“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
He nodded.
“You’re a young woman of childbearing age. Do what nature intended for you to do. Apply your very healthy, very normal maternal instincts to your own child, not your brother.” He paused. “In my judgment, that would make you even a better psychiatrist than you already are.”
She met his eyes but didn’t reply.
“The formulation you developed for your brother applies to you. You’re the overachiever workaholic, refusing to believe your well of strength can ever go dry. And the first symptom of your inevitable-unless you do something about it- emotional meltdown has been your delusionary relationship with your brother. You’re not his mother, and you’re not his doctor.”
“Marry the cop? Have babies?”
He nodded again. After a moment, he added:
“I’d like your word, Doctor, that insofar as the patient in 1411 is concerned, you will from this moment regard yourself as his sister, not his physician.”
“Jesus!”
“I will interpret that as meaning ‘Of course.’ Now, take your brother home, and see if you can get him to take it easy.”
“You free, Denny?” Police Commissioner Ralph J. Mariani asked from First Deputy Commissioner Coughlin’s door.
“Of course.”
“What do you hear about Matt?”
“His sister just called. They’re about to let him out of the hospital. She’s going to take him out to his parents’ place in Wallingford.”
“That was quick, wasn’t it?”
“They say he’s all right-that he was emotionally exhausted, is all.”
" ’They say’? His sister, you mean?”
“No. He was examined by both our psychiatrist, Dr. Michaels… You know him?”
“Sure. Keyes Michaels. Good man. Comes from a whole family of cops.”
“And Dr. Aaron Stein, who’s the
head shrink at UP Medical Center.”
“I’m getting the feeling, Denny, that you don’t like-”
“Between us?”
Mariani nodded.
“Dr. Michaels is really proud he took his psychiatrist residency under Dr. Aaron Stein. I would be very surprised if Michaels disagreed with Stein about anything. Even if he did.”
“Meaning?”
“You weren’t at Internal Affairs when Matty came apart,” Coughlin said. “I was. I wanted to cry. I have trouble believing he’s all right so soon.”
“They’re psychiatrists and you’re not, Denny,” Mariani said.
Coughlin shrugged.
"You asked, Ralph.”