Let Me Whisper in Your Ear by Mary Jane Clark Read Free Book Online Page B

such care. When he suspected that something was wrong, he had not consulted with any doctor at Mt. Olympia—he had not spoken to any doctor in New York, for that matter. Instead, he had called his best friend from medical school and flown down to Miami for an examination. His med school pal, now a neurologist, checked him out but wasn’t sure at first what was wrong. It could be anything, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, or something unknown. But his friend suggested he try some medication. Costello would know within twenty-four hours if it worked. If the Sinemet stopped the trembling, Costello surely had Parkinson’s disease.
    As he took the yellow tablet for the first time, Costello was ambivalent. He wanted to know what was wrong, but he prayed it wasn’t Parkinson’s. However, the alternative of multiple sclerosis or a brain malfunction wasn’t any better. How he had taken his good health for granted!
    By the end of that day, Costello knew. The Sinemet worked. Costello had joined the ranks of actor Michael J. Fox, Attorney General Janet Reno and boxing great Muhammad Ali.
    Once the diagnosis was made, his friend swore to tell no one. Costello was sure his buddy would keep his promise. After all, Costello knew things about him, too. Doctors had to take care of one another.
    One whiff of suspicion and a crowded waiting room could become an empty tomb. Reputation meant everything in maintaining a thriving practice.
    He had worked too long and too hard to build his dream practice. He was an artist. Everyone said so. His bank account proved it. His lifestyle reflected it.
    The Jaguar, the Range Rover, the boat moored in the Hudson. The mansion in Scarsdale, the beach house perched on a cliff in St. Martin. The kids in the best private schools. The hot girlfriend ensconced in the Upper East Side apartment.
    He was not about to give it all up.
    If Gwyneth knew, it would be just a matter of time before she told someone else. The gossip would spread like wildfire. Leonard Costello, the renowned plastic surgeon with the shakes. His well-heeled patients would flee in fright. He shuddered at the thought.
    True, eventually he would have to quit. But not yet. He could wait until he could not control the shaking with medication any longer. With luck, that could be years away. Years when he could continue to rake in the cash and force himself to pay more attention to his investing. Time to build the cushion he needed.
    He had to find out if Gwyneth knew. If she did, perhaps he could reassure her that he never intended to operate during one of the Parkinson’s episodes. Maybe he could appeal to her sympathies and explain what his plans were. She would understand that he just needed some time before he retired. He resolved to get her aside and fish around at the New Year’s Eve party. If he saw her face-to-face, he would be able to tell if she knew.
    â€œHey, Len.” Costello’s thoughts were interrupted by Greg Koizim, another of the city’s top plastic surgeons. Good-looking and ten years younger than Costello, Koizim fell in step beside his colleague.
    â€œHi, Greg. How’s it going?” Costello asked dully.
    â€œGuess who came in to see me the other day?”
    â€œI give up.”
    â€œGwyneth Gilpatric. Isn’t she a patient of yours?”
    You know damn well she is, you son-of-a-bitch, thought Costello, and he cursed himself for all the name-dropping and bragging he had done over the years. But the fact that he was losing a famous patient did not matter to him now. As long as he kept all the others.
    â€œOh, yeah? What’s she having done?” Costello asked, trying to sound only mildly interested.
    â€œFull face-lift. I fit her in for the first week of January.”
    Dr. Costello felt his cheeks grow hot. All Gwyneth’s crap about being scared, about not being ready. She had been lying.
    Gwyneth knew. She definitely knew.

15
    L AURA WORKED ON her