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She put down theabout Honell, but at least she could deal with the spider She snatched two Kleenex from a box atop her supply cabinet, and in one swiftboth
She threw the wad of tissues in the waste can
Though she usually captured a spider when possible and kindly returned it to the outdoors, she had no compunction about the way she had dealt with this one Indeed, if Honell had been present at that moment, when his hateful attack was still so fresh in her ht have been tempted to deal with him in some manner as quick and violent as the treatment she had accorded the spider
She returned to her stool, regarded the unfinished canvas, and was suddenly certain what refinements it required She opened tubes of paint and set out her brushes That wasn’t the first time she had been motivated by an unjust blow or a puerile insult, and she wondered how many artists of all kinds had produced their best ith the determination to rub it in the faces of the naysayers who had tried to undercut or belittle the for ten or fifteen ht her back to the worries that had preoccupied her before the arrival of the mail and Arts American Honell and the spider were not the only creatures who had invaded her holasses also had invaded it, in a way, by feedback through the mysterious link between him and Hatch And what if he was as aware of Hatch as Hatch was of hiht find a way to track Hatch down and invade their ho far more harm than either the spider or Honell could ever accomplish
5
Previously, Hatch had visited Jonas Nyebern in his office at Orange County General, but that Tuesday his appoint off Jamboree Road, where the physician operated his private practice
The waiting rooray carpet and standard-issue furniture, but for the artwork on its walls Hatch was surprised and is portraying religious scenes of a Catholic nature: the passion of St Jude, the Crucifixion, the Holy Mother, the Annunciation, the Resurrection, andwas not that the collection orth considerable money After all, Nyebern was an extreeon who cae resources But it was odd that a mely agnostic public posture throughout the last few decades, should choose religious art of any kind for his office walls, let alone such obvious denoht offend non-Catholics or nonbelievers
When the nurse escorted Hatch out of the waiting roo the hallways serving the entire suite He found it peculiar to see a fine oil of Jesus’ agony in Gethse to the left of a stainless-steel and white-ena to height, age, and sex
After weighing in and having his blood pressure and pulse taken, he waited for Nyebern in a s on the end of an examination table that was covered by a continuous roll of sanitary paper On one wall hung an eye chart and an exquisite depiction of the Ascension in which the artist’s skill with light was so great that the scene becaures therein see only a minute or two, and entered with a broad smile As they shook hands, the physician said, "I won’t draw out the suspense, Hatch The tests all caot a clean bill of health"
Those words were not as welco for so of his nightmares and his mystical connection with the man who had killed the blond punker But the verdict did not in the least surprise hi to be that easy to find
"So your night htunshot blonde who had later been found dead, for real, on the freeway As he hadto set hiain, at least not unless he saw enough of the killer to identify hiliht, in which case he would have no choice but to face the ht
"No cranial pressure," Nyebern said, "no chen of a shift in the location of the pineal gland--which can so hallucinations …" He went over the tests one by one, methodical as usual
As he listened, Hatch realized that he always re older than he actually was Jonas Nyebern had a grayness about hie Tall and lanky, he hunched his shoulders and stooped slightly to de-e in a posture e, which was fifty At times there was about hiedy
When he finished going over the tests, Nyebern looked up and sain It was a war to him in spite of it "The problem isn’t physical, Hatch"
"Is it possible you could have ?"
"Possible, I suppose, but very unlikely We--"
"An extreht not show up on your tests yet have a serious effect"
"As I said, very unlikely I think we can safely assume that this is strictly an emotional problem, a perfectly understandable consequence of the trauh Let’s try a little standard therapy"
"Psychotherapy?"
"Do you have a probleht, it won’t work This isn’t an eooda pen fro the name of the psychotherapist on the blank top sheet of a prescription pad "I’ll discuss your case with hiht?"
"Yeah Sure That’s fine"
He wished he could tell Nyebern the whole story But then he would definitely sound as if he needed therapy Reluctantly he faced the realization that neither a medical doctor nor a psychotherapist could help hie to respond to standard treatments of any kind Maybe what he needed was a witch doctor Or an exorcist He did allasses was a de his defenses to deter his non-o, he pointed to the painting of the Ascension "Beautiful piece"
"Thank you It is exceptional, isn’t it?"
"Italian"
"That’s right"
"Early eighteenth century?"
"Right again," Nyebern said "You know religious art?"
"Not all that well But I think the whole collection is Italian from the same period"
"That it is Another piece, maybe two, and I’ll call it co closer to the painting beside the eye chart