The Devil in Silver

Coffee said, “Doctor?”

Finally, Dr. Barger coughed and squeezed his lips in a tight smile. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you mention anything but the phone numbers of governmental employees. Not in even one of our interactions over the past year.”

Coffee looked at Pepper quickly, then down at the table. “I’m sorry.…”

Dr. Barger laughed. “Don’t say ‘sorry.’ It’s nice. Makes me feel like, well, maybe I’ve been of some help.”

Coffee looked up again and offered the doctor a generous smile. “Oh, of course you have.”

Dr. Barger rubbed his belly proudly.

Pepper watched Coffee for another moment and realized he had missed something. There was one glaring difference to Coffee that should’ve been obvious from the moment the man arrived.

No binder.

“I was sorry to hear about Sam,” Dr. Barger said.

No reaction from anyone in the room. None of them knew what to say or do. They were sorry, too. Maybe there was nothing more.

Dr. Barger recovered by smiling. He hoped to return to the elation in the room just before he’d mentioned the death. He said, “All this good cheer only makes my bad news more difficult to share.”

Pepper looked at Dr. Barger. He’d wondered how the man couldn’t have noticed all the signs of reversion; the slip back into attentiveness, empathy, self-control. In other words, normalcy. How could this trained professional miss all that?

Dr. Barger said, “Unfortunately, this is going to be our last Book Group session together. The board of New Hyde Hospital has informed me that my services aren’t affordable.”

The doctor paused there, as if the patients were going to cry out in horror. When they didn’t, he said, “And keep in mind, my work here is subsidized by both the city and the state, since New Hyde is a public hospital. So that means the board has decided that I’m not worth even the pittance they have to pay out of their own account in order for me to work with all of you. They’ve basically told me I’m worth nothing and I just …”

The man had been looking at his own hands as he spoke, the volume of his voice increasing. But now he stopped speaking all together. He looked at Coffee and Loochie and Dorry and Pepper, and though he smiled, his eyes were small and wet.

“It’s silly of me to complain. Especially to you. Each of us has a burden and I shouldn’t share mine. I guess I just hoped for time. With a little more of it I thought we might really do some good.”

God bless her, Loochie responded fastest. Veering away from the maudlin, changing the subject. “So what do we do instead? Watch TV?”

“Book Group isn’t ending,” Dr. Barger said. “My contract is ending.”

Dr. Barger got up and walked around the table and stepped outside the room. He called out, “You can come along now!”

Josephine arrived, pushing the Bookmobile.

Now don’t worry, this wasn’t about to turn all Dangerous Minds. Josephine entered the room and rolled the cart around until it sat right beside Dr. Barger’s chair.

He said, “New Hyde Hospital has enough in its budget for keeping this room heated while you use it for Book Group. And for this Bookmobile to be made available to you. So that’s what you’re going to get. And, as a part of the salary she already receives, Muriel will stay in the room and supervise.”

Pepper looked at Josephine. “So she’s going to lead our discussions?”

“No.” Dr. Barger leaned forward in his seat and lifted his pen and tapped the tip against the table. “There is no money for a facilitator. And she isn’t trained as one. She can only bring the cart and take the cart.”

“Well, then, what’s the point of being in this room?” Loochie asked.

Dr. Barger sighed. “Truthfully? It’s so that New Hyde Hospital can tell the city and the state that it provides group sessions to its patients. Not therapy, but sessions. That way, they comply with the letter of the law, if not the spirit. That way, they’ll continue to receive state and federal grants for the sessions, but cut out the cost of a professional like me.”

Dr. Barger looked toward the door, as if he expected the board of the hospital, or at least Dr. Anand, to rush into the room and charge him with excess honesty.

Josephine tapped the side of the cart. All three tiers were full of new books. “I listened to what you all said last time,” she began.