Solemn Oath. Hannah Alexander

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      “Oh, good, Dr. Bower, I’m glad I found you.” The tall silver-haired lady took his arm as if to steady him. “Are you too busy to step into the break room with me for a moment?”

      “Uh, no, not at all. Is something wrong?” By habit he studied her features and gave her regal seventy-year-old frame a cursory glance up and down as they walked the few feet into the empty E.R. staff break room. Those slender shoulders held a lot of responsibility, and sometimes, when the E.R. was slow and she was having back problems, she would “impose” upon him for a spinal adjustment. As a doctor of osteopathy, Lukas was knowledgeable about spinal manipulation.

      “You could say that.” She eased down onto the chair at the far west end of the circular table, massaging her fingers. “We’re being investigated by COBRA.”

      She said it too calmly, and for a moment the words didn’t register. Lukas stared at her.

      “We could be in for a rough ride, Lukas.”

      The impact hit him. “COBRA?” He caught his breath, then pulled back a chair beside her and sank down into it, stunned. The federal watchdog agency had the power, if they searched enough records and found enough infractions, to shut down any hospital or medical center in the country. Every hospital had infractions. Nobody was perfect all of the time, especially when they were the victims of a witch hunt.

      “Have you spoken with Beverly lately?” Mrs. Pinkley asked.

      “She avoids me as much as possible.”

      “She needs to fill out that AMA form, Lukas. It’s been over three months.” She leaned forward and spread her hands across the table. “This is ridiculous! One conniving man should not have this much power over this many people. He’s got Beverly so browbeaten she’s terrified to tell the truth.”

      “That conniving man is a grieving father,” Lukas reminded her. “He’s still reacting.” Attorney Bailey Little was also president of the hospital board, a dangerous situation for a doctor employed by that hospital. Bailey had promised vengeance several months ago when Lukas had refused to give morphine to Dwayne. Bailey had furthermore used his influence to sway public and patient opinion against Lukas. The plan had failed miserably upon Dwayne’s tragic death, but Bailey’s influence still beleaguered Mrs. Pinkley and her plans for the hospital.

      “I find it outrageous that you’re the one being investigated.” Mrs. Pinkley’s voice dropped even deeper than usual in an unaccustomed show of anger. “You know Bailey’s behind this.”

      “When does the investigation start?”

      She fixed him with her cool gray gaze, all traces of anger suddenly gone, as if she were slipping into her attorney mode. “The investigator is scheduled to arrive in two weeks. Don’t worry, we’ll handle this together.” She placed her hands on the table to push herself up, then shook her head and sighed. “I wish Bailey didn’t hold such a strategic position.” She stood with a suppressed groan. “The weather’s changing. We’re in for a big storm.”

      “Is your back bothering you again?”

      She smiled at Lukas, patted his arm and straightened her spine. “Nothing a little exercise and a couple of aspirin won’t take care of. Oh, by the way, I do have some good news. That doctor you wanted to have checked out, Cherra Garcias? She’s got good references. I set her up for an interview Thursday. I hope you don’t mind. You were too busy to talk when she called.”

      “No, that’s great.”

      “You’ll have trouble if you hire her, you know. She’s obviously Hispanic. The folks around here might be slightly skeptical.”

      “Are you saying I should allow public prejudice to sway my decision?”

      “No, I just want you to be prepared for ungrounded complaints about her, just as I received complaints about you, and you’re from right here in Missouri.”

      “I’m glad you ignored them.”

      “You had good references. Of course, I get lots of complaints about your directorship, mostly from you, so the sooner you can hire someone to help you out with shifts, the happier we’ll both be.”

      Lukas grinned. “No one will be happier than I will. I don’t suppose you’d consider looking for a new director?”

      She smiled and patted his arm. “Hang in there, and I’ll make an administrative person out of you yet.”

      “But I don’t—”

      “Lukas, I can’t in good conscience replace Jarvis George while he’s still suffering from the effects of tuberculin encephalitis.” She lowered her voice. “Just between us, I’m hoping he’ll retire and I won’t have to make the decision, because I don’t want him back here causing me trouble and complaining about every tiny decision I make for this hospital. Still, I want to be fair to him. You are the perfect choice as interim director because you’re the only full-time E.R. physician, and you don’t want the directorship, which means I won’t have a fight on my hands if he comes back.”

      “What if he tries to fire me again?”

      Her smile returned, and it held a hint of mischief in the fine, powdered lines of her face. “Then I’ll have a valid reason to get rid of him for good.”

      After she left, Lukas couldn’t help glancing into the call room where Mercy had been. She was gone. When he stepped into the exam room where Cowboy had been, he found that he had already been taken into surgery. A couple of rooms down, where Buck also awaited a surgeon’s check, Buck’s raised voice burst from behind the trauma room curtain.

      “No! Kendra, you can’t do this. Not now. Not here!”

      Lukas frowned and stepped forward, but something stopped him from pulling the curtain back. Buck’s voice wasn’t betraying physical pain.

      Then came Kendra’s light soprano voice. “I warned you before about this, but did you ever listen? No. You were always too busy playin’ hero, always bargin’ in to save the day, whether it’s a dangerous pet or a woman in a burnin’ buildin’, no matter whether you needed to or not. I’m sick of it, Buck, I mean it.” In the silence, Lukas heard soft sniffles. “I’m sorry, but I can’t take it no more.”

      Buck’s deep voice came more gently. “Kendra, honey, this is about your father, not me. Don’t—”

      “And everybody loves Buck Oppenheimer. The good ol’ boys slap you on the back when we go out anywhere and tell you what a great guy you are. Do they ever look at me? Do they ever think about what I go through when I’m at home, wonderin’ if my husband’s going to live through the next fire? I’m no hero. To them I’m just a whinin’ female.”

      “Nobody’s ever said that about you. They know what you’ve been through.”

      “No, they don’t. They don’t care! I can tell what they’re thinkin’ by the look in their eyes. How dare I gripe when my husband comes home late from savin’ people from their own fires? You’re just a fireman, Buck, not a husband.” There was a quiet sob. “I can’t take it no more. I’m sorry, but I’m done with this marriage. I’m just not hero material.”

      Lukas stood out in the СКАЧАТЬ