A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer

reached out to touch her shoulder to welcome her but let his arm drop before his hand reached her. Touching her was inappropriate, he decided. At least at this point in their acquaintance. “I knew you’d be on time.” She looked even better this morning. He couldn’t help but savor her presence. Against the odds, he was well rested and even more in a mood to notice her. “Let me introduce you to our patient.” He entered the room and beckoned Claire to follow. “Mr. Reese, Claire Shipley. Mrs. Shipley, Mr. Reese.”
    “Good morning, Mrs. Shipley,” Mr. Reese said jovially. His handshake was firm. “My wife said you were kind to her yesterday. Thanks. I appreciate it.” He paused to catch his breath, a hint of hesitancy emerging through his determined good spirits. “She went home to change and get things organized.”
    How could this be? Claire wondered. He seemed…fine. Tired, pale, extremely pale in fact, but otherwise fine. His leg, grotesquely swollen yesterday, appeared normal beneath the neatly drawn blanket.
    “Do you want to take my picture? I think I’m looking pretty good.” He passed his hand over his smooth chin. “All things considered.”
    Claire felt tears in her eyes. Keep it light, she told herself. Keep up the banter. Don’t show how deeply you’ve been moved. “I should say you’re looking pretty good. You had me scared for a minute there. I thought you must be somebody else.”
    He laughed. “I’ve noticed that everybody who walks by that door and sneaks a look at me gets a shock and runs away. It’s the first time I’ve had that kind of power.”
    “Use it wisely,” Claire said.
    “I’ll try, starting now: what about my picture?”
    “You go back to reading the newspaper, the way you were before, so the picture doesn’t look posed. I’ll take care of everything else.”
    “It’s okay if the picture is posed so long as it doesn’t look posed?” Stanton said.
    “That’s exactly the sort of question he would ask,” Claire said to Mr. Reese. “You were reading the newspaper before I came in, so just go back to doing what you were doing.”
    “Mrs. Shipley, you have five minutes,” Stanton said. “My patient needs to rest.”
    “This won’t take long.”
    But it did take long. Claire wouldn’t settle for a snapshot. Although she wasn’t free to show her emotion, her pictures could. She framed the shot with care and set up three lights, bounced off white umbrellas, to soften his profile and create a glow upon his skin. Yesterday she’d photographed the twisted face of death. Today, the ever-shifting manifestations of life. She wanted to portray a man who was beloved, and who’d survived to do good in the world.
    When she finished and was taking down the equipment, Mr. Reese said, “Astonishing news in the paper. I feel like I dropped out of time for a few days and the entire world changed. Going to take me a while to catch up.”
    “You’ll have plenty of time to catch up,” Stanton said. “We won’t be releasing you for a month at least.”
    “A month ? I can’t stay here a month. There’s probably a ton of work piled up for me at the office already.”
    “You’ve been seriously ill. You’ll be here four weeks at the minimum.”
    “I told Patsy to phone my secretary, have her bring over the mail and the dictation pad.”
    “Tell your wife to cancel. Your secretary can visit in a week or so.”
    “That’s not acceptable.”
    “It’s my decision.”
    “Dr. Stanton is tough,” Claire said. “Very strict.”
    Mr. Reese burst out laughing. “That’s what I’ll tell my boss. I’ve got one helluva tough, strict doctor. Please forgive my language, Mrs. Shipley.”
    “You can use any kind of language you like around me. In my line of work, I hear everything.”
    “I’m sure that’s true,” Stanton said. Claire felt an unexpected pleasure in his response.
    Reese smiled broadly, as if this banter were among the most enjoyable conversations of