Free Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam Page A

quality he felt was most important in a physician. Trust is most crucial, said Fitzgerald.
    â€œIn that case, what should I ask you in this interview, if I wanted to know whether I could trust you?” said McCarthy with a tight grin.
    â€œAsk me anything, and I could make up something that would sound good,” said Fitzgerald. The interview continued for another half-hour. McCarthy bantered and Karl read questions from his sheet, sullen and cautious. At the end of the session McCarthy gave Fitzgerald sample tubes of cream for his abrasions and said, “I still don’t know if we can trust you.”
    â€œThe only way to find out is to let me in and see what happens.” He said it plainly, somewhat tired.
    After the interview, Fitzgerald went to the bathroom, splashed water on his face, ran his fingers through his hair. He got in the elevator and Karl caught the closing door, stepped in with him.
    â€œWe haven’t met,” said Karl. “I’m sure of it, so don’t tell me we have.”
    â€œBut I know you. Ming and I are close friends.”
    â€œYou want to know how you scored today, close friend?”
    â€œNo,” said Fitzgerald.
    â€œI wouldn’t count on Toronto.” Karl stood directly in front of Fitzgerald, and behind him the elevator buttons flickered in sequence as they descended to the ground floor. “See, all it takes is one bad score—an exam, an essay, an interview—and you’re out. Bye-bye. McCarthy liked you, but I think you’ve got the wrong attitude. Besides, whatever you think you know about me, you don’t.”
    The floor numbers progressed downward.
    â€œFeeling pretty guilty, huh?”
    â€œI don’t know what you’re talking about, but don’t count on Toronto.” Karl turned away from Fitzgerald and gazed at the elevator door, leaning back on the railing.
    Fitzgerald stepped in front of Karl, faced him. “Does the surgery program director know about your teaching experience, about how you got your start in tutoring?” They were at the fourth, then the third floor. “Imaginethe embarrassment if there was some reason you couldn’t be left alone with kids, perhaps needed special supervision during your pediatric surgery rotation. It’s terrible how people talk.”
    Second floor, then ground level. The door rumbled open slowly, an old elevator.
    â€œHow’d I do?” said Fitzgerald, putting his arm across the elevator door. “That interview score. How’d I perform?”
    Karl raised the aluminum clipboard as if about to hit Fitzgerald with it, but instead pointed its corner between Fitzgerald’s eyes and said, “If you end up in Toronto, just remember that someone will see your mistakes.”
    Fitzgerald moved his arm, allowed Karl to pass, and watched him disappear around the corner.
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    An hour later, standing on the Dundas subway platform, Fitzgerald removed his tie. His sports jacket was constrictive and lumpy under his winter coat. He rolled the tie carefully and pushed it into an outside pocket of his coat. He rode the subway to Summerhill station, stepped off the train, and stood on the platform as people walked past him. He sat on a plastic bench that looked like a square mushroom, pushed his hands deep into his coat pockets, and watched two more trains arrive and depart. The three tones of the bell sang out before the doors whooshed shut and the second train hurtled away with a rising clatter.Fitzgerald climbed the tiled stairs to the exit and clanked through the turnstile. Outside, the cold air felt like morning water. He was afraid. His breath steamed around him as he walked.
    First, he buzzed.
    He tried Ming’s apartment twice.
    The screen said No Answer. It was four-thirty-five in the afternoon. He rang again, punched the numbers on the keypad with a determination he hoped would make her appear. The transmitted electronic bleeping continued