Page 105 of A Better World

She tried the kid’s names and birthdates but nothing. She triedtheir old address on Bedford Avenue, and their new one here in PV. These didn’t work, either. The system locked her out for an hour. During that time, she read the scattered papers, all statistically significant indices of “positivity” in large and small studies.

She tried the password again, and, in a moment of frustrated nihilism, typedidiopathic leukemia.

It unlocked.

He’d stashed a lot of files on his hard drive. Over the following five hours that he was at work and the kids were at school, she read them all. It turned out he had done that research for her. She found a recent tox report on the PV river water, and a map analysis colocating disease with Omnium waste-processing facilities. PV water contained trace amounts of PERC and benzene, known carcinogens. Cancer and autoimmune diseases in populations near Omnium waste were higher than average and statistically significant. It was all very damning.

At one point, Esperanza knocked. Feeling overcome, Linda told her to come in.

Esperanza brought her bucket and mop—the old-fashioned kind with yarn-like loops.

“I’m reading about Omnium,” Linda said. “Apparently, in the presence of chlorine and GREEN it creates a toxic sludge. Outside the walls, everyone near a waste station gets contaminated. But here in PV, it’s mostly children who swim in the river. It’s got a thousand different names, because we’re like the Tower of Babel. Nobody assimilates data anymore, except the big companies.

“Gal Parker’s kids got it. The toxins haven’t been entirely remediated from the river, so they had that exposure. It’s hard to get a handle on the outside numbers, but they’re much bigger. Has it hit PVE very hard? If so, I can see why people might avoid the clinic.”

Esperanza looked at Linda like she was out of her mind, took the bucket and mop, and walked back out, shutting the door behind her. Linda didn’t blame her. On the contrary, she showed good sense.

“I want out,” Linda continued, like there was still someone listening.

It was the deepest heart of winter, and the town was dark for a long time before anyone came home. In the interim, Daniella called. “Hi, sweet thing. You haven’t been answering my texts. Are you sick?”

Linda held her device at a distance. Daniella’s voice felt malignant in her hands. “A little. Low grade. Sorry.”

“Oh! That explains it! The assistant at the clinic said you were refusing to give him your notes?”

“He exceeded his authority. He went through my desk.”

“Oh. I see,” Daniella said. “But it’s not your desk. It’s ActHollow’s desk.”

“They do it differently back home,” Linda said.

“Don’t worry. Just cooperate next time,” Daniella said. “But did you get the file Anouk sent? She found a list of specialists willing to teleconference.”

“I saw that,” Linda said. The list was composed of random specialties totally unrelated to pediatrics and would be useless.

“We can start next month. With the Winter Festival, we obviously can’t meet this weekend, and we’ll want some time to decompress after that. I’m looking at the scheduler right now. We haven’t increased traffic in weeks. Publicity needs to be the big agenda item for our next meeting.”

“Is the MRI coming?” Linda asked. “Or the drug printer?”

“Oh, soon. Very soon,” Daniella said. “Also! I found another doctor willing to volunteer. This one’s a PhD, not an MD, but she’s game.”

“I didn’t know you’d found another… practitioner.”

“Can’t have too many! With your suspension, we need to show the board we’re serious. We can’t have our main doctor be a person who’s barred from the hospital! Or is it banned?”

“Oh,” Linda said. “So, you’ve decided.”

“For now. But the door’s open for you once you get yourself unfucked with the powers that be. You’re still on the board, too. For now. I need you or I won’t have any board at all. Oh! Right, I should tell you about Rachel. She had to make a choice.”

Linda’s stomach hollowed. “What kind of choice?”

“Kai tried to leave with the children. He claimed it was just a visit to relatives. After twenty-four hours they tracked the vehicle. Stopped them at the Mexican border.”

“Oh, no!” Linda said.

“He’s such a dummy. Who the hell wants to live in Mexico? They recycle sewer water.”

“Right,” Linda said, though she had no idea whether Mexico was bad. She’d never been there.

---