At John Wayne's bedside with Tavis and Avril, after the broadcast incident

texture · 17 Nov YDAU

• When: 17 Nov YDAU (the deLint-run interview of Pemulis, same day as the Wayne incident)
• What: When something goes badly untoward with John Wayne (the matter under investigation in the deLint-run interview of Pemulis in the Dean of Academic Affairs' office — the note stages the inquiry, not the incident itself), Rusk is finally deployed in an actual staff crisis, and in first position in the sentence: Pemulis is told "Rusk and Charles and Mrs. Incandenza are with him now. Schtitt’s been up to see him. Loach has done a thorough reflex-check. John Wayne’s going to be OK." The trio at the bedside is precisely the page's administrative center — Rusk, Tavis, Avril — the counselor attending E.T.A.'s #1 player alongside the Headmaster and the Dean. Whatever her stock with the students, when the institution's most valuable psyche is on the line she is in the room. (Pemulis's flat "Well thank heavens for that load off everyone’s mind" keeps the scene's register sardonic, as printed.)