Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler Read Free Book Online Page B

intermediate.”
    “Intermediate memory?”
    “I can’t remember being hit.”
    “Oh, that’s very common,” Dr. Morrow said. “Very much to be expected. Are you currently under medical care?”
    “Yes, but … In the hospital I was, but … Dr. Morrow, I hate to presume, but could I come in and talk to you?”
    “Talk,” the doctor said thoughtfully.
    “Just for a couple of minutes? Oh, I do have insurance. I have health insurance. I mean, this would be a purely professional consultation.”
    “What are you doing right now?” the doctor asked.
    “Now?”
    “Could you make it here before nine fifteen?”
    “Certainly!” Liam said.
    He had no idea if he could make it; the phone book had listed a downtown address and he was way, way up near … oh, Lord, he should never have moved. He was way up near the Beltway! But he said, “I’ll be there in half a second. Thank you, Dr. Morrow. I can’t tell you how I appreciate this.”
    “Half a second exactly,” the doctor said, and the undertone of amusement seemed to have returned to his voice.
    Liam had on a more casual outfit than he would normally wear in public: a stretched-out polo shirt and khakis with one torn belt loop. No time to change, though. All he did was switch his slippers for sneakers. Bending down to tie them made his head throb, which he welcomed. He wanted as many symptoms as possible if he was presenting his case to a doctor.
    In the parking lot, the throbbing in his head was bothersome enough to make him try to slide straight-backed into his car, bending only at the knees. He had just made it onto the seat when a woman shrieked, “What are you doing?”
    He turned to find an aged blue sedan pulled up behind him. His middle daughter was glaring at him through her open side window, and his grandson sat in the back. “Why, Louise,”
    Liam said. “Good to see you! Sorry, but I’m in a bit of a—”
    “You know you’re not supposed to be driving!”
    “Oh.”
    “They told you at the hospital! I came all the way over here in case you needed some er-rands run.”
    “Well, isn’t that nice of you,” he said. “Maybe you could take me to the neurologist’s office.”
    “Where’s that?”
    “Down on St. Paul,” he said. He was climbing out of his car now, trying once again not to lower his head by so much as an inch. It was lucky Louise had happened along; he hadn’t realized how woozy he felt. He shuffled around the hood of her car to the passenger side and got in.
    “It’s going to pull like anything when you yank that bandage off,” Louise said, peering at his scalp.
    She had Barbara’s dark coloring but not her softness; there was always a sort of edge to her, especially when she squinted like this. Liam shrank away from her gaze and said, “Yes, well.” He began fumbling through his pockets. “Now, somewhere or other—” he muttered.
    “Aha.” He held up a torn-off corner from a Chinese menu. “Dr. Morrow’s address.”
    Louise glanced at it briefly before putting her car in gear. Liam turned to look at his grandson. “Jonah!” he said. “Hey, there!”
    “Hi.”
    “What’ve you been up to?”
    “Nothing.”
    In Liam’s opinion, the child lacked verve. He was … what, three years old? No, four; four and a half, but he still sat in one of those booster seats, docile as a little blond puppet, with a teddy bear clutched to his chest. Liam considered starting on a whole new subject but it didn’t seem worth the effort, and eventually he faced forward again.
    Louise said, “I was thinking you might need groceries brought, or a prescription filled.
    Nobody mentioned a doctor’s appointment.”
    “This was sort of last-minute,” Liam told her.
    “Is something wrong?”
    “No, no.”
    Louise made a wide U-turn and headed out the entranceway ignoring several arrows pointing in the opposite direction. Liam gripped the dashboard but made no attempt to set her straight.
    “Although I do, ah, seem to be having