Английский язык с Крестным Отцом
Шрифт:
broads who did it were a lousy lay.
He watched her go back to her chair and nursed his drink slowly. He didn't want to
see that little trick again. He wasn't in the mood for it tonight.
It was an hour before Nino Valenti began to go. He started leaning first, wavered back,
and then plunged off the chair straight to the floor. But the pit boss and the relief dealer
Мультиязыковой проект Ильи Франка www.franklang.ru
187
had been alerted by the first weave and caught him before he hit the ground. They lifted
him and carried him through the parted drapes that led to the bedroom of the suite.
Johnny kept watching as the cocktail waitress helped the other two men undress Nino
and shove him under the bed covers. The pit boss was counting Nino's chips and
making a note on his pad of chits, then guarding the table with its dealer's chips. Johnny
said to him, "How long has that been going on?"
The pit boss shrugged. "He went early tonight. The first time we got the house doc
and he fixed Mr. Valenti up with something and gave him some sort of lecture. Then
Nino told us that we shouldn't call the doc when that happened, just put him to bed and
he'd be OK in the morning. So that's what we do. He's pretty lucky, he was a winner
again tonight, almost three grand."
Johnny Fontane said, "Well, let's get the house doc up here tonight. OK? Page the
casino floor if you have to."
It was almost fifteen minutes before Jules Segal came into the suite. Johnny noted
with irritation that this guy never looked like a doctor. Tonight he was wearing a blue
loose-knit polo shirt with white trim, some sort of white suede shoes and no socks. He
looked funny as hell carrying the traditional black doctor's bag.
Johnny said, "You oughta figure out a way to carry your stuff in a cut-down golf bag."
Jules grinned understandingly, "Yeah, this medical school carryall is a real drag.
Scares the hell out of people. They should change the color anyway."
He went over to where Nino was lying in bed. As he opened his bag he said to Johnny.
"Thanks for that check you sent me as a consultant. It was excessive. I didn't do that
much."
"Like hell you didn't," Johnny said. "Anyway, forget that, that was a long time ago.
What's with Nino?"
Jules was making a quick examination of heartbeat, pulse and blood pressure. He
took a needle out of his bag and shoved it casually into Nino's arm and pressed the
plunger. Nino's sleeping face lost its waxy paleness, color came into the cheeks, as if
the blood had started pumping faster.
"Very simple diagnosis," Jules said briskly. "I had a chance to examine him and run
some tests when he first came here and fainted. I had him moved to the hospital before
he regained consciousness. He's got diabetes, mild adult stabile, which is no problem if
you take care of it with medication and diet and so forth. He insists on ignoring it. Also
he is firmly determined to drink himself to death. His liver is going and his brain will go.
Right now he's in a mild diabetic coma. My advice is to have him put away."
Мультиязыковой
Johnny felt a sense of relief. It couldn't be too serious, all Nino had to do was take
care of himself. "You mean in one of those joints where they dry you out?" Johnny
asked.
Jules went over to the bar in the far corner of the room and made himself a drink.
"No," he said. "I mean committed. You know, the crazy house."
"Don't be funny," Johnny said.
188
"I'm not joking," Jules said. "I'm not up on all the psychiatric jazz but I know something
about it, part of my trade. Your friend Nino can be put back into fairly good shape unless
the liver damage has gone too far, which we can't know until an autopsy really. But the
real disease is in his head. In essence he doesn't care if he dies, maybe he even wants
to kill himself. Until that is cured there's no hope for him. That's why I say, have him
committed and then he can undergo the necessary psychiatric treatment."
There was a knock on the door and Johnny went to answer it. It was Lucy Mancini.
She came into Johnny's arms and kissed him. "Oh, Johnny, it's so good to see you,"
she said.
"It's been a long time," Johnny Fontane said. He noticed that Lucy had changed. She
had gotten much slimmer, her clothes were a hell of a lot better and she wore them
better. Her hair style fitted her face in a sort of boyish cut. She looked younger and
better than he had ever seen her and the thought crossed his mind that she could keep
him company here in Vegas. It would be a pleasure hanging out with a real broad. But
before he could turn on the charm he remembered she was the doc's girl. So it was out.
He made his smile just friendly and said, "What are you doing coming to Nino's