“What did your father say about the heart?”
Cub’s eyes met his and he responded:
“In normal condition, considering the history, sir.”
“Strange. Was that your understanding, Mattus?”
“Yes, Dr. MacArthur.”
Silence lay over the air again. MacArthur put his head back into his hands and began checking it all over: Cub, Mattus, Bear, the student nurse, the orderly, the Head Nurse in Medicine Clinic ... the ... was there anybody else? Was it possible....
He stopped his mind and decided not to think until he had some facts. There would be no sense in clouding his faculties with hysterical superstitions. A clear head was what must be maintained.
The morning light was beginning to fill the room; it began to suffuse the faces of the four men.
MacArthur straightened and turned to Cub Sterling and Mattus, and smiled.
“I’m sorry boys if I’ve been taciturn ... but the Elijah Wilson is my only child ... and as a parent I guess I’m hopeless.”