strong, intelligent face and deep-set brown eyes.
“Are you my doctor?”
“Intern,” he said. “I brought you in.” He smiled at her. “I’m glad you made it. We
weren’t sure.”
“How long have I been here?”
“Four days.”
“Would you do me a favor?” she asked weakly.
“If I can.”
“Call the Hotel Lafayette. Ask them—” she hesitated. “Ask them if there are any
messages for me.”
“Well, I’m awfully busy—”
Noelle squeezed his hand fiercely. “Please. It’s important. My fiance is trying to get
in touch with me.”
He grinned. “I don’t blame him. All right. I’ll take care of it,” he promised. “Now
you get some sleep.”
“Not until I hear from you,” she said.
He left, and Noelle lay there waiting. Of course Larry had been trying to get in touch
with her. There had been some terrible misunderstanding. He would explain it all to her
and everything would be all right again.
It was two hours before Israel Katz returned. He walked up to her bed and set down a
suitcase. “I brought your clothes. I went to the hotel myself,” he said.
She looked up at him, and he could see her face tense.
“I’m sorry,” he said, embarrassed. “No messages.” Noelle stared at him for a long
time, then turned her face to the wall, dry-eyed.
Noelle was released from the hospital two days later. Israel Katz came to say good-
bye to her. “Do you have any place to go?” he asked. “Or a job?”
She shook her head.
“What work do you do?”
“I’m a model.”
“I might be able to help you.”
She remembered the taxi driver and Madame Delys. “I don’t need any help,” she
said.
Israel Katz wrote a name on a piece of paper. “If you change your mind, go there. It’s
a small fashion house. An aunt of mine owns it. I’ll talk to her about you. Do you have