We thought something might be there but nothing came of either.

Howhow about you? " "One guy for most of my residency." '"What happened? " "I came here, he stayed there. It's over." . . _ , .

v rooa.

And then he was above her and in her and he rode her furiously, bringing her to the peak . . . and then leaving her there.

'"I'm sorry, " he said when he'd caught his breath a moment later.

"It's been so long, and I've wanted you so bad. I just . . . ' She put her arms around his neck and held him close. "It's all right, "

she said. "I understand. There'll be other times." Physically, she was frustratedhere she was with Gerry Canney, her high school dream man, her very much now manand her pelvis felt as if it were ready to explode. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He was supposed to be the perfect lover and she should have been drifting on ecstatic clouds of delight. But another part of her was charmed. She'd sensed he was a straight arrow, and this confirmed it in a way. If he'd performed like a stud tonight she might have wondered about him.She did wonder about herself. Did she really feel this deeply about Gerry, or was it a rebound thing, someone to fill the void left by Peter?

No, she decided. This is real. This has been a long time coming.

As they cuddled, he ran a hand over her abdomen and traced the long, puckered scar that ran from the lower tip of her sternum straight to the left of her navel.

"What's this? " "The reason you'll never see me in a bikini." '"No, really." She told him about being hit by the truck, her torn-up insides, and how Duncan had put her back together.

"Ah. Now I see why you're so devoted to him. I guess I owe him. '

'"What for? " "For saving you for me. Let me show you a couple of my scars. Here's my appendectomy . . . " "Mine is bigger than you-ors, "

Gin singsonged.

And somewhere along the way as they compared scars, she noticed that he was ready again.

"It regglly has been a long time, hasn't it? " she said.

"Forever." But this time she took charge, straddling him, riding him, controlling the tempo, and when she climaxed it was as if the almost-o.r.g.a.s.m of before had been waiting in the wings and had jumped in at the last minute to explode with the new one. She moaned and he reached up to cover her mouth and she bit down on his hand and thought she was going to pa.s.s out.

Later, as they sprawled exhausted on the couch, she saw that his hand was bleeding.

"Oh G.o.d, I'm sorry. Look what I did. I didn't mean to." "I know. I just didn't want anything to wake Martha." G.o.d, she'd forgotten all about Martha.

, - "But you said she's a sound sleeper." '"She is. And she's probably sleeping like the dead after that party tonight, but still .

. . " "Even in the throes of pa.s.sion, you don't stop being the protective father."

"It's not a hat I can just take off when I want to. I hope that doesn't offend you. ' '"Not in the least, " she said and kissed him to make sure he understood. "It tells me something about you something good. ' She loved this man. She felt so at home with him. They shared a past, and she sensed they shared a set of values. Here was something that could really last.

With that thought bright and warm in her mind, Gin dozed off.

Gin was almost dressed when Gerry woke up. Dawn was moments away. He winced at the light. She could tell he had a headache.

"What're you doing? " "Got to get home and get showered. Surgery this morning with Duncan."

"At least stay for coffee. I can put on'' "I think it's better if Martha doesn't find me here when she wakes up."

"Maybe you're right, " he said, "but I won't be getting her up for a while yet."

"Still, I've got to go." They embraced. She didn't want to let go, didn't want to leave. She wanted to spend the morning with Gerry having coffee and bagels and then making love again and showering together and then, maybe only then, think about a.s.sisting on cosmetic surgery.

"My place next TIME We can scream and shout all we want. n.o.body in Adams Morgan notices that sort of thing." On her way home, the sun was just peeking over the horizon and silhouetting the spire of the Washington Monument as she crossed the Arlington Memorial Bridge.

Again she worried that she was rushing things with Gerry. But no .

this felt right.

Does it get any better than this? she wondered. She was a.s.sisting Duncan Lathram, she was legislative aide to Senator Marsden on health-care matters, she was making love to Gerry Canney. Finally, all the pieces of her life seemed to be falling into place.

No. It did notcould notget any better than this.

CONSULTATIONS MRS. JABLONSKY WANTED A BREAST REDUCTION. SHE SAT.

topless on the examination table, lifting her large, pendulous b.r.e.a.s.t.s and letting them drop . . . lifting and dropping . . .

"I'm sixty-eight years old, " she told Duncan. "I've had these since I was fourteen. I used to be proud of them, but now they're quite literally a pain. They're weighing me down, making me stoop-shouldered, giving me backaches. I want them gone.""Surely not gone, " Duncan said.

"No, of course not. Just less of them. If they droop any farther I'll be able to tuck the d.a.m.n things into my waistband." Duncan laughed.

"That doesn't sound too comfortable. We'll trim them to a more manageable size for you. But what . . . ? " He'd noticed a large number of white and pink lesions all over her trunk. He touched one, then another. They lookect and felt like the aftereffects of cryosurgery.

"Oh, those. That's Dr. Suer's work. You knowthe dermatologist?

He's been removing my lesions."

"Your lesions? " "That's what he calls these things." She pointed to a halfinch area of seborrheic keratosis on her upper arm. "He says they're not cancerous but they could change anytime."

"These things? He said they might turn cancerous? " "Yes. And I had loads of them." Duncan felt his jaw muscles tighten. "How many of these lffions' has he removed? " '"Oh, fifty at least. He had me coming back every week to take off a few more. We're just about done.

It's been quite a trial, but it's such a relief to know I won't have to worry about skin cancer anymore."

"Must have cost you a fortune."

"Oh, no. He just billed Medicate.

He accepts insurance. Not like you."

"You're right there, Mrs. Jablonsky. I'm nothing like Dr. Suer."

He lowered his voice and muttered, "Probably graduated from the Ingraham."

'"I beg your pardon? " "Nothing." Duncan ground his teeth. The medical mountebank. Freezing offperfectly benign keratoses and billing for removal of precancerous lesions.

What a world. All a doctor had to do was practice straight, ethical medicine, and he was guaranteed a decent living. But that wasn't enough for the avaricious slugs who left a trail of slime across the profession. It drove him up the wall.

Congress had no exclusive on greed. There were doctors who deserved an implant as well.

Duncan's thoughts began to wander a new path, wondering if there might be a way . . .

He shook it off. No sense in letting matters get complewly out of hand.

He scheduled Mrs. Jablonsky for surgery, then went on to the next patient. The chart sat in a pocket on the outside of the exam-room door.

He glanced at the intake sheet as he reached for the doork.n.o.band stopped. Hugh K. Marsden. Could it . . . ?

His gaze jumped a couple of lines down to the occupation box, U. S.

senator.

Duncan leaned against the doorjamb. This was too much. The chairman himself?

Could it be . . . was someone on to him? Was he being set up?

But they'd never use a U. S. senator to try and trap him. Still . .

hard to believe Marsden's presence was mere chance.

Well, he'd pretend not to recognize Marsden and see how the consultation played out.

"Mr. Marsden, " he said, entering and extending his hand. "Dr.

Lathram." Marsden's handshake was firm. And he didn't correct Duncan's failure to address him as Senator.

"Glad to meet you, Doctor. You come highly recommended."

"That's always good to hear." He pretended to glance through the medical history on the intake form he'd already perused outside the door.

"Looks like you've been in pretty good health. What can we do for you here? " Marsden turned his head and touched the top of the auricle of his left ear. "I have it on good authority that this needs attending to." Duncan stepped closer and saw the pink nodule in question He touched it, smooth, firm. He pulled an illuminated magnifying gla.s.s from a drawer and bent for a closer look. Fine capillaries crisscrossed the opalescent surface. A positive Tyndall effect with the light. He palpated it again, pressing around the edges. It wasbigger than he'd initially thought.

"Your authority is a good one. You've got a basal cell carcinoma there.

No risk of distant spread, but if left to its own devices it will continue to grow and eventually ulcerate and bleed. My advice is to have it out now, while it's small."

"That's why I'm here." Duncan placed the magnifier on the counter.

"Sorry. I don't do therapeutic surgery, only cosmetic work. But I can recommend" "You were recommended."

"I won't argue with that, but I don't do what you need . , , crone.

"But I do need a cosmetic repair. I don't want a notch out of my ear.

" "I appreciate that, but" 'I Dr. Panzella told me you're the best.

" "Gin? She sent you to me? " Why? he wondered, irritably. She should know better.

"Not really. It. seems we have something in common, She works for each of us. She spotted this thing on my ear called it a lesion'and told me to have it looked at. Since many of my colleagues on the Hill speak highly of you, and since Gin seems devoted to you, I figure you're the man." Duncan's mind raced. He felt awkward. But this explained Marsden's presence, the Gin connection.

All right. Maybe it was time to stop playing completely dumb and move to slightly dumb.

"Marsden . . . " he said slowly. "Good Lord, you must be Senator Marsden. Forgive me for not making the connection. Of course. You're chairing the"he snapped his fingers "the . . .

"The Guidelines committee. ' "Right! The Joint Committee on Medical Ethics and Practice Guidelines." Marsden smiled. "You know the full t.i.tle. So few people do." '"I read a lot. You're group has had some trouble recently, , & , , s. seems.

"Yes. Poor Harold. He's quite ill, I'm afraid. ' "Any idea as to if or when he'll be back? " "No. No definite word yet." Marsden was playing it close to the vest. Not revealing anything. As he should do. Duncan was trying to sort out his feelings for this man. He had nothing personal against him. If he weren't chairing a committee that had no right to exist, he might even like him.

"A bit of bad luck, wouldn't you say? " "Quite a lot more than a bit.

It's almost as if some sort of curse was hanging over this committee.

" "You don't know if any of your members went poking into a pharaoh's tomb, do you? " Marsden's smile was wan. "You'd almost think so, wouldn't you? " "Does that mean you're now out of the Guidelines business? " "Only for a little while. I'm doing my d.a.m.nedest to fill those empty seats. We should be rolling again in no TIME"

"Will you now? " Duncan said, feeling his jaw muscles bunch. "How interesting.

" '"But back to the matter at hand, " Marsden said. "I'd like you to do the surgery. And the reason is, quite frankly, cosmetic. I understand you have a method that heals many times faster than regular surgery. I need that. ' "Do you? " '"Yes. Depending on the president, the hearings could be up and running again in a matter of weeks. I don't want to be there on national TV with a cauliflower ear, or an ear that looks like someone took a bite out of it. You know the press. There'll be speculation about it, and once they find out, there'll be story after story on my skin cancer, then TV specials on the prevalence of skin cancer and how to avoid it."

"Nothing wrong with that."

"No. But I don't want the press to center on me and my minor skin disorder. They should focus on the Guidelines committee and what we're trying to do." Just what are you trying to do? Duncan wanted to ask.

Marsden continued, "With your reputed skill and accelerated healing methods, I believe you're just the man for the job." Oh, I am, Senator, Duncan thought. I am that.

'"Very well, Senator. Because of your connection with Dr. Panzellawho speaks very highly of you, by the wayI'll make an exception. But I will not make an exception about not dealing with any insurance company. You pay my outrageous fee up front. In return you will get the finest cosmetic surgery in the world, with absolute discretion.

Ours is a doctor-patient relationship. It does not involve Medicate, Medicaid, Blue Cross, HMOs, PPOs, IPAs, or any of the rest of the alphabet soup.

I do not fill out forms, talk to utilization committees or quality a.s.surance coordinators or nurse-bureaucrats insisting on a second or third opinion. I speak to you, you speak to me. No other partiesinvolved." Marsden's expression reflected fascination rather than consternation.

'"I take it then that you're not a partic.i.p.ant in any of the managed-care systems."

"You're looking at an endangered species, Senator." '"If you want, I can have you put on the Department of the Interior's protected list. '

'"Too late for that, I think."

"Well, the sale of my company left me with a bit of money. I can afford to spend some of it on my ear."

"Good. I'll turn you over to my secretary, who'll arrange all the releases. How does next week sound?

" "Thursday would be the best for me."