Inoperable? Then there was other stuff.

He interrupted Fontane to ask, "When was the last time you got examined by a

specialist?"

Fontane was obviously irritated but trying to be polite for Lucy's sake. "About eighteen

months ago," he said.

"Does your own doctor take a look once in a while?" Jules asked.

"Sure he does," Johnny Fontane said irritably. "He gives me a codeine spray and

checks me out. He told me it's just my voice aging, that all the drinking and smoking and

other stuff. Maybe you know more than he does?"

Jules asked, "What's his name?"

Fontane said with just a faint flicker of pride, "Tucker, Dr. James Tucker. What do you

think of him?"

The name was familiar, linked to famous movie stars, female, and to an expensive

health farm.

"He's a sharp dresser," Jules said with a grin.

Fontane was angry now. "You think you're a better doctor than he is?"

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Jules laughed. "Are you a better singer than Carmen Lombardo?" He was surprised to

see Nino Valenti break up in laughter, banging his head on his chair. The job hadn't

been that good. Then on the wings of those guffaws (guffaw [gΛ'fo:] – грубый хохот,

гогот) he caught the smell of bourbon (сорт виски ['bu∂b∂n]) and knew that even this

early in the morning Mr. Valenti, whoever the hell he was, was at least half drunk.

Fontane was grinning at his friend. "Hey, you're supposed to be laughing at my jokes,

not his." Meanwhile Lucy stretched out her hand to Jules and drew him to her bedside.

"He looks like a bum (задница /груб./; бездельник, лодырь; плохой, низкого

качества) but he's a brilliant (блестящий) surgeon," Lucy told them. "If he says he's

better than Dr. Tucker then he's better than Dr. Tucker. You listen to him, Johnny."

The nurse came in and told them they would have to leave. The resident was going to

do some work on Lucy and needed privacy. Jules was amused to see Lucy turn her

head away so when Johnny Fontane and Nino Valenti kissed her they would hit her

cheek instead of her mouth, but they seemed to expect it. She let Jules kiss her on the

mouth and whispered, "Come back this afternoon, please?" He nodded.

Out in the corridor, Valenti asked him, "What was the operation for? Anything

serious?"

Jules shook his head. "Just a little female plumbing. Absolutely routine, please believe

me. I'm more concerned than you are, I hope to marry the girl."

They were looking at him appraisingly so he asked, "How did you find out she was in

the hospital?"

"Freddie called us and asked us to look in," Fontane said. "We all grew up in the same

neighborhood. Lucy was maid of honor when Freddie's sister got married."

"Oh," Jules said. He didn't let on that he knew the whole story, perhaps because they

were so cagey (уклончивый) about protecting Lucy and her affair with Sonny.

As they walked down the corridor, Jules said to Fontane, "I have visiting doctor's

privileges here, why don't you let me have a look at your throat?"

Fontane shook his head. "I'm in a hurry."

Nino Valenti said, "That's a million-dollar throat, he can't have cheap doctors looking

down it." Jules saw Valenti was grinning at him, obviously on his side.

Jules said cheerfully, "I'm no cheap doctor. I was the brightest young surgeon and

diagnostician on the East Coast until they got me on an abortion rap (легкий удар;

ответственность /за проступок/, обвинение, наказание /сленг/)."

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As he had known it would, that made them take him seriously. By admitting his crime

he inspired belief in his claim of high competence. Valenti recovered first. "If Johnny

can't use you, I got a girl friend I want you to look at, not at her throat though."

Fontane said to him nervously, "How long will you take?"

"Ten minutes," Jules said. It was a lie but he believed in telling lies to people. Truth

telling and medicine just didn't go together except in dire (ужасный, страшный;

крайний) emergencies (emergency [ı‘m∂:dG∂ns] – непредвиденный случай, крайняя

необходимость), if then.

"OK," Fontane said. His voice was darker, hoarser, with fright.

Jules recruited a nurse and a consulting room. It didn't have everything he needed but

there was enough. In less than ten minutes he knew there was a growth on the vocal

chords, that was easy. Tucker, that incompetent sartorial (портняжный, портновский)

son of a bitch of a Hollywood phony, should have been able to spot it. Christ, maybe the

guy didn't even have a license and if he did it should be taken away from him. Jules

didn't pay any attention to the two men now. He picked up the phone and asked for the

throat man at the hospital to come down. Then he swung around and said to Nino