by B. B. Hamel
“What does he want?” I stopped and faced him, arms crossed over my chest, trying to keep my heart from racing out of my body.
“I’m not sure,” Ted said. “He told me he wants to ask you about Dr. Hood, but I don’t believe him.”
I chewed on my lip. “It’s something else then.”
“Something he doesn’t want me to know.” Ted gave me an oddly worried look. “You don’t have to meet with him, of course. If you want—”
“I’ll do it.”
He looked taken aback. “Are you sure?”
I nodded once. “I’m sure. Where is he?”
Ted hesitated and glanced back over his shoulder. “Look, I don’t do this, but I feel like I should warn you. Robert Tippett is a hard man. He’s not going to be kind.”
“I’m aware.”
“Then you should be prepared, if you’re going to meet with him.”
“What do you want from me exactly?” I asked. “One second, you’re pestering me for information for your client. The next, you’re warning me about him.”
He seemed somewhat shaken. “I’m not sure, honestly. Maybe you remind me of my daughter.”
“Well, I’m not your daughter, and I don’t want your help.” I let that sink in. “I’m ready when you are.”
He grunted once, giving me a strange, almost admiring look, before he turned and began to walk back toward the hospital. We turned down Eighteenth Street, kept going south for a few more blocks, before he stopped outside of a small coffee place with a sleek wooden door and stainless-steel trim.
It was dim inside and crowded. I spotted Robert Tippett immediately. He was a man in his fifties, ruddy cheeks, short cropped hair, immaculate dark business suit, briefcase on the floor beside him. The sound of the espresso machine made me glance toward the counter, and the sound of typing filled the room with a solid wall of ambient noise.
Ted took me to Robert Tippett’s table and gestured. “Mr. Tippett, this is Dr. Court.”
“Pleasure,” he said, standing a bit to shake my hand. “Call me Robert though. Would you sit, please?”
“Of course,” I said, taking the chair opposite. “I’m Lori, by the way.” I glanced over, but Ted was already gone.
Robert gave me a tight smile. “Ted’s good at what he does, but he doesn’t like conflict, which is a very weird thing for a private eye.”
“I didn’t get that impression.”
“No, you wouldn’t at first.” He put his hands flat on the table in front of me. “Would you like something to drink? On the house, of course. My family owns this place.”
I frowned slightly. “I didn’t know you were in the coffee business.”
“Coffee, restaurants, all sorts of ventures.” He gestured vaguely in the air. “The Tippett family has been very busy for the last couple hundred years.” He laughed, like that was a funny joke, and I only smiled politely.
“What can I do for you, Robert?” I asked him, not wanting to extend this visit any longer than necessary.
He gave me an appraising look. “I suppose you want to skip all the small talk.”
“It’s been a long day,” I said. “Twelve hours on my feet. I’m really looking forward to my bed.”
His smile slowly faded. “I assume you know about the problem I have with Dr. Hood.”
“Yes, I’ve been told.”
“And I’m sure you only heard his side of the story.”
I shrugged a little, running my fingers down the fake wood grain in the tabletop. “There’s no other side I could’ve heard.”
“Tell me what you know, if you wouldn’t mind.”
I hesitated, but figured there was no harm in giving him the facts. I told him everything, start to finish, without embellishment or extra detail. Only the facts, as best as I could manage them.
When I finished, he nodded his head slightly, as if he were listening to a symphony on the radio, eyes half closed. He took a breath and gathered himself, squaring his shoulders.
“He left out one an important detail,” Robert said, fingers drumming. “But of course he would. Dr. Hood isn’t interested in the details, especially when those details don’t affect him.”
“What do you mean?”
His gaze turned hard, and I suddenly understood what Ted was trying to warn me about. It was a cold look, like Robert was analyzing me, taking me in and processing me, trying to find a weakness in my existence that he could exploit. Ted must have seen that look many times from his employer, and maybe he pitied me enough to want to spare me this experience.
I held the gaze, and returned it. I wasn’t going to be intimidated by some rich asshole. I didn’t care how much money he gave to the hospital, or how many hospitals he owned, or how many restaurants or coffee spots, none of it mattered. He was only a person, and the facts of the case mattered more than his opinion of them.
“My father was ready to die,” he said, his voice level and cold. “He was ready and knew it was going to happen, sooner rather than later. He was an old man, out of shape, lived a hard existence and pushed himself in every way he wanted. He was ready, but Dr. Hood changed his mind.”
“I don’t understand,” I said. “Weren’t you looking for a doctor’s opinion when you went to him? I mean, you had to have known he wasn’t going to tell your dad it was time to die.”
“Of course,” Robert said, “but by the time we went to Dr. Hood, we had already been told by several other prominent surgeons that they’d never go through with that operation, not with my father’s poor health and his age. The risks were too high. My father had resigned himself to dying, and was beginning to get his affairs in order, at least until we met with Dr. Hood.”
I blinked slowly and felt it starting to come together like an itch. “He gave your father hope.”
“That’s right. He talked as though he could make the procedure happen. He didn’t sell it exactly, but he said he’d go through with it, so long as we understood the risks. My father, he heard that and thought it meant he’d get another shot at life—hell, maybe another decade of time on this Earth, another decade with his children and grandchildren. He stopped putting his affairs in order even though I told him time and time again that this was still extremely risky, and Dr. Hood couldn’t promise it would all work out.”
I saw where Piers went wrong. I could almost envision the way he seemed in that patient meeting: calm, confident, exuding pure competence. That was the way he dealt with everyone, all the time, and I could see how a scared, desperate man might take false hope from him. Piers probably said all the right things, used all the right words—but that didn’t matter. The simple fact that he was willing to do the procedure was enough to make Nil Tippett hope, and that hope was the most dangerous thing of all.
“But he never said the operation had a high chance of success, right?” I asked, trying to steer the direction a bit.
Robert wasn’t interested. He shook his head and bulled forward. “You don’t understand how complicated our family dynamic is,” he said. “When there’s as much money as my family has involved, things get difficult. My father didn’t finish his will and didn’t get all of his affairs in order, which was typical of him, always waiting until the last second on the stuff he didn’t like to do. Well, the operation was a failure, and my father died, and now my entire family is thrown into chaos, all because of Dr. Hood.”
I looked away, toward the chic young people behind the counter making coffees, smiling, laughing with each other. I almost envied them: no responsibility beyond making hot drinks, nobody’s life on the line.
“I don’t see how that can be Dr. Hood’s fault,” I said.
“My father not getting his affairs in order isn’t his fault, of course. But the false hope he gave him certainly was. Without that false hope, I believe my father would’ve made his final plans, and my family wouldn’t be in its current state.”
I leaned back, studying him, and he watched me with a cool, almost detached air. His head ti
lted to the side, like he was hearing something for the first time—listening to some distant sound that confused him more than pleased him.
Part of me understood what he was saying, and I could almost see how that would be a problem. I knew without a doubt that Piers hadn’t told them anything in particular that would’ve given them some false ideas about the risks involved, but his general demeanor, the way he held himself—and the mere fact that he was even willing to attempt the operation were all indicators in themselves. I didn’t know how any of that stuff would hold up in the courts or whatever, but Robert Tippett seemed to think they’d matter.
Or maybe not, and maybe this whole thing was a ploy to get me to talk.
“Honestly, I’m not sure what you want from me,” I said, ready to get up and leave. “Even if everything you just told me is true, and I’m sure you’re not lying, but I still don’t see what it has to do with me.”
“You can testify one way or the other. You’ve seen him with other patients. You know what he’s like. You know he gives off a certain self-confidence that might be confusing for someone my father’s age.”
“You’re talking about vibes. I don’t know how that has to do with anything.”
He leaned closer. “Maybe not, but there’s a lot of money at stake here. More money than I bet you’ve ever seen.”
I pushed back from the table. “I’m not taking a bribe.”
“I didn’t offer one.” But he smiled, and I knew what that smile meant. He might not had said the words, but the implication hung in the air.
I stood up. “Piers is an adequate teacher and a fine doctor,” I said. “And he’s the best surgeon I’ve ever seen. I’m sorry about your father and your family, but I’m not going to testify against Dr. Hood.”
Robert’s eyebrows went up. “Piers,” he echoed softly. “Are you close with Dr. Hood?”
I grimaced. “He’s a good teacher. We’re colleagues, of course we’re on a first-name basis. I don’t like what you’re suggesting.”
He held up his hands and leaned back, smiling easily. “I’m not suggesting a thing, please, don’t misunderstand me.”
“I’m not taking a bribe, and I’m not going to let you bully me into doing something I don’t want to do.”
“If that’s what you think, then okay, Dr. Court. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. But remember, my family gives a lot of money to local hospitals, and I’m a very petty man.”
My hands curled into fists. I got the sudden, almost impossible to resist temptation to flip the table right into his face.
Instead, I turned and left without a word. I didn’t trust myself to respond. I knew I wouldn’t say anything good, and it would only get me in more trouble.
That bastard, that self-important rich piece of shit. I almost wished I took Ted up on his warning and skipped the whole meeting, but at least now I understood the argument the Tippett family would try to make in court. I could warn Piers, if I wanted, or do something to help.
But that dirty bastard Robert, he was going to come after me, I knew it in my heart. He didn’t care about me, I was just another girl in his way. Maybe Rees could help, but I wasn’t so sure. The Tippett family was something else.
I was playing in the big leagues now, and I wished I could quit all together. I had enough to worry about. Training with Piers was difficult and intense without all this other crap getting in the way.
But instead of thinking about curling up on my couch and watching Netflix and falling asleep early, I kept seeing Robert Tippett’s smug, condescending smile, the way he smirked as he threatened me—and the way he knew he was right, no matter what I said or did.
I hated men like that. And yet I seemed to be surrounded by them.
14
Piers
Lori arrived with the coffee right on time. It was the best coffee I’d ever had, although I wasn’t about to tell her that. She might start making me pay for it or, even worse, go pick it up myself if she knew how much I loved it.
Normally, she put the cup down on my desk and left, but this morning she lingered in the doorway. I could sense that she had something to talk about, and although I wanted to prep for the procedure we had scheduled in an hour, I couldn’t just ignore her.
Well, I probably could, but it’d only piss her off, and I didn’t feel like starting the day off on the wrong foot.
I was a nice guy, after all.
I swiveled to face her and took a sip. “Yes, Lori?”
She glanced behind her, toward the hall, then shut the door. I arched an eyebrow. This must’ve been serious.
“I talked with Robert Tippett yesterday after work.”
I put my coffee down.
This was very, very serious.
“How?” I asked.
“His private investigator cornered me then took me to a cafe near here. He was waiting for me.”
I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. I’d been waiting for this moment ever since that PI started asking her questions. I knew she’d be a target for them sooner or later, although I didn’t think Robert himself would show his ugly face personally. I figured he’d hide in the shadows like the little snake he is.
But no, of course he came out for Lori. She was an easy target. Young, impressionable. Although Robert had no clue that she had an interior made of pure metal.
“What did he want?” I asked.
“He told me his side of the story.”
“I’m sure that was interesting.”
She hesitated, glancing down at the floor. “It was, actually.”
I felt a twinge of anger, but I tried to keep it under control. “If he said I misrepresented the surgery in any way—”
“He didn’t,” she said quickly. “Actually, he said you told them all the right things.”
I clenched my jaw for a moment. “Then I don’t know what the problem is.”
“He says the way you handle yourself in general gave his father hope. And when that happened, his father didn’t put his affairs in order, and I guess now their family is going through some problems.”
“Poor rich people.”
“This is serious. Can they prove something like that in court?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, spreading my hands. “I’ve never been sued before.”
“He made a convincing argument. I mean, when you agreed to do the procedure, it made an impression on his father—”
“So now I’m in the wrong for trying to save the man’s life? I told them the risks. They knew, going into it.”
“They knew, intellectually. But I think this is about something else.”
I had to look away from her. I felt a stab of anger rush through me and I knew I’d say something stupid, something I’d regret if I didn’t get control of myself, and very quickly.
“It sounds to me like you’re taking his side,” I said softly. “I don’t want to be a child about this. I understand this isn’t about being on my team or something so simplistic. But from my perspective, I did everything right, I’m a damn good doctor, and somehow I’m being punished for that.”
“You’re not wrong,” she said, chewing her lip. “But it’s still a problem, whether you want to accept it or not.”
“What do you want me to do? Go back in time?”
“I want you to take this seriously.”
“I am taking it seriously,” I said, leaning toward her. “I went to Gina. I went to Caroline. I asked both of them to help, to do something about that goddamn PI following me all over the city, and neither of them will budge. The Tippett family has too much money and too many fingers all over their budgets. They don’t care how good I am or how many patients I draw from all across the country. So long as their bottom line is in trouble, they’ll throw me to the wolves without a second thought.”
She watched me, and I had to lean back and take another few calming breaths. I was angry, so goddamn angry.
This wasn’t what I wanted. I d
idn’t sacrifice so much of my life, devote myself to helping people, learn my craft and excel at it, only to become a target of frivolous lawsuits because I wasn’t perfect, or because some old man didn’t finish his will before undergoing an extremely risky surgery. I couldn’t help it if I was confident, and if I was willing to try difficult things.
I understood why all those other doctors wouldn’t touch Nil Tippett’s case. Maybe I should’ve seen it back then, and maybe I did—but I don’t want to live in a world where doctors don’t try to save a life because they’re afraid of getting sued.
It wasn’t fair. The system was broken, and there was no good fix. Patients needed to be able to sue doctors, especially when doctors fucked up, were lazy, incompetent, stupid, or any number of shitty things, and someone got hurt. Patients needed a way to make things right.
But this wasn’t that way. I didn’t deserve it.
And now it made me not want to take on another Nil Tippett if one ever appeared again. It made me want to let a man die, all because I didn’t want to go through this again.
It was wrong, and it broke my goddamn heart.
“He threatened me,” Lori said, and I looked up sharply.
“He did what?”
“Well, first he tried to bribe me, and then he implied that he thinks you and I have an inappropriate relationship.”
I barked a laugh. In some ways, he was right about that. “What did you do? You take the money?”
“No,” she said, eyes flashing anger. “Of course I didn’t, you asshole.”
“I guess you wouldn’t tell me, even if you did.”
“God, you’re such a dick. Now I sort of wish I had.”
“They’re going to keep trying, you know. So long as you stay around me, they’ll keep making you a target.”
“I know that.”
“Then why stay? Why not find someone else?”
She clutched her coffee cup hard enough to buckle the sides. I wondered if the top might pop off.
“I don’t have that option,” she said. “You know your boss wants you to have a resident.”
“You could get reassigned if you asked. They might give me someone else, or they might not, but you’d be out of the picture at least.”