Free Second Opinion by Michael Palmer

this job very long. Once I learn the ropes, maybe I'll have the chance to get involved with some of the people I bust.'
    'Were you a policeman?'
    This time, Cotton turned completely toward her. Thea tried to get a fix on what his odd expression might mean, but it was a skill she had never been even close to mastering.
    'I… was. How can you possibly have known?'
    Thea felt relieved that their conversation wasn't going to end. She spoke as she often did, with no great planning, no editing, and no firm idea as to what was going to come out.
    'Well, the word bust is used all the time by almost everyone, but it has fewer nonslang meanings than people might suspect. In fact, according to Kornetsky's Origin of Words and Slang, page twenty-two or twenty-three, I think, bust has only two acceptable definitions: a sculpture of a person's head, shoulders, and upper chest, and also, a woman's bosom. There are many other meanings of the word, but they are all slang, such as to smash or break; to cause to come to an end such as to bust up the union; to demote in rank; to punch, usually in the face or mouth; to become bankrupt or short of money; to be a failure or a flop; to lose at blackjack; and finally, two slang meanings used primarily by police, and meaning to place under arrest or to make a raid. Oh, yes, and there's also a somewhat vulgar use of the word, to bust one's ass, meaning to work very hard.'
    Cotton was wide-eyed.
    'Do you rattle off things like that often?' he asked.
    'Not really that often, but I could.' My name's—
    'I know. Officer Daniel Cotton.'
    She pointed to his name tag.
    There was a silence that Thea found vaguely uncomfortable until she realized that Cotton was waiting for her to give her name.
    'I don't have the benefit of your name tag,' he said before she could.
    'Oh, I suppose that's because I don't have one. But if I did, and if it was accurate, it would say Doctor Alethea Sperelakis, like yours says Officer Daniel Cotton. Alethea means truth in Greek. Everyone has always called me Thea, though, just like everyone probably calls you Dan, or maybe Danny.'
    She sensed it was nervousness that was making her speak so rapidly and so much, and cut herself off.
    'Dan is right. I was Danny until I started towering over my parents, then Dan. Sometimes Daniel. It really doesn't matter to me. So is that Sperelakis, as in—'
    'Yes. He's my father.'
    'Are you the one who… who saved his life last night? They talked about his close call at report this morning.'
    'I suppose so. My brother Niko helped by doing the pericardiocentesis—that's sticking a needle into the space around someone's heart—but I guess I did most of it. At a resuscitation, it's important for everyone involved to know who's in charge. Last night that was me.'
    'You just say it like it is, huh?'
    'Is there another way to say it?'
    Dan looked at his watch again.
    'Listen, Dr. Sperelakis—Thea—my break is over. I… um… I hope you don't think I'm being too forward, but I would enjoy getting together maybe for dinner or… or for coffee sometime after your father is… better.'
    'That's a nice way to put it, Officer Dan Cotton, but the truth is, unless there's a miracle, I don't think he's going to get better. My brother and sister don't think even a miracle would help him make it back to any decent quality of life. If they had their way, there would have been no resuscitation last night and he would already be dead.'
    'Aren't you something,' Dan said, as much to himself, it seemed, as to her. 'You just say it like it is.'
    'You already said that. The answer is yes.'
    'Yes what?'
    'Yes I would enjoy having dinner or coffee with you, but I think you should consider giving coffee up.'
    'Why?'
    'That redness on your cheeks is a condition called rosacea. Women get it quite a bit more often than men, but men get it, too, and you've got it. It's not really curable, but there are some fairly effective treatments for it. Your case is very mild and