and, while leora duncan was posing for her portrait, into the waitingroom bounded dr. hitz himself. he was seven feet tall, and he boomed with importance, accomplishments, and the joy of living.
"well, miss duncan! miss duncan!" he said, and he made a joke. "what are you doing here?" he said. "this isn't where the people leave. this is where they come in!"
"we're going to be in the same picture together," she said shyly.
"good!" said dr. hitz heartily. "and, say, isn't that some picture?"
"i sure am honored to be in it with you," she said.
"let me tell you," he said, "i'm honored to be in it with you. without women like you, this wonderful world we've got wouldn't be possible."
he saluted her and moved toward the door that led to the delivery rooms. "guess what was just born," he said.
"i can't," she said.
"triplets!" he said.
"triplets!" she said. she was exclaiming over the legal implications of triplets.
the law said that no newborn child could survive unless the parents of the child could find someone who would volunteer to die. triplets, if they were all to live, called for three volunteers.
"do the parents have three volunteers?" said leora duncan.
"last i heard," said dr. hitz, "they had one, and were trying to scrape another two up."
"i don't think they made it," she said. "nobody made three appointments with us. nothing but singles going through today, unless somebody called in after i left. what's the name?"
"wehling," said the waiting father, sitting up, red-eyed and frowzy. "edward k. wehling, jr., is the name of the happy father-to-be."
he raised his right hand, looked at a spot on the wall, gave a hoarsely wretched chuckle. "present," he said.
"oh, mr. wehling," said dr. hitz, "i didn't see you."
"the invisible man," said wehling.
"they just phoned me that your triplets have been born," said dr. hitz. "they're all fine, and so is the mother. i'm on my way in to see them now."
"hooray," said wehling emptily.
"you don't sound very happy," said dr. hitz.
"what man in my shoes wouldn't be happy?" said wehling. he gestured with his hands to symbolize care-free simplicity. "all i have to do is pick out which one of the triplets is going to live, then deliver my maternal grandfather to the happy hooligan, and come back here with a receipt."
