7
Just as suddenly as it began, it was over.
Jeanette released Kate's arms and staggered back to lean against the counter, as if dizzy. She blinked and looked at Kate.
"What just happened?"
"I don't know," Kate said, as baffled by this new shift in mood as she was by the first. Like turning a switch. "Don't you?"
"No. I think I must have blacked out. First you were standing over there and now you're right in front of me and I don't remember you moving."
"'But you were talking to me, shouting, in fact. Something about 'it's taking over.'"
Shock mixed with uneasiness on Jeanette's face. "I said that? No, I… couldn't have said that. I'd remember."
"Why would I make that up, Jeanette?"
"I don't know. Taking over what?"
"You didn't get to it, but you seemed terrified." Kate stepped closer and placed a hand on Jeanette's arm. "Jeanette, I think you had a seizure."
She pulled away. "What? Epilepsy? Don't be ridiculous! I've seen seizures. I know what they're like. I wasn't shaking, was I? I didn't fall down and start foaming at the mouth."
"That's a grand mal seizure. But there are all kinds of seizures. Temporal lobe seizures can cause personality changes, bizarre behavior. I—"
"I did not have a seizure!"
"It could be the tumor, Jeanette. Maybe it's not responding as well as we thought. Or maybe this is an aftereffect of the treatment. We've got to call Dr. Fielding."
"No. Absolutely not."
"But just a moment ago you were begging me to."
"You must have misunderstood. Why would I want to see Dr. Fielding? I'm fine. Never felt better."
"Jeanette, please." The more Kate thought about what she'd just witnessed, the more concerned she became. She'd never seen such a dramatic personality shift—a real-life Jekyll and Hyde without the smoking potion. She felt the nape of her neck tighten. "This could be serious."
"It's nothing, Kate. Don't trouble yourself about it. Just leave me alone. I—" She turned her head sharply, as if listening. "Wait. Someone's coming."
Jeanette slipped past her and headed for the door. Before she was halfway across the front room the door swung open. A man stood on the threshold. Kate recognized him as the one who'd welcomed Jeanette into the house in the Bronx last night.
"How did you get in here?" Kate blurted.
His eyes briefly fixed on her—Kate hadn't been close enough until now to notice how small and cold they were—then flicked away. Neither he nor Jeanette bothered to answer her, but she noticed something metallic in his hand.
The realization that Jeanette had given him a key to her place made Kate queasy.
He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He held out his hands to Jeanette. "What happened to you?"
She shook her head and placed her hands in his. They stood staring at each other.
"Concerned," the man said.
Jeanette only nodded. They stared a few seconds longer, then Jeanette said, "Seizure."
With that they both glanced at Kate.
"What is going on here?" Kate said. "And who are you?"
"This is Terrence Holdstock," Jeanette said. "A friend."
"All right?" Holdstock asked Jeanette.
"Not sure."
"See myself."
More staring, then Jeanette turned to her. "We're going for a walk."
A panicky voice inside was telling Kate not to let Jeanette go off with this man. She had this terrifying and wildly unscientific impression that there were two Jeanettes, and the one she'd known and loved was trapped inside this stranger and trying to claw her way out.
"I'll come along."
"No," Jeanette said. "We need to be alone."
Without another word, not even good-bye, they turned and left.
At any other time, Kate knew, she would have been crushed. But she was too shaken for that. Something was terribly wrong. The problem was neurological. It had to be. And the man who had worked on her brain was her oncologist, Dr. Fielding.
Her hand shook as she reached for the phone. She had to call Fielding. But after that… what? What could Fielding do if Jeanette refused to see him? That man Holdstock seemed to have some mesmerizing influence over her.
Which meant she should make another call. To her brother. Much as she'd wanted to keep him out of this, she couldn't discount how the two women she'd called this morning had said they'd trust Jack with their lives. Maybe someone like him was needed here, because Kate found the coldness in Holdstock's eyes as unsettling as Jeanette's behavior.
Could she trust Jack with Jeanette's life? She didn't have much choice.
God, she hoped she wouldn't regret this.