The GoldenCity

Dr. Kamani handed Maya a disposable thermometer, then checked her pulse and blood pressure. “Did you take the antibiotics I prescribed for you?”

It bothered Maya that she was the patient and this other woman was treating her. “Of course I took the medicine,” she said. “I’m not a bloody fool.”

“I’m just trying to help you, Ms. Strand.” Dr. Kamani glanced at the thermometer. “Your temperature and pulse rate are in the normal range.”

“Stitch me up again and give me some more pills.”

“There’s nothing wrong with the stitches. I’ll give you a prescription for a stronger antibiotic, but that might not help. As I recall, you said you were in a car accident during a holiday in Egypt.”

“That’s correct.”

Dr. Kamani took out some clean gauze and surgical tape. She sprayed a yellow liquid on the wound and began to put on a new bandage. “When you were in Egypt, were you were in contact with a sick animal or any kind of toxic chemical?’

“No.”

“Did you use any illegal drugs?”

Maya wanted shout out an explanation, but she stayed silent. A citizen can never understand you. Her father had told her that hundreds of times, and it was especially true at this moment. What could she say to a person wearing a white lab coat? I traveled to a city surrounded by a dark river. The wolves tried to kill me, but I stabbed and cut and beat them down.

“Just fix me up and make the wound heal,” Maya said. “I’ll pay you double what I did last time-in cash.”

Dr. Kamani pulled off the gloves and began to write on her clipboard.

“All right, I won’t ask any more questions. But we are going to run some medical tests before you leave the clinic today.”

“Will the test results be placed in a computer connected to the Internet?”

“Of course.”

“I won’t allow that.”

Kamani looked surprised, but her voice stayed calm and reasonable. “If you wish, I’ll make a note to the staff. They’ll leave the test results in my message tray and I’ll keep them out of the database. If I do that-if I break the rules-you have to promise you’ll come back here.”

“I promise.”

Dr. Kamani started to open the door, then paused and closed it again. “Although you told me you were in a car accident, I don’t believe that’s accurate. Your wound indicates you were stabbed with a knife, and your behavior follows the pattern of someone with extended exposure to significant trauma. Perhaps you were raped or physically abused. I strongly recommend some kind of psychotherapy combined with medical supervision.”

“We don’t do that.”

“And who is we?”

“My-My family.”

The doctor’s face showed pity and concern. Maya knew that her father would have been insulted by Kamani’s reaction; it implied weakness, and Harlequins were never weak. Mother Blessing would have stood up and slapped her.

“You’re in pain, Ms. Strand…”

“What’s the next step?” Maya snapped.

Dr. Kamani opened the door and stepped into the hallway. “Stay here in the examination room. A nurse will take blood and urine samples.”

***

After the tests, she left the clinic and took a shortcut past Spitafields Market to the Liverpool Street tube station. These days, East London was filled with high-rise buildings and trendy restaurants, but for hundreds of years the neighborhood had been a dark, crowded slum-the home of new immigrants and outsiders. This was where her father had met his first Traveler, a Jewish mystic named David Rodinsky who lived in the attic of a synagogue on Princelet Street. Maya had been introduced to Rodinsky when she was a little girl; he was a strange, stooped little man who knew over twenty languages. A few years later this tazdik had vanished from a locked room and was never seen again. “We guard the Travelers, but we don’t always understand them,” Thorn told her. “The only thing you need to understand is our obligation.”

Perhaps the relationship was clear for her father, but in her own life, the obligation had become compromised by different emotions. She was supposed to be cold and rational with no real attachments to another person. Most of the time, she could play that role, but there were moments when she wanted to be back on the plane from Cairo to London. During the long flight, Gabriel had wrapped her up in a blanket and embraced her as if she were a sick child. They spoke about the First Realm in a cautious manner, trying to step back from the pain of what had happened there.

***

Maya found Linden sitting outside the falafel shop in Camden Market, guarding the staircase that led to the upstairs room. A carrying bag for a tennis racket was propped up against the wall, but Linden didn’t resemble a man of leisure. His broad shoulders and broken nose made him look like a retired football player-someone once known for his rough play and penalties.

“What did the doctor say?”

“The wound is healing, but it’s taking some time. Where’s Gabriel?”