But as I hurried over to the bed to check, his voice rang through the room loud and clear, and I jumped.
“I’m sure you’re wondering why I have called you here for a second time, Dr. Carter.”
“Uh.” I slowed my steps. “I need to take your blood. But also, your men said you’d gotten worse?”
“Eh.” Santiago waved a hand in the air. “When one is on the brink of death as I am—” He coughed weakly. “—there is no better, there is no worse, there is only suffering. When the heart spasms come, my body suffers. When the physical pain subsides, my soul is in agony—”
My gut clenched in sympathy. I really did hate to see anyone in pain, even drug lords with heartburn who threw other doctors off—
“—for I pity the many women in the world who have not met me yet and now will never get the chance.”
I blinked. The what now?
Santiago wiped aside a single tear. “My poor ladies! My darling Evalin. My sweet Lucrecia! They are faithful to me and only me, for no one can satisfy them like I can! But at least they can cling to their memories to comfort them. My heart breaks for the ones who’ve never been loved by me.” He looked at me with shining eyes. “For I am a fabulous lover, Doctor. As you will no doubt verify from the blood samples you will take.”
Was he serious?
“Actually, there’s no way…” I began. Then I heard Riggs’s voice in my head, reminding me of all that was at stake, and I lied my ass off. “Erm. There’s no way they won’t show exactly that, I’m sure. Once I’ve had a chance to analyze them.” I cleared my throat. “That could take… many days.”
Santiago narrowed his eyes. “But it has been nearly an entire day already!”
More like an hour. Maybe ninety minutes.
Lie, Carter, lie.
“I assure you, sir, I’m as impatient as you are. I’ve been waiting for your men to show me to your lab equipment. I’ll need a blood gas analyzer, a chemistry analyzer, an immunoassay analyzer, a computer with access to the National Institutes of Health’s databases, an electron microscope, an autoclave, and a sterile work environment. I’ll take no chances with your health, for you’re clearly an extremely important person, as you mentioned before. Several times. And the situation is… complex.”
That was for damn sure.
Santiago grunted in satisfaction. “You are a man of great intelligence, clearly.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“That is why I called you here again this evening. I wished to know your thoughts on what my fatal illness might be. I saw how you conferred with your manservant earlier, so I know you have some idea.”
“Oh. Um. It’s far too early in the diagnostic process to even speculate—” I began.
“But you must,” he said firmly. “Tell me which diseases you think might take me from my beloved Irma and my darling Gracia!”
Just how many girlfriends did the man have? Or I wondered if, like earlier, he was just listing off random names that didn’t correspond to anyone in particular.
“Uh. W-well.” I licked my lips. “It could be… pyrosis?”
Gustavo gasped and clutched at his chest, his fingers digging into his silk pajamas. “Never say so! Porry-po-po-sis was the very disease that claimed my father! Now I am to be another Santiago struck down in his prime!”
I tried to dredge up an appropriately concerned expression and nodded solemnly. Pyrosis was a clinical term for heartburn, which never killed anyone on its own.
“What else?” Gustavo demanded avidly. “What other conditions might be stalking me like a beast in the night?”
“Er. Well… we’ll certainly want to rule out cardialgia?” I went ahead and started the process to take blood from his arm.
Gustavo moaned enthusiastically and addressed the ceiling. “Cardio-la-la-logiala! And now he names the very condition that stole my mother! Ay, Dios. Truly, this is a disease that claims only the most beautiful and vibrant.”
I bit my tongue against a smile. Cardialgia was also a name for heartburn. His relatives clearly had terrible digestive issues.
“I can’t even imagine,” I murmured, focusing on finding a vein with as little fuss as possible.
“When death has stolen me, who will protect my brother?” he demanded. “He will be all alone in the world. Weak and friendless.”
Glasses made a noise from the corner that sounded like a cough. Or maybe he was crying? I couldn’t see him well enough to say.
“Wow. I didn’t know you had a brother,” I said sympathetically. “Are you close?”
“So close. So very close. I am his confidant. I am his best and most trusted friend. I provide him wisdom and moral counsel. He says to me sometimes, ‘Gian—er, Gustavo, I do not know what I would do without you! I love you more than the mountains of our homeland. I love you more than any amount of money. If only I, too, could be strong and handsome like you!’”