Resurrection Walk

“What’s the case you have there?”

“Guy convicted of hiring a hit man to take out his business partner. Only he says he didn’t hire him. Somebody else did. Problem is, the hit man testified against him at trial.”

“So why are you looking at it?”

“I don’t know, really. Something about his letter to Mickey struck me as worth a look. But maybe I was fooled. I got the whole file out of court archives and I’ll read it through and then decide if it’s worth pursuing further. I mean, what else am I going to do sitting here? Play video games on my phone?”

“That’ll be the day. What about the other case? The one with the woman in...”

“Chino? Mickey’s going to file for a habeas hearing and we’re getting our ducks in a row for that. There are still a lot of holes to fill. Mickey’s investigator Cisco just located a key witness I’ll need to go talk to.”

Maddie pointed to the IV bag again.

“But this will knock you down for a few days, won’t it?”

“Maybe a day. I’m not sure. They’ve been increasing the dose each time, so, yeah, it’ll put me on my back for a bit. At least the rest of the day.”

“You have to quit working for Mickey and concentrate on your health. Be all in on this.”

“Look, I’ll be fine in—”

“I’m serious, Dad. Your health has to come first.”

“But I think doing this work and being engaged is part of the whole picture, you know? I feel good when I’m doing this stuff. Otherwise I feel useless and I get depressed.”

“I’m just saying you need to take it easy. If this treatment works, then you can go back to these cases. I mean, these people aren’t going any—”

She cut herself off when the door opened and a man wearing a light blue lab coat entered. He had a trim build, eyeglasses, and thinning hair, but he looked to be no older than thirty. He didn’t appear to be wearing a lead vest under his lab coat.

“Oh, didn’t know you had a visitor, Harry,” he said.

“My daughter, Maddie,” Bosch said. “She’s going to drive me home if you say she’s safe doing that.”

The man held his hand out to Maddie.

“Austin Ferras,” he said. “Your dad’s doctor.”

“Oh,” Maddie said.

“Is something wrong?” Ferras said. “I can come back.”

“No, nothing’s wrong,” Maddie said. “I just... well, I guess I was expecting someone a bit older.”

“I get that all the time,” Ferras said. “But don’t worry, your dad is in good hands. He’s got me and a lot of people watching over him. And you’re safe to drive him. Harry may be ornery but he’s not particularly radioactive.”

Ferras turned to Bosch.

“How do you feel today, Harry?”

“Bored,” Bosch said.

Ferras stepped over to the IV pole and inspected the bag. He reached up and flicked it with a finger.

“Just about done here,” he said. “I’ll get Gloria in to disconnect and then you’ll be on your way in a bit.”

There was a clipboard in a pocket attached to the pole. Ferras pulled it out and checked the notations made by the NMT. He spoke while reading.

“So, side effects?” he asked.

“Uh, the usual,” Bosch said. “Mild nausea. Feels like I’m going to throw up but I never do. Haven’t tried to stand since I got here, but I’m sure that will be an adventure.”

“Vertigo — yes, a fairly common side effect. It shouldn’t last long but we’ll want you to stay until we’re sure you’re okay to go. How’s the tinnitus?”

“Still there when I think about it or when it gets mentioned.”

“Sorry, Harry, but I have to ask.”

“If it’s all right with you, I want to go as soon as I get detached. I’m not driving, and Maddie will get me home.”

Ferras looked to Maddie for confirmation.

“I’ll get him home,” she said.

“All right, then,” Ferras said.

Ferras wrote something on the clipboard and returned it to its pocket. He turned to go.

“Nice to meet you, Maddie,” he said. “Take care of him.”

“I will,” Maddie said. “But before you go... I’m sure you have learned over the past weeks that my dad is not A-plus on communication skills. Can you tell me in layman’s terms what you’re doing to him and what this clinical trial is all about? He hasn’t really told me anything—”

“I didn’t want you to worry,” Bosch interjected.

“Happy to,” Ferras said. “As you probably know, your father’s cancer is in his bone marrow. What we’re doing here in the trial is taking a medium that has proved to be beneficial in the treatment of other cancers and trying it on his specific cancer.”

“Medium?” Maddie asked. “What does that mean?”

“It’s the isotope,” Ferras said. “Technically, it’s called lutetium one-seventy-seven. It’s been used successfully in recent years to treat prostate and other cancers. So our study and clinical trial seeks to determine if Lu one-seventy-seven therapy can achieve the same positive results with Harry’s cancer. We’ll know the results soon.”

“And how do you measure results?” Maddie asked.

“Well, in four to six weeks, we’ll bring Harry back to do a biopsy,” Ferras said. “He will definitely need a ride home from that, and the results will tell us where we stand.”

“What kind of biopsy?” Maddie asked.