conclusion is that the X-rays got fouled up, or the scanning equipment gave us the wrong data." There was no summary from Dr. Nathaniel Crawford in the Appleton medical file.
"Are you referring to the fact that you were replaced as surgeon of recordT' "Replaced, hellf Tommy Belford and I got our asses kicked four-square out of there by the family." "Belford? Is that Dr. Belford, the skin-graft specialist?" "A surgeon. A plastic surgeon and a godamned artist. Tommy put the man's face back on like he was Almighty God Himself. That whiz-kid they brought in messed up Tommy's work, in my opinion. Sorry about him, though. The kid hardly finished when his head blew." "Do you mean a cerebral hemorrhage, sirr' "That's right. The Swiss was right there when it happened. He operated but it was too late." "When you say 'the Swiss,' do you mean the surgeon who replaced you?" "You got it. The great Herr Doktor from Zilrich. That bastard treated me like a retarded med school dropout." "Do you know what happened to him?" "Went back to Switzerland, I guess. Never was interested in looking him up, myself." "Doctor, you say you made a mistake. Or the X-rays did or the equipment.
What kind of a mistakeT' "Simple. I gave up. We had him on total support systems, and that's exactly what I figured they were. Total support; without them he wouldn't have lasted a day. And if he had, I thought it would be a waste; he'd live like a vegetable." "You saw no hope of recovery?" Crawford lowered his voice, strength in his humility. "I was a surgeon, I wasn't God. I was fallible. It was my opinion then that Appleton was not only beyond recovery, he was dying a little more with each minute... I was wrong." "Thank you for talking to me, Doctor Crawford." "As I said before, it can't make any difference now, and I don't mind. I had a hell of a lot of years with a knife in my hand; I didn't make many mistakes." "I'm sure you didn't, sir. Goodbye." Scofield walked back to the keyboard; the black student was reading his textbook. "X-rays?..." said Bray softly.
"What?" The black looked up. "What about X-rays?" Bray sat down next to the young man. If he ever needed a temporary friend it was now; he hoped he had one. "How well do you know the hospital staff?" "It's a big place, man." "You knew enough to call Methusala." "Well, I've been working here off and on for three years. I get around." "Is there a repository for X-rays going back a number of years?" "Like maybe twenty-five?" "Yes.,, "There is. It's no big deal." "Can you get me one?" The student raised an eyebrow. "That's another matter, isn't it?" The black grimaced. "Oh, maul It's not that I look askance at bread, believe me. But I don't steal and I don't push and God knows I didn't inherit." "What I'm asking you to do is the most legitimateeven moral, if you like-thing I could ask anyone to do. I'm not a liar." The student looked into Bray's eyes. "If you are, you're a damned convincing one. And you've got troubles, I've seen that. What do you want?" "An X-ray of Joshua Appleton% mouth." "Mouth? His mouth?" "His head injuries were extensive, dozens of pictures had to be taken.
There had to be a lot of projected dental work. Can you do it?" The young man nodded. "I think so." "One more thing. I know it'll sound... outrageous to you, but take my word for it, nothing's outrageous. How much do you make a month here?" "I average eighty, ninety a week. About three-fifty a month. It's not bad for a graduate student. Some of these interns make less. Course, they get room and board. Why?" "Suppose I told you that I'd pay you ten thousand dollars to take a plane to Washington and bring me back another X-ray. Just an envelope with an X-ray in it." The black tugged at his short beard, his eyes on Scofield as though he were observing a lunatic. "Suppose? I'd say 'feets, do your stuff.' Ten thousand dollars?" "There'd be more time for those tertiary kinetics." "And there's nothin' illegal? It's straight-I mean really straight?" "For it to be considered remotely illegal as far as you're concerned, you'd have to know far more than anyone would tell you. That's straight." "I'm just a messenger? I fly to