Английский язык с Крестным Отцом
Шрифт:
(усмешка, как бы говорящая: «Какого черта?»).
Jules said casually, "Didn't you get a doctor to look at it? Maybe it's something that
can be fixed."
Fontane was not so charming now. He gave Jules a long cool look. "That's the first
thing I did nearly two years ago. Best specialists. My own doctor who's supposed to be
the top guy out here in California. They told me to get a lot of rest. Nothing wrong, just
getting older. A man's voice changes when he gets older."
Fontane ignored him after that, paying attention to Lucy, charming her as he charmed
all women. Jules kept listening to the voice. There had to be a growth on those vocal
cords. But then why the hell hadn't the specialists spotted it? Was it malignant and
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 [g'fo:] –
гогот) he caught the smell of bourbon (сорт виски ['bubn]) 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
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 [i‘m:dGns] – 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