Life Support
extended her limbs, checking for resistance to range of motion. Finally he rolled her toward him and examined the skin on her back and buttocks. No bedsores. Gently he repositioned her against the pillows and folded the sheet over her chest.
    "Looking' good, Agnes," he murmured, patting her on the shoulder. "You have yourself a nice day."
    Toby followed him out of the room, feeling like a midget tagging at a giant's heels. "She's in good condition for someone who's been vegetative for a year."
    He opened the chart and scribbled his progress note. "Well, of course.
    We give genuine Rolls-Royce care."
    "At Rolls-Royce prices?"
    Brace glanced up from the chart, the first hint of a grin on his lips.
    "Let's just say, we don't have any Medicaid patients."
    "They're all private pay?"
    "They can afford it. We've got some pretty wealthy residents."
    "Is this place exclusively for retirees?"
    "No, we have a few active professionals who've bought into Brant Hill just to guarantee that their future needs are taken care of. We provide housing, meals, medical care. Long-term care, if it becomes necessary.
    You probably saw we're already expanding the nursing home."
    "I also noticed a very nice golf course."
    "Along with tennis courts, a movie theater, and an indoor pool." He closed the chart and grinned at her. "Sorta makes you want to retire early, doesn't it?"
    "I don't think I could afford to retire here."
    "I'll let you in on a secret, neither one of us could." He glanced at his watch. "It was nice meeting you, Dr. Harper. If you'll excuse me, I've got a lot of patients to see."
    "Is there any way I could find out more about Harry?"
    "Dr. Wallenberg's back on Monday. You can talk to him then."
    "I'd like to know now what I was dealing with. It's really bothering me. Couldn't you review the outpatient record? Call me if you find anything relevant?" She scribbled her home phone number on a business card and handed it to him.
    Reluctantly, he took the card. "I'll see what I can do," was all he said. Then he turned and walked into a patient's room, leaving Toby standing alone in the hallway.
    She turned from the closed door and sighed. She'd done her best to track down the information, but Brant Hill wasn't cooperating. Now hunger and fatigue were dragging her down, and she could feel her body issuing demands. Food. Sleep. Now. In slow motion, legs sluggish, she began to walk toward the elevators. Halfway there, she halted.
    Someone was screaming.
    It came from one of the patient rooms at the end of the hall� not a cry of pain, but of fear.
    As Toby ran toward the screams, she heard other voices spilling into the hallway behind her, heard footsteps following at a run. Toby reached the room ahead of everyone else and shoved open the door.
    At first all she saw was the elderly man crouching on hands and knees on the bed. He was naked below the waist, and his wrinkled buttocks were bobbing up and down in a doglike mating dance.
    Then Toby saw the trapped woman underneath him, her frail body almost hidden among the tangle of blankets and sheets.
    "Get him off me! Please get him off me!" the woman cried.
    Toby grabbed the man's arm and tried to drag him away. He responded
    with a shove so powerful it sent Toby sprawling backward to the floor. A nurse ran into the room.
    "Mr. Hackett, stop it! Stop it! The nurse tried to pull the man away, but she too was flung aside.
    Toby scrambled back to her feet. "You grab one arm, I'll get the other!" she said, circling around to the far side of the bed. Together, she and the nurse took hold of the man's arms. Even as he was dragged off the woman, he kept thrusting like a grotesque sexual robot without an off switch. The woman on the bed curled up into a fetal position and began to cry as she hugged herself among the blankets.
    Suddenly the man twisted, elbowing Toby under the chin. The jab slammed her jaw shut, ramming a bolt of pain straight through her skull, She saw a burst of white and almost

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