“I always heal fast,” I said. “Now, about the money...

“What money?”

“The out-of-court settlement for my malpractice complaint. and the other one.”

“Don't be ridiculous!”

“Who's being ridiculous? I'll settle for a thousand, cash, right now.”

“I won't even discuss such a thint.”

“Well, you'd better consider it—and win or lose, think about the name it will give this place if I manage enough pretrial publicity. I'll certainly get in touch with the AMA, the newspapers. the-”

“Blackmail,” he said, “and I'll have nothing to do with it.”

“Pay now, or pay later, after a court order,” I said. “I don't care. But it'll be cheaper this way.”

If he came across, I'd know my guesses were right and there was something crooked involved.

He glared at me, I don't know how long.

Finally, “I haven't got a thousand here,” he said.

“Name a compromise figure,” I said.

After another pause, “It's larceny.”

“Not if it's cash-and-carry, Charlie. So, call it.”

“I might have five hundred in my safe.”

“Get it.”

He told me, after inspecting the contents of a small wall safe, there was four-thirty, and I didn't want to leave fingerprints on the safe just to check him out. So I accepted and stuffed the bills into my side pocket.

“Now what's the nearest cab company that serves this place?”

He named it, and I checked in the phone book, which told me I was upstate.

I made him dial it and call me a cab, because I didn't know the name of the place and didn't want him to know the condition of my memory. One of the bandages I had removed had been around my head.

While he was making the arrangement I heard him name the place: it was called Greenwood Private Hospital.