," she said, accepting his arm, and allowing him to lead her to the dance floor where they carried on a lively technical conversation the rest of the evening.

Trapper danced very little during the evening. Evidently none of the organizers considered that the majority of the guests were male. He did speak with a few old friends and professional acquaintances and managed to draw a crowd as he explained the logistics and problems encountered during Ellen Frank's surgeries. "Dr. McIntyre, you and your staff are to be commended. Just finding a place to start had to be difficult, and being able to put together two teams on such short notice couldn't have been easy. And your work…remarkable. Did you know Ms. Frank is in Washington?"

"No, I didn't." Trapper took a sip of his cocktail.

"She's here, and though she's still in a wheelchair, she's making significant progress."

Trapper bowed his head before he spoke. "I would think significant progress in her case is relative."

"Sadly, true."

Later in the evening, Trapper and Angela stood near the door, watching Leah. "She's been dancing with him all night. And even when she's not, she's still talking to him. Who is he?" asked Trapper.

"That is the committee's technical consultant. She's been working on him since dinner."

Trapper grunted and nursed his champagne. "It seems she's had his undivided attention so far."

People were slowly starting to say their goodbyes and leave the banquet hall. Trapper had just shaken hands with another doctor when he turned to look for Angela who was already heading toward him. "You've done well tonight, Trapper. Everyone has spoken highly of you." She turned to look around the room. "Now, I just need to find Leah. It seems she's managed to monopolize the technical consultant the entire evening, though there were one or two times all the technical folks seemed quite amused."

Both Angela and Trapper looked, and as groups of people moved toward the exit, Leah and the consultant appeared on the other side of the room sitting alone at a table in what looked like a very involved conversation. They sat close, their heads only inches apart. Leah was tracing her fingers over the table, and Mr. Dorman would follow and nod when she bounced the tip of her finger on what she had just drawn.

When they reached the table, Trapper cleared his throat and glanced quickly at Angela with an amused smile. "I hate to intrude, but it's getting late. The young lady needs her rest."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep her. It's just that she has so many good ideas that will help at Xanda." Art stood and offered his hand to Trapper. "Art Dorman. I'm the committee's technical consultant."

Trapper accepted the hand. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Dorman. I'm John McIntyre, and this is Angela Bedford."

After nodding his head to Angela, Dorman looked at Trapper and recognition dawned on his face. "Aren't you the doctor who was shot trying to protect Ellen Frank?"

Leah stood and interrupted. "Dr. McIntyre, Art is fixing Xanda, so he's heard the whole story."

"I see," said Trapper, looking from Leah to Art with a forced smile. "It seems strange to me that no one remembers that Leah was shot as well."

Spinning back toward Leah, Art looked at her with an open mouth and wide eyes. "You didn't tell me that."

She blushed. "Well, it wasn't really that important. It was just a flesh wound in my arm. Dr. McIntyre came close to losing his life."

"It seems both of you lead exciting lives in San Francisco. I can see why you wanted to stay instead of coming to Livermore where there are endless laboratories and more scientists with their noses in beakers than you can shake a stick at."

Leah laughed. "Oh, it can't be that bad. And even if it is, I'd think the kind of work you're doing makes up for it."

"Yes, it does." Turning back toward Trapper and Angela, he bowed slightly. "It was nice meeting you both. I should let you take Leah home, and I need to get back to my hotel," he said, looking at his watch. "We've all got another full day tomorrow. Leah," he said, taking her hand and covering it with his other hand, "I hope we can talk more about your ideas."

Moving behind Leah, Trapper stepped into her back and slightly leaned his head over her shoulder. "Are we talking again?"

She dropped her forehead into her hand, stroking it with her fingers. "Shall we go?" Looking at Angela, she nodded toward the exit and took off across the room with Angela and Trapper close behind.