Free Prizes by Erich Segal Page A

the man. Play the game. Cavanagh’sfirst-rate and it won’t take him long to recognize your abilities. But help him get to know you.”
    “I’m afraid it’s too late for that,” Adam replied dejectedly. “He dropped a little bombshell in my cubbyhole this morning. Apparently—because of ‘financial restraints’—he’s had to slash my next year’s budget—and my salary—in half.”
    Lisl reacted angrily. “Excuse me while I revise my opinion of him. By cutting Max’s most cherished project, he’s just proved how petty he is. That money business isn’t even a good lie. One of the reasons he got the job was his talent for grantsmanship, not to mention his ties with the biotech industry.
    “He’s probably intimidated by you, Adam. But you mustn’t let him make you resign. Do some clinical work to bolster your income.” She placed her hand firmly on his arm. “Just promise you won’t give up.”
    “No, Lisl,” he said with fervor. “I won’t. This is something I’ve got to do for Max.”
    “No,” she said emotionally. “You have to do it for
yourself.
”
    Adam was determined to protect whatever little territory he still possessed in Max Rudolph’s former laboratory. To make up the shortfall in his salary, he signed on as a supervisor in obstetrics at the Lying-in.
    This meant the senior men could rest secure while the lowly residents handled the routine cases—with Adam close by to step in for the emergencies.
    Moreover, since the terms of Adam’s new employment required him merely to be in the medical school area, he could actually work in the lab, able to sprint to the delivery rooms of either the Lying-In or Brigham & Women’s Hospital in less than five minutes. And whenever he was dejected by the enormity of his research, the part-time job gave him an emotional uplift.
    His spirits were always buoyed by the sight of thewriggling, wailing, red-faced newborn creatures destined to change the world of their new parents.
    And perhaps even change the world.
    And yet he found it hard to discuss this aspect of his work with Lisl. He felt that, if anything, Max’s death had exacerbated the pain of her childlessness. But as the months passed, she had begun to come to terms with her loss. At least enough to realize that
he
had not.
    “Trust me, Adam. Max wouldn’t have wanted you to retreat from life. You’re a young man. You should be thinking about your own babies, not just other people’s.”
    Adam shrugged. “Give me a little time, Lisl,” he replied evasively. “Cavanagh’s still doing his best to make life difficult for me.”
    “Incidentally, how do things stand between you and that nice girl from Washington?”
    Adam shrugged. “What can I say, I’m here, she’s there. Geography just about sums it up.”
    “Why don’t you see if you can dislodge her?”
    Adam didn’t wish to go into details about Toni’s complicated social nexus. But he allowed Lisl’s pressure to tip the scales in favor of his own inclinations. When he got home that night, he telephoned Washington and invited himself for the weekend. Toni did not hide her delight.
    She met his flight. Something about her seemed different. Was he right in thinking she was more sedate? They sped off back across the Potomac in her car.
    Though they had kissed perfunctorily at the airport, there was an uneasy silence for the first minute or so. After which she remarked, “Thank you.”
    “What exactly for?”
    “For what you’re thinking but are too shy to say—that you’re glad to see me.”
    “What makes you so sure?” he asked.
    “Most people don’t smile when they’re
un
happy.”

    In her apartment, Adam took off his jacket, donned an apron, and helped her prepare the salad. They worked like lab partners.
    “Why are you so incredibly talkative?” she joked.
    “I’m a scientist,” he said as he patted the lettuce leaves dry. “I’m just trying to analyze the data.”
    “And what is your conclusion,