They seemed first to need time to come down from the panic, to travel from the frenzied episode on the fifth floor to the quiet, sweet normalcy of the canteen.Jane breathed deeply, savoring the sense of relief. Then she said, “If his blood pressure had kept going up, couldn’t he have had a stroke?”Truman nodded. “Almost certainly he’d have had a stroke.”“An episode like that could kill him.”“Yes.”Jane thought about that a moment. “Thank you for saving his life, Truman,” she said quietly.Truman took another swig of milk and settled the carton on the table. “Dr. Harrington saved his life. I don’t practice medicine here.”“Oh. Okay.” Jane nodded her understanding. “But I’m glad you were there.”“I am too.”Another silence followed. Then, “Truman?”“Yes?”“I’ve done a lot of reading about spinal cord injuries, but I had no idea anything like this could happen. I mean, one minute he was fine, even joking with Sausalito, and the next . . .”“It’s insidious, Jane.
