Several times on his way back to the subway stop at Kendall Square, he glanced over his shoulder, but there was no one there. Once he’d gotten to the underground station, Noah was happy his tail had disappeared. On his way to the library when he’d been followed, it had crossed his mind that he’d feel vulnerable on the way home, thinking that if anyone meant him harm, a deserted inbound platform would have been a perfect location. Now, as he waited for the subway, there was only one other person, and he was way down at the other end.
Noah felt a certain relief when the train thundered into the otherwise silent station, and he was able to board the front car with its complement of people. Ten minutes later he was on busy Charles Street, feeling comfortable being back in his neighborhood. As he passed the Thai restaurant that had supplied many of the take-out dinners he’d enjoyed with Ava, he hesitated. For the first time since the meeting in Dr. Hernandez’s office, he felt hungry. After a moment of indecision, he went into the crowded restaurant and ordered what he’d eaten with Ava on so many occasions.
As the only solo diner in the entire restaurant, Noah felt out of place and wished he’d ordered take-out. He ate quickly and was soon back out on the street. It was now dark, with the iconic Beacon Hill gaslights providing the bulk of the ambient light. Hiking up Revere Street, he paused several times to look back, strangely hoping he’d see the African American. There were plenty of people. A neighbor whom he recognized from having seen over the years said hello to him as he passed in the opposite direction even though they had never spoken.
As he neared his building and dreaded being alone, he thought about returning to Ava’s to see if she might relent and be willing to iron out their problems. But remembering her attitude, he thought the chances were slim and just showing up again might make things worse.
Climbing the stairs, he fished out his key so that by the time he was standing at his door he had it ready. Unfortunately, he didn’t need it. Once again the door had been forced, and on this occasion, it hadn’t just been forced. This time it was apparent a crowbar or something similar had been used, as there was a split between the doorknob and the jamb, with a portion of the jamb missing.
A wave of anger spread through Noah. Busting his door seemed unnecessarily aggressive, adding insult to injury. Using just his index finger, he pushed it open slowly. He reached within and flipped on the light. From where he was standing, everything seemed entirely normal. He listened intently for fear whoever had broken in might still be there, but the apartment was silent. All he could hear was some music with a heavy bass coming from the unit above.
32
MONDAY, AUGUST 14, 9:37 P.M.
Noah stepped over the threshold and went immediately to the folding table. He was relieved to see that on this occasion his laptop had not been moved. It was still positioned exactly as he had left it, aligned perfectly with the sides of the folding table. Quickly, he flipped open the computer and booted it up. A moment later he was able to check his browser’s history. He wanted to see if it had been cleared as it had been on the recent breakin. It hadn’t. He could see all the websites he’d visited that day. At least no one had been using his computer as had happened on the previous occasion.
After checking the kitchen for his few appliances, since a toaster had disappeared in the past, he was relieved to see that none were missing. Moving into the bedroom he immediately noticed that a small stack of spare change and a few single-dollar bills were gone. Otherwise, the room seemed the same as he had left it, including his rumpled bed that hadn’t been made in more than a week.
Moving on into the bathroom, he noticed the mirrored medicine cabinet door was slightly ajar. He opened it and looked inside. Immediately, it was apparent that something else was missing. On the second shelf there had been an unopened prescription for Percocet that he’d been given after breaking his nose during the hospital softball game that spring. Now it was gone.
Believing his life was unraveling in all sectors, it took Noah some time and a hot shower to calm down from the trauma of yet another violation of his personal space. What bothered him the most on this occasion was the unnecessary physical damage to the door and the jamb. In the grand scheme of things, losing some spare change and an unwanted vial of Percocet was small potatoes in comparison to having to take the time and effort to convince the landlord to do a decent repair and do it immediately since the door couldn’t be secured in its present state. And while he was in contact with the landlord, he was going to demand that the woman tenant above be strongly advised to limit her open-door policy with her many boyfriends. On the positive side, Noah was thankful the intruder didn’t trash the apartment in frustration of finding so little of value.
When he was able to relax enough to think, Noah returned to his computer to learn more about Brazos University, its medical center, and its medical school. Comfortably clad only in his skivvies, he rebooted his machine.
Captivated by the extent of the material available, he learned that the university had grown at an impressive rate during the nineties, thanks to the beneficence of a large group of wealthy West Texas oilmen. Sam Weston, honored by the eponymous simulation center, was one of them. The medical school had opened in the mid-nineties upon completion of the nine-hundred-bed hospital, whereas the dental school had to wait until the early aughts. The medical school initially started with only thirty-five students, drawn mostly from West Texas high schools, although they did actively recruit American students who had been forced to attend medical schools in the Caribbean and Europe.
Noah went on to read that the Brazos University School of Medicine quickly had reached its present class size of 145 students. Graduate residency programs were started the same year the hospital opened its doors but initially limited to family practice, surgery, anesthesia, and internal medicine. Within just a few years a full complement of graduate education programs were added in all the specialties associated with a major tertiary care academic medical center with the openly stated goal to supply a wide range of medical talent for West Texas.