Unchained Memories (5 page)

“That was the goal.” Clay grabbed her hand and took her over to a little girl maneuvering on crutches toward a play area. “Hi, Tessie. How’s it going?”

“Good, Dr. M. I’m really getting the hang of these things.” She smiled at him with a missing-tooth smile that warmed Charlotte’s heart.

“This is my friend, Charley. She used to be a patient in this hospital after a car accident, just like you.”

Tessie looked Charley up and down. “You got better?”

Charlotte smiled. “I sure did. This is a great place to heal. And Dr. Montgomery helped me a lot.”

While Tessie was substantially younger than Charlotte had been when she was a patient, Charlotte saw the infatuation on Tessie’s face when she looked at Clay.
God, I hope I wasn’t that transparent.

Clay introduced her to a few more children and explained their conditions, just as he had done when she’d been a patient here. She had loved coming to the children’s wing, not just to spend more time with Clay when it had been part of his rotation. Although that had been a bonus. But to take the children’s minds off their troubles by playing a board game with them or making a puzzle or drawing a picture. Having no family around, it was therapy for Charlotte as well.

The memories clogged her mind and she barely heard Clay when he suggested they continue on the tour. Were those memories as vivid for Clay? Doubtful.

For the next half hour, Clay was the ultimate ambassador for the hospital. If she hadn’t known him, she would have expected a subtle request for a large donation at the end of the tour. Instead, she was the beneficiary of Clay’s time and attention. She’d even caught him staring at her a time or two, his gaze much more than idle curiosity over a long, lost friend. At least that’s what she chose to believe, given the shivers those eyes elicited from every nerve ending.

When he finally brought her to the main entrance of the hospital, disappointment swirled around her, their brief time together over. A miniscule grain of hope pitted in her brain. Maybe she could bring the conversation around to his prior dinner invitation. This time she wouldn’t be so negative.

Just then his phone buzzed. The conversation was brief and curt. “I’m sorry, Charlotte, but I have to go. Great seeing you again.” He squeezed her arm and without more, he left.

She watched his retreating back, strong and solid, his stride purposeful, until he disappeared.

Along with her hope.

****

“Good. You’re finally alone.” Clay plopped himself into a chair in front of the chief of surgery’s desk, trying to diminish the anxiety building up all day. His only reprieve had been the time spent with Charley. “I need to talk to you about something.”

“You and everyone else.” Collins peered over his reading glasses, looking weary.

Collins claimed he never had enough time in a day to deal with all the problems raised by the doctors who gladly dropped those problems in his lap.

“Sorry to bother you at the end of the day, Richard, but I couldn’t get away any sooner.”

“Like my day ends at five.” Collins removed his glasses and sat back in his chair. “I’m all ears.”

Clay had learned from experience the best way to deal with Collins was to cut to the chase. “This morning, a twenty-five-year-old male by the name of John Lincoln, was brought in by the Princeton police. They said he’d been handcuffed in the back of the patrol car and was cursing up a storm, accusing them of brutality. On the way to the police station, he started complaining of chest and back pain, so they detoured here.” Clay shifted in his chair. “We brought him in, hooked him up to a cardiac monitor, pulse oximeter, took his blood pressure, did an EKG. The EKG was normal, but his pressure was high. So we gave him Lopressor, aspirin, nitroglycerin. I ordered a chest x-ray, blood screening, comprehensive metabolic evaluation. We set him up with an IV, gave him oxygen. He was fine.

“Then an ambulance brought in two kids who’d been hit by a car at their school bus stop. The kids were in critical condition and we rushed to take care of them. Twenty minutes later, when I got Lincoln’s chest x-ray, it showed an aortic dissection. The CT scan confirmed it. We whisked him to the OR, but he had a ruptured aneurysm.”

Collins rubbed his hand over his eyes, a trait that acknowledged whatever was coming couldn’t be good.

“Don’t tell me he died in the OR,” Collins said quietly.

“Yes.”

“Who operated?”

“Dr. Hauser.”

“Did someone reach the decedent’s family?”

“Yes. His wife and parents were understandably upset; shocked. They were threatening to call the papers, their lawyer, their pastor...” Clay shook his head. “They couldn’t understand how a young, healthy guy like that could die so suddenly. They want to blame someone. The police. Us.”

“I’m sure you followed standards of care.” Collins’ unwavering trust in him helped ease the dread he still felt.

“Even so, I’m afraid this is going to be a public relations nightmare when it gets out. The papers will make it sound like we’re biased against prisoners.” Clay knew full well how at least one of the local papers would sensationalize the story. “It’s actually going to be worse than that. The prisoner was black and the school kids were white.”

Collins groaned. “Of course.”

They sat in silence, contemplating the worst.

Collins was the first to acknowledge it. “There’ll probably be a malpractice suit filed.”

Clay sighed. “That’s been on my mind all day.” Up until now, he’d been extremely lucky. But as an ER doctor, it was only a matter of time.

“Are your charts documented?”

“Yes.”

“Then you don’t have anything to worry about. You know we’ll support you in any malpractice claim. Try not to let it eat away at you. If a suit is filed, we’ll deal with it. I have full trust in your ability to handle the ER.” He jotted down a note on a yellow sticky pad. “I’ll talk to our public relations department. See if they can neutralize the negative publicity.”

“Thanks.” Collins had a way of easing the burden, even when things seemed disastrous. Running his fingers through his hair, Clay decided now was a good time to broach another subject.

“I know there are more cuts coming in the budget, and we’re all going to have to try to live with it, but I really think we need more help in the ER. We’re all working twelve hour shifts four, sometimes five days a week. That’s too much. We’re exhausted. And when we’re exhausted, mistakes happen.”

“Is that what happened today?”

“No. But it’s a constant concern.” He paused, hoping to give Collins time to digest his statement. “We need to hire another ER doc. Maybe two.”

A humorless laugh escaped Collins’ mouth. “And where do you think we’re going to get the money in the budget for that?”

“That’s not my department. That’s the CEO’s headache.”

“Maybe. But as head of the ER, you’re the one who has to make your case. Or it will never get to be his problem.”

“I was hoping to get you to back me up on this.”

“You’re taking on a huge responsibility if you add two more doctors, but I’ll support you if you come up with a viable plan. Pull together the monthly data. Natalie could help you with the statistics. Then figure out the costs.”

Clay nodded. “Thanks. I knew I could count on you.”

“I didn’t say you have my support yet.” A small grin twitched Collins’ lips.

“I’ll be able to convince you though. I know it.”

When Clay didn’t get up to leave, Collins gave him a quizzical look. “There couldn’t be more.”

Clay held up his hand. “Nothing related to the hospital.”

“Good. Because I can’t take another problem right now.”

“I understand Charlotte Taylor was here to visit you today.” Clay couldn’t help but smile. “I ran into her as she was leaving. I also saw her at the American Cancer Society Gala a few weeks ago.” His heart pumped a little harder at the memory of seeing her that night, as well as today.

“Did she tell you why she was here?”

Clay furrowed his brow at Collins’ somber response. “To say hello since she moved back to the area.”

“That may have been part of it. But she also came to tell me she has a case against the hospital and Dr. Gallway.”

Clay’s heart screeched to a stop. “No.” The pained look on Collins’ face told him he’d heard him correctly. “I can’t believe she’d take a case against us?” They’d done so much for her. She couldn’t have forgotten.

“It’s her job. She works at Cooper, Smith. Med mal is a big part of their practice.”

“I thought Charlotte’s father was a friend of yours. Wouldn’t she see this as a conflict of interest?”

Collins chuckled without mirth. “Nice try. But my friendship with Charlotte’s father ten years ago would certainly not prevent her firm from suing this hospital or one of our doctors.” The edge in Collins’ voice spoke volumes.

Clay massaged his temples, feeling the beginning of a headache form. It didn’t make sense that Charlotte would turn on them. Collins had been so protective of her after the accident. He had gotten Clay and Matt to tutor her, as well as to talk to her about her parents’ death so she wouldn’t internalize the trauma. The three of them, and some of the nurses, had spent hours getting to know her, trying to lift her spirits. And after a time, it had worked. She’d become a familiar presence, prowling the hospital floors, asking questions, visiting other patients. And she’d been so interested in what Clay did. He even thought she might choose a career in medicine.

“I’m shocked.” Even more shocked that she failed to mention any of this to him as he spent close to an hour with her touring the hospital. He studied Collins’ face for a similar reaction. “Aren’t you?”

Collins rubbed his forehead, then nodded. “Yes. And disappointed. But I suppose someone has to represent injured parties, and she does have the heart and the brains to do it right.” He sighed. “I’m glad she overcame the trauma of the accident and her parents’ death and is doing well. That was a tough adjustment.”

While Clay wasn’t willing to brush her career path under the rug so easily, he also didn’t want to condemn her without hearing her out. Setting aside his uneasiness at the prospect of her suing doctors for a living, Clay recalled the hours he’d spent talking to her after the accident. “She told me her parents were a real power couple who were tied into political as well as philanthropic circles. Charlotte could never say enough good things about them.” Clay shook his head, remembering the shell-shocked teenager who had lost her world when they’d died. “It doesn’t surprise me she wanted to follow in their footsteps by becoming a lawyer, but why malpractice?”

Collins shrugged. “I took a look at the details of her case. They’ve listed Doctors John Doe as potential defendants so they could add others in the future. They’re obviously not limiting their lawsuit to Gallway and the hospital. I hope no other doctors are implicated during discovery.”

Clay grimaced. They all knew a new defendant could always be added if the plaintiff’s attorney found someone else additionally responsible during the pendency of the lawsuit. Even if it was only Gallway, any malpractice suit against the hospital affected all of them. Not only did their insurance premiums go up, as if they weren’t already sky high, but the attack on their reputation didn’t help either.

“Why does it have to be Charlotte pursuing this?” He hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but there it was.

The woman who, just recently, had turned him inside out. Heat raced through his body as he remembered their dance. Her sensual body had molded into his, lighting his fire. Their time together today, when he couldn’t stop staring at her, drowning in those beautiful blue eyes and perfect smile, all aimed at him.

Collins interrupted his daydream. “Why don’t you ask her?”

“I invited her out to dinner the night I saw her at the gala, but she wouldn’t commit.” He shrugged. “I’m not sure why.”

“Maybe she was already involved in the lawsuit against us.”

Clay clenched his jaw. If true, she should have said something. That would have doused any fire she managed to ignite in him that night. It would have also kept his mind off her for the past two weeks. Including today.

Collins brought Clay back to the conversation. “I remember how enamored Charlotte was with you during her time here.”

“What are you talking about? She was a teenager.” Although she had kissed him, her attempt to bolster her argument she was a grown-up, not some naïve high schooler. Clay flushed at the memory of his awkward response, which he’d buried until now. “Well, maybe she had a little crush on me.”

“Is it possible you’re a little intrigued with her now?”

“No. It’s not.” Clay barely hid the annoyance at Collins’ probing question. “It was nice though, to see her again.” More than nice. If his phone hadn’t buzzed to interrupt them today, who knew what new invitation would have fallen from his mouth. He thought back to a few weeks ago and her red hot gown and naked shoulders. “Even if I did contemplate asking her out, now that I know what she does for a living, there’s no way I’d pursue anything. It’s probably a good thing she didn’t accept my dinner invitation.”

“Perhaps. Maybe her intuition told her to steer clear of you.”

Clay’s ire surfaced at the insult. “What the hell are you talking about? I thought we were friends?”

The amusement in Collins’ eyes was even more maddening.

“Calm down, Clay.” Collins’ tone took on that of a parent reasoning with his child. “I’ve known you long enough to see how you deal with relationships. As soon as someone gets too close, you bail. Maybe Charlotte already knows that about you. Maybe she’s just being cautious.”

This wasn’t about Charlotte anymore. This was a direct attack on his personal choices. “I don’t have time for an intense relationship. My work hours at the hospital and the clinic are not exactly conducive to getting married and having a family right now.”

Collins arched his eyebrow, but didn’t respond.

Clay sat back and sighed. “That’s what every woman wants. A family.” He surely wasn’t ready for that.

“You’ll have to learn to balance the two one of these days, or you’ll be a very unhappy man.”