The Lobotomist's Wife(40)

“If we can go up through the eye socket, we don’t need general anesthesia. I can simply knock people out with a few jolts of electroshock. No drilling into the skull. Minimal to no bleeding. No shaved hair. No stitches. Almost no recovery time. Lobotomy could become a simple office procedure.”

Ruth took a bite of her eggs and then turned to Edward. “Do you think this could work?” While Robert was a brilliant doctor, when it came to matters of neurosurgery, she trusted Edward more. He did not look nearly as sure.

“Frankly, I’m just beginning to wrap my arms around the concept. I can’t imagine I would feel comfortable performing a lobotomy outside of a hospital under any condition, but I do think that a transorbital approach might be more efficient—”

“Which would enable us to treat more patients!”

“If we can master the conditions in a hospital setting.”

“Details, details!”

“Boys!” Ruth laughed, standing from the table. “I am too tired for details. Please, let’s talk about it some more in the morning, okay?” And, with that, Ruth gave her husband a kiss and Edward a pat on his shoulder and went to bed.





Chapter Twenty


Ruth drove through the gate and up the gravel drive, feeling the tension in her body release at the smell of the salty air, overjoyed to be home. Now that they had moved full time to Magnolia Bluff, they had purchased a second car and often commuted to and from the city separately. She missed her drives with her husband, but with Robert spending entire days seeing psychiatric patients in his private office in the carriage house, and so busy with patients and lobotomies at the hospital that he sometimes didn’t come home until after midnight, it was simply impractical to travel together.

As Ruth approached the porte cochere, she saw a car parked at the far end of the circular driveway. Did Robert have a patient at the cottage? He had left the hospital hours before her and she was certain he hadn’t mentioned any patients in the afternoon. They were supposed to have dinner together. Work had been so all-encompassing lately she couldn’t remember the last time they had shared a proper meal. She felt low, and really needed a dose of Robert’s determination tonight. He was excellent at reminding her that things would be better for the men in their care than they had been for Harry.

She gathered her things from the car and walked through the grand marble foyer, past the dining room, and into the kitchen where she found the cook. “Liana, it seems that Dr. Apter is going to be working later tonight than I thought. Can you please keep dinner warm? I’ll let you know when we’re ready to eat.”

Without waiting for a response, she exited the kitchen’s back door and crossed the stone path to Robert’s office. As she briskly approached, she saw a man sitting on the chair outside the carriage house. His pained face was illuminated by rays of the sun as it made its way lower in the sky. “Do you have someone inside?” she asked, her tone soft.

The man began to nod. “My wife is in with the doctor.” His face was drawn, and his jaw clenched. She felt a wave of sympathy run through her.

“What time was her appointment?” He gave Ruth a distrustful look. “I work with Dr. Apter, at Emeraldine Hospital in Manhattan. You can talk to me, it’s okay.”

“Three o’clock,” he said, looking relieved to have a professional to talk to. “I didn’t want it to come to this, I really didn’t. But last week she locked herself in her room for two days, and when I finally got her out, she came at me with a knife.” His eyes filled with tears. “I’ve always treated her like a princess. How can a wife do that to her own husband? I just want her back again, back the way she was.”

Ruth shifted her gaze away from him and down the lawn to the water’s edge, to hide her shock. She had assumed Robert was simply in the midst of a session, but he was fastidious about keeping those to a single hour, and it was almost five thirty.

Was it possible that he was performing the new transorbital lobotomy?

There was no way he would attempt this, for the first time, without even telling her, was there? And, if he was, what about Edward?

“Sir, may I ask your name?”

“Darner. Thomas Darner. My wife in there”—he gestured toward the closed cottage door—“is Alice.”

“Mr. Darner, did Dr. Apter tell you how long to expect the appointment to take?” Ruth tried to sound casual in spite of her now racing heart.

“He said the procedure would be quick, and then maybe an hour for her to recover enough to walk to the car. I know I have been here for quite a bit longer than that . . .” Mr. Darner’s tears started to flow, and Ruth grabbed his hand in her own as much to soothe him as to steady herself. She knew Edward was teaching today in his new position at Columbia and she didn’t think Robert would consider performing a lobotomy without him.

Still, she was always a hospital superintendent first, and she knew that this moment required her to reassure the family of the patient. She looked Mr. Darner squarely in the eye for the first time. “I am certain that Dr. Apter will help your wife. He can work miracles. How about if I just pop in and check on her progress for you?”

Even with the shades drawn, she could see the outline of her husband standing above Alice Darner, and he seemed oddly still. She knocked gently on the door so as not to startle him. If he was performing the procedure, she knew it required delicacy and a steady hand. In a calm and even tone, she asked, “Robert, everything okay in there?”