Free Of Flesh and Blood by Daniel Kalla Page A

Jean-Martin Charcot only discovered it twenty-five years ago on cadaver dissections. Prior to his astounding work, even doctors used to consider the disease a type of hysteria or acquired imbecility.”
    Olivia passed Evan the sugar. “It is a disease of the nervous system?”
    He nodded. “Dr. Charcot showed that multiple sclerosis affects the entire nervous system from the spinal cord to the deepest areas of the brain.”
    Her eyes burned with curiosity. “Are people born with this illness?”
    Her interest fueled his enthusiasm. “No. The symptoms do not usually set in until adulthood. That is when the brain damage begins. Virginia did not suffer her first attack until she was twenty-one.”
    “So there was a time when Mrs. McGrath could walk?”
    “
Walk?
It was not that long ago that she used to run on the tennis court, Miss Alfredson!”
    Olivia reddened. “I’m sorry, I did not know.”
    He held open his hands. “How could you? All you have ever seen of her . . .”
    Olivia tilted her head and her lips formed a tentative smile. “What was Mrs. McGrath like . . . before? Please, I would like very much to know.”
    “Virginia is such a spirited woman. She used to love the outdoors—to go for long strolls and to swim. And whenever we could find someone with a tennis court, she was a lioness on the grass.” He smiled at the memory. “And she used to sing in the church choir. She was a contralto with a low voice that was as lovely as she was—as she is.”
    Olivia looked down at her teacup. “Of course.”
    “The illness struck five years ago. At first, it was just numbness in her hands. We thought it was a matter of overexertion. Then she developed the tremors. Of course, when her vision began to tunnel—”
    “
Tunnel?
” Olivia shook her head. “What does that mean, Dr. McGrath?”
    “The field of vision closes in from the sides, like looking through a telescope.” Evan pantomimed peering through his touching forefinger and thumb. “Once she developed the tunnel vision, I realized the diagnosis. The answer had been staring me in the face all that time. I should have recognized it much sooner.”
    Olivia clasped her hands together. “Perhaps you did not want to, Dr. McGrath?”
    “No question, clinical judgment becomes clouded with loved ones.” Evan stared into her sympathetic eyes. “Three years ago, the disease attacked her sense of balance. That was a cruel blow. Virginia has not been able to walk in over two years. And, as you know, her speech has become difficult to understand at times.”
    Olivia nodded. “Do you know what causes this affliction?”
    Evan shook his head. “Some doctors believe it is a problem with the sweat glands—a lack of proper secretion—but I think that is nonsense.”
    “What do you believe?”
    Evan stared into the bottom of his cup. “There are diseases, like sugar diabetes or kidney failure, where organs that had once worked perfectly well simply fail. I have seen the autopsies. It’s not merely a matter of these organswearing out, as with old age, but more as if they were specifically targeted for attack. As if their own bodies had turned against them. I believe the same has happened with Virginia’s nervous system.”
    Olivia nodded. “Is there medicine that will help?”
    “No.” Evan felt the bile rise in his throat again. “Of course, there are no shortage of charlatans promising cures. That is what brought us to Seattle in the first place.”
    “You came here seeking treatment for your wife?” Her face creased, bewildered. “But . . . but you are a doctor.”
    “My area of specialty is limited to surgery. No surgical procedure can help Ginny. Even in the reputable hospital where I worked in San Francisco, none of my colleagues could offer her anything. Then someone told me of a man in Seattle who specialized in chronic debilitating diseases. A Dr. Garth Sibley.” His lip curled on speaking the name. “I corresponded with Sibley for a