Foreign Body by Robin Cook

I feel so provincial; even going to New Jersey used to make me anxious. I'm kidding, but I'm not a traveler by any stretch of the imagination. And I know that one of the benefits of emergency-room medicine is that you can take time off, especially since you covered for Clarence a couple of weeks ago, and he owes you."
    With a sigh, Neil shook his head. The last thing he wanted to do was wing off to India, even if he could get time off. In truth, it had been part of his initial motivation for the specialty, and he'd specifically set up a twenty-four-hours on, twenty-four-hours off schedule for himself so that when his workweek started seven a.m. Monday it was essentially over seven a.m. Thursday, unless he wanted overtime. The four remaining days of the week were available for his true love, surfing. At that very moment he was looking forward to a surfing meet over the weekend in San Diego. It was also true that his friend, colleague, and fellow surfer Clarence Hodges did owe him for a Hawaiian trip he'd made. But all that didn't matter. Neil did not want to go to India because of a dead grandmother. If it had been Jennifer's mother who had passed away maybe, but not her grandmother.
    "I can't," Neil said, after a pause, as if he'd given the idea true consideration. "I'm sorry, but I can't go. Not now, anyway. If you can wait a week, maybe, but it's not a good time." He spread his hands awkwardly in the air over the schedule he was working on as if it was the problem.
    Jennifer was taken aback and disappointed. She'd given a lot of thought about whether to ask him or not and if she truly needed him. What had tipped the balance was the realistic question in her mind whether she could actually handle the situation once she got to India. What was clear to her was that after the initial shock of learning about Maria's death, she'd marshaled significant defenses, including all the rushing around, making the plans to take the trip, and what psychiatrists called "blocking." So far things had worked reasonably well and she was functioning. But as close as her grandmother had been to her, she feared there would be problems when the reality of the loss set in. She truly feared she could get to India and be an emotional train wreck.
    Jennifer stared daggers at Neil. Surprise and disappointment had instantly metamorphosed into anger. Jennifer had been so confident that if she asked him directly and admitted she needed him, which she felt she had done, he would surely acquiesce as a direct spin-off of the confidences they shared. The fact that he was turning her down so promptly and with a flimsy, ridiculous explanation, something she never would have done had the situation been reversed, could mean only that their relationship was not what she thought it was. In short, like men in general, in her mind he was demonstrating he couldn't be counted on.
    Jennifer stood abruptly and without saying anything walked out of the tiny office and back into the crowded emergency room. She could hear Neil call her name, but she didn't stop or respond. It tormented her that she knew now that it had been a mistake to confide in him. As for asking to borrow some cash, at this point she wouldn't even consider it.

Chapter 6
    OCTOBER 16, 2007
    TUESDAY 6:30 A.M.
    NEW DELHI, INDIA
    Cal Morgan was a deep sleeper and needed a powerful alarm to wake up. What he employed was a clock radio with a CD player, and the CD he used was martial music. At three-quarter volume the player was capable of vibrating the night table enough to move itself and other objects on its crowded surface. Even Petra in the neighboring master suite could hear it as if it were in her room. So when it sounded, Cal made an effort to turn it off the moment he became adequately conscious. Even so, he occasionally fell back into deep sleep.
    But that was not going to happen this morning. He was much too keyed up about the previous night's activities for more sleep. He stared up at the high